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quiet-kunoichi · 3 years

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[ @suck-my-tomato | Halloween Party Oneshot | verse; highschool ]

It was their senior year at last, and Kimiko was not about to let it go to waste. The rest of her high school years had been spent either too insecure to show a little skin, or not single enough to get away with it without some disapproving stares. The tail end of junior year, along with the summer that followed, was spent in a near-lifeless haze: she’d become well accustomed to depressive dissociation and avoidance to the point of self-destructive isolation. Meanwhile, Sasuke likely had the time of his life as a bachelor in the paradise of their recent split: that is, until his chronically-ill brother took a lethal turn for the worse. Upon hearing about Itachi’s sudden death, Kimiko had lassoed herself back into Sasuke’s orbit — Invited herself inside ( she never returned the key to his apartment ), ensured that he was taking care of himself in lieu of his recent loss. Additionally, it felt like a loss of her own, too. She’d known Itachi as long as she had known Sasuke, for obvious reasons. As odd as it sounded once her feelings became obviously romantic for the younger Uchiha, Itachi felt like.. a big brother in-law. After all, he bailed her out of her holding cell after she’d caught Sasuke cheating with that bimbo redhead from chemistry. It was a wonder why he kept the kind of company that he did; the run-ins she’d endured over the last few months since her split with Sasuke had soured her to the whole ‘Akatsuki’ gang. Just a bunch of sleazy womanizers. It’d been quite a few months since that had occured, and Kimiko and Sasuke were growing steadily more attached to one another, once again. Not nearly close to the way they were, before the letters ( still unknown to Sasuke ) and his decision to plant the seed of everlasting insecurity within her by betraying her trust for the opportunity to mesh face with someone new. For a short while before Itachi’s death, Kimi had arrived to parties solely to keep the recently hotheaded Uchiha in line. She was his designated stormbreaker, and was expected to deliver him home safely each night that he took things a bit too far. Those incidents didn’t come without their rewards, such as the few instances in which he’d cling to her in his drunken and drug-addled stupor, apologize profusely and confess his everlasting love.. Just to slip away into sleep seconds afterwards. Admittedly, Kimiko would entertain the heartache of such a prentendedly wholehearted and pure moment before ultimately lapsing to silent tears and peeling herself from his side to take her quiet leave from his shared home. More than a few times, Itachi and the Tamashi would share a quiet and lingering look across the front room. Now that he’s departed, Kimiko often wishes she would have sat next to him and allow herself a single shred of comfort from the situation she’d found herself in. His stare had always been a little somber: Like he knew all of the things that she was shoving beneath the surface. Was this going to be her lingering reality? Harboring this blood-stained secret, playing guardian angel to a haphazard boy whom broke her heart but didn’t manage to drown her love? Perhaps she should’ve asked the wise Uchiha Itachi, before it became too late. Even if she grew back what was left of her mauled heart to learn how to forgive him, Kimiko knew now that a life of romance and love was never going to be the same, for her. Not with old memories dredged back up and spot-lit like fresh wounds, vague yet promising threats from her imprisoned and somehow still imposing father appearing two more times since that first letter made it to her porch step. Sasuke had changed faces and become someone new overnight; he squandered all of his previous promises of her being his one and only — and it elicited a violent response that her father had only just forewarned her of inheriting. Perhaps this was just her destiny, after all. Tonight would be different, in a sense: Kimiko was attending this senior year halloween party solely for herself. She wasn’t trailing in on Sasuke’s colonged scent, nor was she couped up at home until the siren call came and beckoned her to act as ‘Sasuke Uchiha clean-up crew’. She was here to cook up some fun of her own, solely for herself.. Which is precisely what she had told herself at the last party she attended three weeks ago for ‘Homecoming.’ That night tumbled away into a mess of limbs beneath trashed bedsheets: Sasuke and Kimiko had once again found the most intimate form of comfort in one another’s arms, for the first time in.. 8 months. Tonight would be different. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Did she actually just put all of this effort into her costume for the hopes that it would catch his attention above any other girl there? Was she hoping for a similar end to this mixed-bag night as the last party lured them to? Perhaps. It was mostly for herself, though. Yes, the tight black latex zippered corset, a pair of short spandex that clung to her hips and ass like it was life or death, the heeled boots that cut off just below her knee and the tights that squeezed her curved thighs just at their most voluptuous circumference.. The feathered black wings attached to her back and the headband horns adorning her crown .. All the way down to her perfected makeup, the dark tinge to her lips and the dash of gloss at the very center.. It was all for her. Not to grab the attention of anyone who bothered looking her way, and certainly not to make his jaw drop. Once again, her phone buzzes from its place stashed between her breasts. With a sigh that exhales the last puff of her menthol cigarette, ( thank you, Shikamaru ) Kimi plucks the it from her corset and unlocks the device. A strange twist of disappointment curls her stomach when the texts popping up were just from the girls. Perhaps it was a tad childish to wish upon a ball of gas in the sky that Sasuke would reach out to her: provide some sort of hint that he was interested in seeing her tonight — that he wasn’t already wrapped up in some other nameless skank. Instead, it was just Ino and Sakura, buzzing at her ear like flies and wanting to know ‘��Where the hell ’ she was. They made plans to pick her up, but Kimi had different plans for herself. Already outside the party house, the fallen angel runs out the cherry of her pregame cigarette against the side of a white Prius. It belonged to one specific redhead from junior year chemistry class. If she knew what was good for her, that bitch would keep a healthy distance from the Uchiha, and a restraining-order distance from the Tamashi herself. The rest of her flask is guzzled with little more than a post-swallow wince: the fire of honey whiskey lit her back to life. She’d shared swigs with the passenger seat of Ms. White Prius — poor decision to leave the windows open a crack. Now that her confidence was rightly bolstered by liquid courage and her anxious insecurities settled with those two cigarettes, Kimiko pulls herself off the car. She throws a single backward kick of her heel and dents the door, donning a wicked smirk as she heads up the walkway and pushes inside. The damn wings of a fallen angel knock against the doorway — but they’ll provide a healthy bubble of distance from everyone else around her as the crowd parts around her. If she learned anything from the parties she’d attended in the last year — it was to make a b-line from the front ( or back ) door straight to the booze selection.

Although she was already feeling that hot buzz of spirits in her blood, Kimiko needed to secure a drink to clutch for the rest of the night. Any time something stupid was said, any time something unforgivable was done, she would take a drink. And if Sasuke was seen with another girl, after what happened between them at the Homecoming party three weeks ago, and how often she’s been at his apartment and patiently helping him sort through his emotions, after everything that happened between them.. Well, she’d guzzle the whole cup and then someone else’s, too. Maybe crack a skull, pluck a tooth off of the floor for keepsake.. Ino and Sakura have flocked to her side, bubbling with astonished compliments as well as soured remarks on the Tamashi’s disappearance. The familiar crimson of slow boiling rage starts to fade away from the corners of her vision. She’s standing at the kitchen counter, red plastic cup empty and surveying the options. “ Holy wow, Kimi! You look gorgeous. ” Sakura, the little angel of their trio, chimes in at her left. On her right shoulder, Ino the devil shares her opinion. “ Gorgeous? Fuck that. Kimiko looks drop dead sexy. This is definitely an ex-revenge costume. ” Silent as ever ( at least, as she’d become over the last year ) the fallen angel reaches for the rum, rolling her thumb over the cap and flicking it across the marble counter. It glugs liquid fire into her empty cup while Sakura wraps around her arm and tucks her head against Kimi’s shoulder ( a good sign that she was inebriated, herself ). “ Ex-revenge costume? How’s she supposed to get revenge from an outfit? ” The naive pinkette asks. Ino scoffs, “ Are you kidding me? Do you know how many guys have cracked their necks just to gawk at her? I counted six, just on her trip from the front door to the kitchen. ” Kimiko adds a splash of tequila into the mix, as well as the rest of someone’s open redbull can. Then comes the mixer: some sort of grapefruit soda, and a lime. Like, a whole half. She likes the bite. “ And other guys looking at her is supposed to be.. revengeful? ” Sakura questions after slipping from Kimiko’s arm, their polar opposite wings knocking against one another in her clumsy step to shoot a questioning look to their blonde-haired and red-clad she-devil. A hand comes up to Ino’s forehead as she sighs. “ Oh my god, I knew you had too much of my Prosecco. ” Sakura makes to protest, and Kimiko ( who has yet to acknowledge them or make an expression of either distaste or amusement ) takes a tasting swig of her drink. It wasn’t bad, but maybe it needs more grapefruit soda. “ The more attention she gets from other guys, the more jealous Sasuke is gonna get. She gives him a taste of what he’s missing out on. ” Ino explains. Sakura pretends to understand, but she’s never been the type for manipulative revenge schemes. Her payback is served with a crack of her knuckles. Meanwhile, Kimiko uses a healthy balance of the two methods of torture. Even still, as both girls bicker over whether it was a good idea to lure that side out of Sasuke ( especially in lieu of his recent loss ) or to move on like he didn’t exist, Kimiko scanned the crowd for his unforgettable features. They had no idea of what happened between the two at that last party; they didn’t know about his once thorny exterior quickly becoming dependent on her emotional support through this difficult time, nor how she honestly felt concerned and protective over him despite still trying to figure out how to forgive him ( or if she even had the kindness left in her to accomplish such a feat ). At last, they’d found each other through the writhing mass of bodies mingling, dancing, flirting, and drinking in a kaleidoscope of lights. Yellow high-beams meet swimming pools of obsidian over the rim of her cup. The whole world deafens and stills around them: despite the five yards of distance that separated the two, Kimiko swore she could hear his shaky exhale as he drinks in her visage — wonders briefly if he could somehow hear the tripping thrum of her heartbeat as her stare flickers over his own devilishly desirable costume. Pulling her lips from her drink, the fallen vixen swipes bubblegum tongue quickly over her lip and offers a little wink across the room ( unseen from her female counterparts ). Let’s hope this doesn’t backfire.

#suck-my-tomato #are you ready for this mayhem #verse; highschool #oneshot; wickedparty #tw; alcohol #tw; trauma mention #tw; death mention

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proudfreakmetarusonikku · 3 years

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anyway I need to go to bed but I have too much energy so I am channeling it into headcanons. here u go species headcanons for Everyone on the Dream smp with explanations because I’ve put a TON of thought into this. They’re probably like half contradicted by canon but fuck it My City Now.

Dream- A (juvenile) stage of being a god. He, DreamXD, and Drista have become known as “dreamons” but that’s technically a separate species, all spawned from them. He's not really focused on being worshipped in his own right, preferring power in the mortal realm, though he’s not averse to pretending to be his brother (the god worshipped by Church Prime) or his sister (a minor goddess of death worshipped by many hidden cults) if it can help him get power. He’s got pure white skin everywhere except his face (which is pale but human-like), black blood, entirely green eyes, pointed ears, fangs, claws, and digitigrade legs ending in hoof-like claws.

George- A human, the only human on the whole server. Humans are pretty rare, vastly outnumbered by hybrids but outnumbering any other species, and “pure” humans (what we'd consider to be a completely normal appearing human) are all but nonexistent. For example, George has eyes with dark sclera and white irises.

Sapnap- A blaze hybrid. He’s got a few rods surrounding him and his eyes blaze with fire. It’s usually just warm but not hot enough to hurt but if he's agitated or upset it can easily burn hot enough to set things ablaze.

Callahan- A reindeer hybrid. He’s got antlers, reindeer ears, fur around his arms, and hooves.

Awesamdude- A creeper hybrid. He's tauric, with four insect like legs. His skin and is green and mottled and has a texture similar to leaves. His eyes are pitch black. He has a tendency to make hissing sounds when stressed, though he can’t explode like a full blooded creeper.

Alyssa- A mouse hybrid, with large mouse ears and a long tail. This definitely isn’t an in joke for the thousands of hours I spent browsing TVTropes as a child and the “what happened to the mouse” tROPE SHUT UP.

Ponk- A demon hybrid, with pointed ears, slit pupils, a small spaded tail, and small horns.

BadBoyHalo- A full blooded demon, with pointed ears, a tall stature, pitch black skin and hair, fangs, claws, hooves, a long spaded tail, long horns, and small bat like wings. He’s rather self conscious about how intimidating he looks. He's also a lich (with Skeppy as his phylactery) which is why he has pure white eyes (a trait the undead share).

TommyInnit- An absolute mess, genetic wise, since I’m taking Tommy's joke about being born in a lab and running with it. He's mostly angel, and was basically cloned from Phil's DNA (from a feather that fell off his wings that somehow someone got a hold of) but had a bunch of other hybrid and human DNA mixed in to make him somewhat stable enough to actually survive gestation. He has very small, dark wings that are useful for balance and little else, fangs, claws, and pointed ears. His bones are very light, making him fragile but a lot more dexterous. His blood is slightly off a human's, being slightly pinkish. His freckles, wings, blood, and eyes glow slightly and are patterned like the night sky. Technically undead as of his resurrection, and maintains the many injuries of his death permanently (bruises stay and don’t heal but don’t worsen, broken limbs can be moved at unnatural angles, ect.), pale, corpse like skin, and one of his eyes turned pure white.

Tubbo- A ram hybrid, with small curved ram horns, horizontal pupils, ram ears, a tail, and hooves. Nice and simple after the absolute mess that was Tommy.

Fundy- A limited shapeshifter, able to change his species, though he prefers to be in a fox-like form. He inherited this from Sally, who had similar abilities, though with more strength. He's always got certain features he inherited from each parent that he can’t change though- wings, pale skin, and ice-like freckles from Wilbur, and salmon scales coating his wings and cheeks, and ginger-and-white hair from Sally.

Punz- A dragon hybrid, with dark horns, dark sclera and slit pupils, wings just large enough for limited flight, a strong tail, fangs, claws, and blue scales coating his cheeks, wings, tail, arms, and legs. Has a natural inclination to sleep in a pile of his wealth he only holds off on when he feels it’s at risk of being stolen (which, since this is the Dream SMP, is almost constantly).

Purpled- An enderman hybrid, with small horns, pointed ears, purple blood, and ender particles surrounding him. Parts of his arms and legs are covered in leathery, pure black skin.

Wilbur- Half angel, half fucking refrigerator because cc!Wilbur hates us (affectionate). His skin is unnaturally, icy pale, and his blood is an icy blue. His freckles are the colour of ice reflecting. He's got wings from his father, large enough to glide, but they’re pale coloured and slightly transparent. He has fangs claws, and pointy ears. His blood, wings, and eyes glow slightly and are patterned like the night sky. As Ghostbur, he’s got the injuries of his death apparent at all times, though they don’t hinder him or cause him pain, corpse like skin, pure white eyes, and is permanently transparent.

JSchlatt- A ram hybrid. He’s got large ram horns, dark sclera and horizontal pupils, a ram tail, fur around his arms, and hooves.

Skeppy- A construct made to be Bad's phylactery. He's fully made of diamond, and appears as a moving human statue (though entirely made out of diamond), though he has limited shape shifting ability to change his “hair” and “clothes”, though he has to remain the same mass. He has some small red detailing on him out of redstone (which was used partially in his contruction). The egg flipped the red and teal in his colour scheme. Also he's smalllllllllllll.

Eret- Part ghost, due to being descended from Herobrine. She has pure white eyes, pointy ears, and under stress he becomes partially transparent. They tend to hide their nonhuman features (ears under hair or hats and eyes under sunglassses) and are often mistaken for human.

Jack Manifold- Started as a wolf hybrid, with large wolf ears and a tail. After dying, he came back from hell as a hellhound with red and blue “flames” coming from his eyes, ears, and replacing his missing tail he lost in one of his deaths with two made of this fire. The fire is chillingly cold to the touch, and not warm. His eyes are also monocolour, though in heterochromatic red and blue instead of the usual pure white found in undead.

Niki- A moth hybrid, with antennae, monocolour amber eyes, fluffy wings, and more fluff around her neck, wrists, and torso. These and her hair are patterned gold and black, though as of now she’s dyed them all pink. Idk I just feel like moths fit her for some reason.

Quackity- A duck hybrid, with golden wings and webbed hands and feet. He’s also a shapeshifter of sorts, however instead of shifting into different forms he shifts into different beings, from alternate realities that never came to be. These can be used to shift into near identical copies of those around him, to impersonate them, or to shift into alternate versions of people (like Mexican Dream to Dream). These aren’t Quackity, though, and as such they have their own pool of canon lives, and while he has lots of influence over them they can still act autonomously.

Karl Jacobs- An inter dimensional being made of time itself. While his current form is mostly human, he has technicolour rainbow blood, freckles, and patches on his skin, along with clock-shaped pupils that change with the time. His “natural” form is a vaguely humanoid mess of ever shifting colour.

HBomb- I didn’t know what to do with him at first- he was a cow hybrid in my pfp set- but I just think the idea of him being a chill cat hybrid who turns full nyaa whenever he’s in a maid dress to be funny so he’s a cat hybrid now. With dyed-white cat ears and a dyed-white cat tail.

Technoblade- A piglin hybrid primarily, but he’s definitely got some weird traces of other species. He’s got tusks, pink hair, pink pig ears, a pig tail, and hooves, but he’s also got paws from some other animal hybridisation in his blood, and has a tallness that suggests demon blood somewhere down the line. His red eyes aren’t natural, and only occurred after he was sacrificed to be the vessel of the Blood God.

Antfrost- A cat hybrid, with blond and brown fur, a cat tail, paws both on his hands and feet, and cat ears. He’s also got split pupils and blue sclerae (though a different shade to his irises).

Philza- An angel- the creation of a god or goddess to help serve them (Dreamon's would be an example of the angels the Dream's can create, though they’re primarily running wild nowadays.) The creation and servant of one of the gods of death, Kristen, to serve her in the mortal realm. He’s got very large feathered dark wings, pupilless unnaturally bright eyes, pointy ears, fangs, claws, and dark blood the colour of the night sky. His wings, eyes, freckles and blood glow brightly and are patterned like the night sky. Injuries reveal that he's fully inhuman under his skin, appearing to be a void of colour that also glows and is patterned like the night sky. His crows, who are messengers from the afterlife, have this same pattern on their feathers.

Conner- I don’t know much about him tbh but. He’s just a hedgehog hybrid. I mean he’s joked enough about canonically being the kid of Sonic and Elise. He’s got blue hedgehog ears and a tail, and blue spines mixed in with his dark hair.

Captain Puffy- A sheep hybrid, with small curled sheep horns, sheep ears, a fluffy sheep tail, hooves, and hair curly and soft like wool. The split in her hair between brown and white is natural, though she keeps a small section dyed rainbow.

Vikkstar- Another angel, though of a god long gone. His entire body, even his “clothes” (which are made of flesh) glow intensely bright and have the pattern of the night sky.

LazarBeam- A gingerbread hybrid, which I’d say is dumb but we’ve already had a refrigerator hybrid so. I don’t know what else to say here.

Ranboo- Half enderman, half god of some sort. Has small horns, pointy ears, an inhumanly wide mouth with fangs, claws, digitigrade feet ending in hoof-like claws, pure black and white skin, pure black and white hair and freckles on the opposite side of the skin, red and green heterochromatic eyes barely distinguishable from their sclera, and red and green blood. Hmm, I wonder what other character shares similar descriptions... :)

FoolishG- A more matured god than Dream. Appears to be made entirely out of gold, with his hair and freckles appearing like copper. His pure green eyes have a similar texture to emeralds. Also he’s like. Massive. He’s like eleven Skeppy's.

Hannah- A nymph of the forests. Has prehensile vines and flowers flowing in her hair all the way to the ground, and half of her face and one of her arms are entirely made of these prehensile vines and flowers. Makes flowers grow in her step, after being corrupted by the egg they wither around her instead.

Charlie- Slime hybrid. Honestly just kind of got the most impractical parts of being a hybrid, having random sections of skin changed into green slime which drips everywhere and kind of gets in the way. It doesn’t seem to bother him though.

#my headcanons #making that a tab cause this was fun to write #dream smp #dsmp #dream smp headcanons #dsmp headcanons #dsmp species #dream smp species #the whole dsmp cast #literally all of them #excluding npcs #but including Mexican dream and Drista technically!#under a read more because LONG #i wasn’t joking when I said I did everyone

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weirwoodking · 4 years

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what do you think sansa's endgame is? and i'm not talking ships. like what do you think she'll be doing by the time the books end.

Anon, you accidentally made me write an essay.

So, to try and guess where Sansa could be at the end of the story, we have to look at where she’s heading currently.

She’s currently in the Vale, stuck under the control of Littlefinger. I think Sansa’s arc in TWOW will revolve around breaking free of his manipulation. There’s a line in Bran’s first ASOS chapter that seems to foreshadow this:

Sometimes he could sense them, though, as if they were still with him, only hidden from his sight by a boulder or a stand of trees. He could not smell them, nor hear their howls by night, yet he felt their presence at his back . . . all but the sister they had lost. His tail drooped when he remembered her. Four now, not five. Four and one more, the white who has no voice.

These woods belonged to them, the snowy slopes and stony hills, the great green pines and the golden leaf oaks, the rushing streams and blue lakes fringed with fingers of white frost. But his sister had left the wilds, to walk in the halls of man-rock where other hunters ruled, and once within those halls it was hard to find the path back out. The wolf prince remembered.

—Bran I, A Storm of Swords

It’s hard to find the path back out, but not impossible. I do believe Sansa will return to “the wilds” that belong to her and her siblings.

George was asked once if Sansa still has skinchanging powers even though Lady is gone, and he said she does. We’ll probably see that aspect of her character start to make an appearance in Winds, especially since the presence of magic ramps up with each book. I think it would make sense if she bonded with a bird (such as a falcon or a hawk), seeing as she has quite a lot of bird imagery (particularly caged bird imagery) in her story. Sansa “flying free”, both literally and figuratively, seems like a logical step for her arc.

I do wonder how her connection with the “pack” will be handled. All of the Stark kids except for Sansa have the telepathic bond through their wolves, so I wonder what GRRM will do with Sansa there. It’s heartbreaking, that she doesn’t have that mental connection that the others do. I don’t know if that could somehow be reformed without Lady? There are a lot of unanswered questions about the Stark kids skinchanging powers (and the telepathic bond). Why did their powers only show up when the wolves did? How far do their powers go? How powerful could they become once they’re properly trained? How does the telepathic bond work? Is that a thing that other skinchangers can do? Is it there because of the wolves or is it through the kids themselves? Is it forever broken with Sansa because Lady is gone, or could Sansa reform that connection through another wolf that joins the Stark warg pack? Would it make sense narratively and thematically for GRRM to give Sansa another wolf?

Anyway, no idea what he’ll do with that. (Some sort of scene where Sansa is like “I don’t have a wolf anymore”, and then all the other Starklings crowd around her for a giant group hug and say “that’s okay, you’re still a part of the pack no matter what” is something I could see happening. It’s not like the other kids would treat her any less for not having a direwolf, she’s still their sister.)

A common speculation I see for Sansa’s endgame is that she could become the new head of House Arryn. And, well, the aesthetic of Sansa being Lady of the Eyrie/Lord Protector of the Vale/Warden of the East is definitely cool. The Queen of Birds up in a mountain palace with her flock all around her like a winged army? That’s some gorgeous imagery.

But...

I don’t think Sansa would ever willingly choose to stay in the Vale if she had the option to go home to Winterfell:

She awoke all at once, every nerve atingle. For a moment she did not remember where she was. She had dreamt that she was little, still sharing a bedchamber with her sister Arya. But it was her maid she heard tossing in sleep, not her sister, and this was not Winterfell, but the Eyrie. And I am Alayne Stone, a bastard girl. The room was cold and black, though she was warm beneath the blankets. Dawn had not yet come. Sometimes she dreamed of Ser Ilyn Payne and woke with her heart thumping, but this dream had not been like that. Home. It was a dream of home.

The Eyrie was no home.

—Sansa VII, A Storm of Swords

One of the largest themes in the stories of the younger POV characters (Theon, Jon, Dany, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon (even though he’s not a POV character)) is that of home. Just go on A Search of Ice and Fire and search for the word “home” in each of those characters’ chapters. I think Sansa will end up at her home, with her pack. We know she must return at Winterfell at some point, as she has the final part of this prophecy to fulfill:

"I dreamt a wolf howling in the rain, but no one heard his grief," the dwarf woman was saying. "I dreamt such a clangor I thought my head might burst, drums and horns and pipes and screams, but the saddest sound was the little bells. I dreamt of a maid at a feast with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow."

—Arya VIII, A Storm of Swords

The wolf howling in the rain is Grey Wind (or Shaggydog/Rickon, since it’s raining on Skagos when Jon dreams of his “black brother”), the clangor is the Red Wedding and the bells are the ones on Jinglebell’s hat when Catelyn sawed at his throat, and the maid at the feast is Sansa. And Sansa will “slay a savage giant in a castle built of snow.” That castle is obviously Winterfell, although the fandom has yet to concretely agree on who the “savage giant” is.

Evidently, Sansa will return to Winterfell, and she probably has to get there before winter really starts setting in, or else the journey would be nearly impossible in the deadly weather. So, probably at some point in the next book.

Now, I believe that there’s a big moment coming for Sansa in TWOW: the moment where she unrepresses/uncovers her memories. Sansa knows a lot of important things. She knows the truth about Jon Arryn, she knows that her hair net was used to poison Joffrey, she knows that Littlefinger was involved in the disappearance of Jeyne Poole. Sansa’s memory swapping/adjusting/erasing/repressing (whatever you wanna call it) is important to her character. It’s her brain’s way of coping with the trauma she’s been through.

I think that one of these memories coming to the forefront is going to trigger something big: Littlefinger’s downfall. I speculate that what will most likely come out in the open first is what happened to Jeyne Poole. Sansa finding out what Baelish did to her closest childhood friend could definitely be what turns her against him.

Warning, I’m going to mention the sh*w here for a second. George has said that he wrote Sansa and Jeyne’s interactions into season 1, and that he tried to build Jeyne as a character, but her scenes were cut by the showrunners. Clearly, George cares about her, her friendship with Sansa, and her value in the story, he was very upset about the deletion of her character and of Sansa’s friendship with her.* I believe the reveal of what happened to Jeyne will be a major part of Sansa’s story in Winds. She’s repressed her memories of Jeyne and her disappearance because it is, understandably, too much for her mind to handle thinking about.

The reveal of this memory could be a catalyst to the other memories coming forward, especially since they involve Littlefinger. I think Sansa will be a key part in wrapping up the political aspect of the story, she can reveal the truth of why the Stark-Lannister conflict began all the way back in book 1. She can expose Littlefinger’s lies and schemes. That’s where I think her narrative is heading, at least in TWOW.

I’m not sure what Sansa’s story arc will be in ADOS (I’m not sure what anyone’s story will be in ADOS, but Sansa’s is a bit more of a blank page than others). If the Littlefinger conflict gets wrapped up in TWOW, I don’t know where her story will go from there. Supposedly, she could be in Winterfell at that point. What will happen then… well, then it’s Long Night time. Sansa is not one of the “key five players” (Tyrion, Dany, Arya, Bran, and Jon), but I still think she’ll have an important role in the book. I think Sansa and Arya’s relationship is something that will be focused on a lot through both of their chapters in the final novel. We’re going to see Ned’s quote, “you need her, as she needs you”, really matter.

No matter where her arc goes over the next two books, though, I do think she’ll end up at Winterfell. And like I said, I don’t think Sansa would choose to leave her home again after returning. I think that her story will end with her staying at Winterfell with the other kids. The Stark children would never willingly leave each other after reuniting. Jon literally describes the separation from his siblings as “a deep ache of emptiness, a sense of incompleteness.” And, of course, the iconic line Ned delivers to Arya: “The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives.” I don’t see any of their endings being them as “lone wolves” again.

So, to answer your question, I think the endgame for Sansa will be her back in Winterfell with her family, where she belongs, where she is strongest. I do suspect, however, that there will be some sort of epilogue at the end of ADOS, possibly a “10 years later” or somewhere along those lines. Where she’ll be then, I have no idea. She’ll probably be involved with something politically by then, like ruling or advising.

*Based on what George himself has said about the show’s post-season 4 portrayal of Sansa, I don’t think her story will be similar in any way to the show’s very different version of her character (same goes for everyone). George is typically very mild when talking about the show, saying stuff like “they chose to go down a different path with the story”, but this is one of the only times he flat out criticized the show for how wrong it is. He was very upset the show cut out her storyline. He has also said that “every character has a different end” in the books. So take from that what you will.

#this got really long wow #but i feel like the most interesting and important parts of sansa’s story are going to be what she does in the next two books #not necessarily where she ends up at the end #imo #anon #ask #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #asoiaf meta #sansa stark #twow #ados

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writeiolite · 4 years

Text

petals

plot: here lies the love story of nishinoya, the commoner boy who married into the royal family, and y/n, his childhood best friend and royal guard. try as he might, nishinoya fails to impress y/n when she’s always the one saving him, but one seemingly magical night might change that.

wc: 9,009

a/n: MRS. SKI!!! @nixhinoya ♡ where do i start... i am endlessly thankful for you and this commission. thank u for challenging me and being patient with me and so kind and caring all the time. i value u so much and ur so important to me i can’t even begin to express it. im so happy to have u in my life and i hope it’s forever ^^ pls enjoy this fic!! i hope spending time with prince noya is worth it c:

[ ! ] if you want to use this fic in a reading video (like ASMR or smth), please dm me and get my permission first

. . . ♡ — crossposted to my AO3

“Once upon a time, there was a really dumb prince.”

“Hey!”

“And I mean really dumb. Astronomically dumb!”

“I heard that!”

“And his name was Prince Nishinoya.”

Whether he should stop you or wait to see how this plays out, he isn’t quite sure. It’s not as though he doesn’t know — it’s the story he’s most familiar with. The “Story of Stories” as he liked to call it. It’s the one legend he’s most proud of since becoming King.

The story of how you two fell in love.

Coming from a family of royal knights, your fate was set. You’d take on the same career as both your parents and be happy with it. In that day and age, it was typical, especially if your family has any sort of relation to the Royal Family. Still, you couldn’t fathom the idea at first — following in their footsteps just because they said so? No siree. Count Y/N out.

But then Nishinoya relayed the news to you.

Or rather, his step-father relayed the news to your mother who relayed the news to you. “Same difference,” Noya always said flippantly, not understanding his own contradictions either.

Anyway, the news. The biggest news of the century that changed your life sorta-almost-maybe forever. It had the maids gossiping even outside their housing, and that’s saying something in a world where talk will get you everywhere a criminal walks. Have you ever seen a spooked cat run away with its tail curled and back arched, slightly sideways but out of sight just as quick? That’s usually how the maids acted when they got caught gossiping about the Royal Family, especially when it’s a member of the Royal Family.

But they didn’t consider their new Queen to be royal, and they certainly didn’t accept the child prince either.

“They’re commoners marrying into the family after the late Queen — I don’t see why they’re any different than us.”

“I bet there’s a big scandal behind how they met. There’s no way the King would just marry a random woman.”

“He’s probably getting too old to find someone actually suitable. Gotta get an heir quick, I say.”

And then they’d boldly laugh and go about their business, completely unconcerned for the consequences because what could a commoner Queen do?

Boy, if only they knew.

For as long as you’ve known her, Nishinoya’s mother was a gift from heaven graced with the power of hell. Think angelic looks only when she’s in a good mood, horns and a tail sprouting from her otherwise. You’d never say that as a child, fearing the backlash she could give with her swinging hand, but you damn well thought it.

You thought it was scary when she got onto you two “troublesome brats” as kids — cross your childish heart, you really did! But the second you saw her ripping into the maids for their gossiping about her son, you had to reconsider where the line for fear starts and admiration began. It was like her angel wings were aflame, casting a horrific shadow over the faces of the maids (who were soon fired) for their turn of speech. There was definitely more to it, something like a cape of heroism flowing off her shoulders and a valiant sword in hand — a savior in all definitions of the word — but you didn’t need to stick around and risk getting burned yourself.

From that day forward, Nishinoya’s mother had unknowingly sealed your fate as her future daughter-in-law with her inspiring knightly efforts. Why, what else would you want to be if not a heroic royal knight?

The training to become a royal knight was brutal, to say the least, but you were prepared and diligent. “Lookin’ sharp, but I bet I’m better,” was something Noya always said while passing by. As the Crown Prince, he didn’t get a lot of time to chat with a knight-in-training, even if you two were still quite young. You’d come home with new bruises and achy muscles as a reminder for your hard work, your father offering a proud smile each time. Proud… or was it sympathetic?

“It’ll get better,” he would whisper, shooting a wink at your mother who would come in behind you. Apparently you weren’t the first pupil she had.

Even so, there was a reason you were trained by your parents (“Your mother, not him!”). A reason that you hadn’t known until the news was relayed to you in some other inefficient way. If it was supposed to be a surprise, it definitely worked on everyone no matter who in the grapevine knew about it. And it certainly worked for a certain brunet prince.

“You?” A small finger in your face makes your eyes cross, but you tap it away with a grin that matches his.

“Yup! I found out this morning after my last day of training! Isn’t that great? We’ll be together forever now!”

Forever is quite a long time, but at that age, it seemed like the natural thing. As higher ranking royal knights, your parents have worked close to the King forever, and now you’re to do the same for Prince Nishinoya Yuu.

Ah, if only it were that easy.

“You really think you’re a prince now, huh? Put a fancy crown on and suddenly you’re better than us?”

You heard it before you saw it — the familiar commoner accent, the rallied snide remarks, and the sinking sound of a fist or knee launching itself into someone’s gut. The shouts grow louder as your feet carry you faster and faster toward the commotion that you already predicted would happen eventually, you just really hoped you wouldn’t have to be the one to settle any disputes.

But it’s Nishinoya — of course, you’d have to do this for your prince.

“What gives you the right to lay hands on His Majesty?!” You throw yourself between your friend and your… former friends, arms outstretched and back tall even though the group of boys are much taller than you. They notice that, surely, and don’t back down, their knuckles cracking and fists grinding into palms with wry grins on their dirtied faces.

And much like the guardian angel you witnessed before, you keep them away from Nishinoya as swift and best as possible with the skills you were taught. Honestly, with how quick they are to retreat after you knock down one of them, you wonder why Nishinoya had a hard time in the first place. Sure, those boys are older than you two and a couple towered over you, but with his little brags, you expected just a bit more from him.

“You’re kinda hopeless, aren’t you?” you tease, pulling him up from the ground.

With defiance burning in his eyes and searing into you, Nishinoya sniffles up the blood that was threatening to slip down his upper lip from his bruised nose. “It won’t happen again, I swear on my life. They just caught me off guard and ambushed me like a buncha cowards!”

With his arms crossed and chin tilted, Nishinoya narrows his eyes at you. Up then down, his gaze moves, until he gives you a nod.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just don’t count on getting hurt while I’m ‘round.”

Hurt? You inspect your hands and arms before looking at your pants next, unable to find even a speck of dust. “I’m not- hey, wait up!”

Following behind Nishinoya became a normal thing for you after that, especially when he took it upon himself to somehow wander off the royal grounds and get caught up with angry commoners. You’d think he’d learn better, but it was almost as if he was out looking for trouble. If you weren’t behind him, you were in front of him trying to clean up his messes. If you weren’t in front of him, you were beside him, making sure he was okay and keeping him company. Year and year went like this until finally, finally, Nishinoya had found something to protect you from.

“Whoa there!” With a tight grip, a sign that he’s maybe unaware of his own strength, Nishinoya pulls you close to him, yanking you off course. By your luck, you don’t find your footing, but that’s okay, maybe that’s what he needed anyway. You can feel the warmth radiating through his thin summer sleeves as his arms wrap around you. “Be careful there, Y/N! You could’ve twisted your ankle or worse.”

You only need to scan the area briefly to see that he’s referring to the sudden dip in the ground, but you highly doubt that would’ve injured you any worse than your heart skipping a beat. Which is exactly what your heart is doing now for a different reason. “Uh, I think I’m okay…”

“You sure?” He sounds a little too disappointed, but he doesn’t let go of you. “I can carry you if you can’t walk.”

At that, you can’t help the laugh that slips through your lips, but you hold in the rest before you can hurt his pride. “Noya, I’m fine,” you insist, pulling out of his hold. “If anything, you look a little red.”

On cue, his cheeks get a little pinker, but he plays it off with his classic, obnoxiously loud laugh and pushes you along. “It’s just hot out!”

“We can go back insi-”

“No, no, no!” Nishinoya keeps pushing you along, that smile burned into his rosy cheeks and eyes creased like he won the lottery. Or like he’s hiding something. “I’d rather stay out here and get some fresh air. Plus, you know the walls talk.”

Of course, you know. They like to do more than talk, but you’ve kept Nishinoya away from that much for as long as you’ve worked for him. Little ventures outside in the garden his step-father owns are the safest place for private talks and moments of freedom. You’d even go so far to say that the royal bedrooms have rats.

“You don’t have to accompany me everywhere, y’know,” he mentions, hands in his pockets as he finally decides to walk alongside you now. “I’m sure I’d be safe out here.”

You nod along. “I know. But with your courting ball coming up, I might as well stick with you in case someone gets any silly ideas.” You definitely meant someone infatuated by him, but with the look on his face, you suspect he assumed you meant him. Considering his track record…

“I’m not gonna run off or something,” he pouts.

“I hope you won’t. I don’t need my job to be any harder,” you joke, but Nishinoya scowls.

“You think I purposely try to make it hard on you?”

“What? No that’s not what I meant…” Uh oh…

While he usually wears his heart on his sleeve and his emotions on his chest, your best friend’s expression is bordering unreadable right now. You two have stopped walking and even the breeze doesn’t interrupt you, leaving the two of you at a standstill. At times like these, you can usually figure him out and soothe the crease between his brows, but you wonder if you’re the cause right now.

“Well, don’t worry about that,” he starts with more assurance and confidence than you’ve ever heard. “I’ll make sure you don’t have to protect me like you did when we were kids.”

You believe him this time, but if that were the case then there’d probably be no use for you in the palace, and something tells you the hole that’d leave in your heart wouldn’t be repairable.

“Right,” you agree with a soft smile, cheeks tight and jaw clenched. If he notices, he doesn’t push for more out of you, and you’re oddly grateful for the small gestures to keep you “out of harm’s way” in the safely confined garden.

And if the garden is meant to be a piece of paradise, the Royal Training Grounds are a piece of hell that rose up out of the magma (shortly after Nishinoya’s mother). Even as an adult, you still have to occasionally train with your mother watching over you, sweat pouring down your temples and limbs numb from following the same sequence over and over. It couldn’t be helped — the new knights needed someone experienced to spar with and you don’t have to accompany Nishinoya when he has royal studies, luckily.

You don’t really know what’s worse, sitting through a boring lesson, having a wooden sword rattle your elbow when the junior knights successfully land a hit, or seeing the Prince waving at you from afar, getting closer and closer in his own sparring clothes.

“Mind if I join you?”

Of course, no one can say no, each of you kneeling before him with the utmost respect despite the surprise visit. Not a moment more and Nishinoya was facing off with you, insistent that you use a real sword because he’s “not afraid of a little butter knife”… Really, it’s the user he should be afraid of, but you didn’t want to burst his bubble.

That came after when you pinned him on his back, your shiny butter knife to his throat and sweat on his brow.

“I went easy on you so you could warm-up,” he lies as you let him stand. Not for long, though, for he’s already swiveling around to dodge your incessant strikes, barely able to keep his footing. Perhaps you should go a little easy on your monarch, but there’s something about the smile that plays on his lips as his tongue peaks through that makes you want to push him just a little harder. Restraint and caution seem to come after the familiar comfort you feel with him, and the smile planted on your face grows with each parry and exchange.

“You know,” Nishinoya sucks in a sharp breath as you narrowly miss his shoulder, “it’s okay if you need to take a break.”

Even in the midst of blocking his next move, you don’t miss the sweat that’s glistening on his brow. “I’ll think about it,” you answer with a coy smirk. A break? Yeah, you’ll give him one.

“Don’t think too ha-” The air jumps from his lungs suddenly, his eyes silly and wide as he stares up at you from the ground, flat on his back once again.

“Time for a break?” With your chest heaving and cheeks warm, you extend a hand to your friend, noting he’s not much better than you, if not a little worse. His cheeks are completely flushed red and his tongue flops uselessly in his mouth as he tries to come up with a response. If you could read his thoughts then would it be something along the lines of his usual quips, you wonder? By the way he grumbles under his breath, you figure so — he’s always been too easy to predict. That straightforward thinking of his is something you’re fond of, even when you tell him he should try being a bit more elusive.

“Elusive?”

Days later, the two of you sit on a blanket he dragged out of some closet, hiding away in the garden together after yet another run-in with some less-than-accepting royal foreigners. At this point, neither of you are surprised — more and more royals from far lands are journeying over to the kingdom for the upcoming ball even if not all of them approve of royalty being “tainted” by commoner blood. This time he leaves without scratches on his skin, but you can’t help but think about his heart too… You can’t stand in front of him and block verbal attacks.

“Yeah. Shouldn’t you make it less obvious that you’re up to something? It’s not good to wear your emotions on your face so blatantly when you’re being watched by so many people.” You pick at the grass, the flowers, your thoughts, his thoughts, and anything else within your reach.

Nishinoya shakes his head. “I’m not that readable. You don’t even have me figured out.”

“I’ve known you since I could walk,” you point out, leaning back on your hands now. Nishinoya, as you expected, snorts a laugh and gives you his full thoughts right there in his chocolate eyes and on that gooey grin.

“And you still don’t know everything about me. Meanwhile, I know everything about you.” He points an accusatory finger in your face and for some reason, you’re nervous about what he has to say next. You don’t have anything to hide… Right? “You have a crush on me, don’t you?”

The laugh that blows through your lips causes a little spittle to fly out, a hand coming up to cover your mouth as you laugh harder. “Did you hit your head when I beat you up the other day?!”

Even though neither of you drastically injured the other, Nishinoya looks at you like you’ve got two heads and he’s battling a concussion. The laughs only grow in amplitude, pushing away his silly question. Knock on wood… because that’s not something you can answer.

A crush is the last thing you have on your employer and best friend. The feelings you have for him have always been fond and that’s exactly why you get to keep this position. There aren’t many others who would stick up for him and his childish antics. And the more you think about it, the more ridiculous his question sounds. Did he mistake your closeness for romance? You’ve done nothing to give him that idea, right? You know all about him for sure: orange is his favorite color, spring is his favorite season, but a crush?

You recount the years with him while he’s thinking in his own world too, each of you remembering each moment the exact same but with one of you a bit more misguided than the other. There was the time you held hands as children until you were told it was inappropriate to continue doing so with adopted royalty. There were the times he’d invite you to his chambers to show you something and you’d lean close like you always did because it felt natural — safe. And the fonder memories were the ones in the village, walking around and seeing familiar faces that would let you two be yourselves in the confines of the diner you two both love. Those were the times that even you let yourself pretend you weren’t his knight and you were just his best friend all over again with your shoulders bumping, cheeks glowing with grins, and hearts racing from a good laugh.

Each memory evokes a familiar response within you — one you’ve always coined as fondness and elated joy when it swells warmly in your chest. As you get lost in them, you don’t hear Nishinoya mutter a “That wasn’t a no” with a smile of his own.

Besides, there are few times you could ever tell him no — not when your heart wants to tell him yes. Be it an amusing question or a short one like “Will you be accompanying me at the ball,” you manage to at least tell him yes to the last question when he asks, even if your chest tingles weirdly. Perhaps it’s a cold…!

A cold, chilling realization that this is his courting ball, and the Prince himself asked you to accompany him.

You could only barely imagine what kind of extravagant and detailed threads would be laced through the expensive fabric on his shoulders, everything glittering and shimmering in some eye-catching way to appeal to the guests and a future wife. It’s cliché for sure, but even you can’t help but wonder with a bit of a smile either because you’re interested or simply curious. There should be no harm in thinking about it, you figured, and maybe the world agreed a little when you received a written order from your commander.

“Attend the ball as a guest — the junior knights you trained with previously will guard. Enjoy.”

Perfect, isn’t it? With luck like that on your side, the days ticked by faster than you could prepare for. The glittering golds and sparkling silvers twinkle in your eyes behind the masquerade mask, something Nishinoya had insisted his guests wear for whatever reason. That makes it easier for you to sneak up on him, of course, but…

“Guests aren’t allowed past this area.”

Good to see they newbies are doing their job right, at least. “And when is the Prince arriving?” You try to sound a bit more refined than usual, even with the uncomfortable strain it puts on your throat and the laughs that nearly burst from your stomach.

“Uh… when he sees fit.”

Who can actually hold back from rolling their eyes at that response? Sure, they’re good at standing guard, but they should know the Royal Family always arrives 35 minutes after their events start. You have to turn away to at least remain polite when you scowl, but someone else catches the exchange from afar, their eyes locked on you as you continue to saunter around aimlessly.

You’re not the first nor the last person to inquire about his arrival — there are always some more than eager fans or money-hungry followers and saboteurs who wish to see him before everyone else and butter him up. They’ll rip into him like savory bread and eat away at his status and riches because he’s an easy target — a royal stand-in who they figure has a commoner’s brain. So when he finally arrives, you don’t rush to his side and show off your status or accolades. Frankly, it's hard to find him once more time passes and more guests swarm to him, especially when the dreaded dancing begins.

No one attends a ball without learning how to dance — it’d be embarrassing to do so — but that doesn’t mean you’re any good at it no matter how much you practiced. The ballroom floor is a beast you never fully conquered and it’s not exactly something you’ve had to protect Prince Nishinoya from, evident by the way he completely jumps in without fear. A smile is burned into his face as he takes the first hand he can reach, stepping and twirling around with them with refined motions while oo’s and ah’s fall from parted lips nearby.

Like a whirlwind of petals, they spin and glide around, the small chit chat amongst them a whisper that ends in a soft decrescendo as another petal finds its way into Nishinoya’s nimble hands. Around and around they go, each flying floral friend a different color than the last until he finds himself wrapped up in a flurry of orange petals — his favorite color.

“You were looking for me earlier, weren’t you?”

“I think everyone was looking for you, Your Majesty,” you quip back in that same voice from before, and somehow he’s fooled. Behind his own mask, you can see the glimmer of entertainment and the gooey grin right beneath it.

“Yeah, but I didn’t expect someone to try to break into the off-limits area,” he retorts, twisting you around yet never losing his grip on your hand or your waist. “So you kinda stuck out like a sore thumb.”

With a scoff you say, “Does that make me special? Am I suddenly allowed back there?”

For once since the never-ending song began, Nishinoya’s cadence falters just a little bit, his grin falling but not fading as your words fill his ears. “Of course not! Only one gal is allowed back there with me.”

Shades of sunset surround you — the citrus orange dress, the golden lock of his hair, and the salmon-pink on his cheeks. Another swell of the music goes by while you consider his words and your own response, your heart picking up its own tempo. “And who might that be? Where is she now?”

The pink bleeds into red. “She’s-… somewhere.”

That’s helpful. “Well, I do hope you find her. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to dance with you.”

“Noooo, no, no,” Nishinoya laughs, his grin once again blooming. “She’s not much of a dancer; she hates this kinda stuff. She’s more into… standing back and making sure everything goes okay and stepping in to save the day.”

“O-oh?” Being a hero to the Prince? That’s a common trait, of course…! “I wonder if she’ll save you from all of this foot-aching dancing,” you bait, but you know. Well, you think you know, but you must be stretching reality.

“I hope so,” he muses aloud, getting caught in his thoughts for a moment. “…Oh, not to say you’re bad company or anything but- y’know-…”

Oh, you know. You really, really, think — hope? — that you know. Is it hope? What if it isn’t me… Why would he mean me in the first place…

“I’ve just known this person for a long time,” he rushes out, “so these kinds of events are fun and dancing is great! But I guess I’m not doing it for the right reasons. Sorry if I got your hopes up. Not very princely of me I guess.” He’s sheepish when he pulls away, the guilt you’re familiar with only obvious to onlookers through the mask due to his habits: hanging his head, rubbing the back of his neck, and lips tucked in. Again, his emotions are right on his sleeve and he doesn’t spare his honesty, but you can’t bring yourself to comment on it like you used to.

Just in time, the song comes to an end and the most you can respond with is the formal curtsey you’d learned over the years. It’s a miracle you had learned even one dance, and you’re beginning to count your lucky stars now — it was the dance that Nishinoya had made you help him learn years ago, but you only managed to perfect it just days before through your own practice.

Still, you have to take a seat and let your feet rest from the achy heels. Years of knight training were much worse but gosh this wasn’t exactly a walk down the aisle. While you may stop and observe, the party doesn’t by far. From petals in the air to bubbles in glasses, you watch Nishinoya have his fun with all the possible She’s… You’ve been his best friend all his life — who else would he have meant? You hope you’re not being selfish to think he meant you, and you can’t unravel why the thought of it being you makes you giddy. It would be easy to say it’s just nice to hear someone talk about you sweetly in third person, but… that’s something you could get anywhere. It shouldn’t make your heart dance from hearing him do it, but maybe… maybe he was right when he said you hadn’t figured him out yet.

You’d play with he-loves-me and tinker with he-loves-me-nots, but the stage was set the second you felt the urge to stand by his side and defend him all those years ago — when that “forever” began. Whether it be a misfortune or not, the answer from plucked flowers wouldn’t change what’s at your core.

Maybe I’m the idiot.

You sigh to yourself, officially needing some fresh air to dilute the haze in your mind. The lights outside shine right through the stained windows, a kaleidoscope of colors melting into your skin as you walk toward the front entrance of the ballroom. Maybe it would be best to just linger on one of the patios, but you have better chances of personal space out in the front yard. That’d be ideal.

And your wish for fresh air is promptly granted when the window you passed bursts open — no, breaks open. Rainbow shards are sent flying and skidding across the waxed floors, crunching down into crystalline dust under multiple pairs of uninvited boots. It doesn’t take a second more for the shrieks to come next, some shrill enough you’re almost worried they’ll break the rest of the windows, but the gruff voices of the intruders is enough of a concern on their own.

“Get the Prince!”

“Take hostages if you have to!”

“Don’t let him get away!”

Your feet move without you having to think, instinct and muscle memory guiding you to do what you’ve been trained to do: protect. Even with your feet complaining and your waist squeezed a little too tight, you barely take a second to lunge toward one of them, fully intending on taking him down.

But it’s a second too long.

Arms wrap around your waist, yanking you off balance and leaving you stunned as your view is obstructed and body pressed against fabric all too expensive for you to be touching.

“Stay behind me,” you’re told, and if you could step on his foot from behind then you so would. It’s Nishinoya — did you expect any less from His Recklessness?

“Wait, but-”

You’re cut off by the charging rampage of men barreling toward you from all sides — some the black-masked enemies and others adorning the familiar helmets of your fellow knights rushing to help. Yet none of them have your heart racing like the young man right in front of you, one arm extended behind him to cage you in while the other… what? For Christ’s sake, he’s weaponless and still throwing himself in front of you with so much confidence you almost believed you were in good hands.

Before he could really be in any trouble, it’s your turn to yank Nishinoya back, letting the knights clash with the intruders while the two of you narrowly make it to the edge of the fray. You’re surprised you don’t twist your ankle in the process, but you’re not surprised by the persistent, grimy hand that twists itself into Nishinoya’s royal attire, desperate to claw its way up in the social ladder and drag him down and out the castle.

“What the-” His Majesty tries to yank away, anger written all over his face that you can tell he was about to unleash, but this time you’re quicker. A blow to the back of the neck and a knee launched firmly into an unprepared stomach is all it takes for his freedom, the unknown man curling over and stumbling back into the next mass of knights headed your way.

“Oh, than-”

“Move,” you command urgently, pulling him aside harsher than intended, but very much needed due to the sheer number of knights rushing over. “Don’t make their jobs any harder.”

Like always, you’re in front of him once more, casting a familiar shadow and in a familiar stance to uphold your number one priority of keeping him safe. And like the Nishinoya you know and are extremely, unfathomably “fond” of, he speaks out his thoughts directly, even when they’re out of place.

“Y’know, I gotta admit, you really remind me of someone!” he shouts over the commotion right into your ear, and this time you don’t get to roll your eyes as you attempt to put some distance between the two of you and the bustle of trouble brewing on the dance floor.

Unlike the previous dance of agony, there’s no music to melt away numbing pain, but at least the tango doesn’t last long. Sure, you want to throw in little critiques to the junior knights nearest to you — the could haves and the should haves that you know you’ll keep to yourself but bring up next time you help them train — but there’s a time and place for you to play civilian and play knight. And they do a good job of ushering all the guests away from the center of danger, yourself included. Sigh.

“That was so terrifying. I thought I was going to get snatched.”

“Is His Majesty okay?”

“I don’t see him…”

Alarms go off in your head as you scan the crowds for the familiar head of boldly styled hair. He wouldn’t have gotten caught, would he? You didn’t take your eye off him the whole time, so how?

That familiar pace is back in your chest as some police and knights take the culprits outside, finally allowing the guests to walk around freely again within the room. It couldn’t have been worse — letting everyone go at once meant theatrics and cries with the harsh start of the music out of time like a circus tune, but your prince is nowhere to be seen.

“Maybe he was rushed off to his chambers.”

“I think I saw him go back into the restricted area.”

“Are you sure he didn’t go outside?”

Outside. You just need to make sure he’s there — nothing more. You can keep your wits about you as long as you know nothing bad happened to him. As impulsive as he is, you doubt he’d be so careless to jump into trouble twice in a row… Maybe thrice…

“Guests aren’t allowed outside.”

You’re stopped at the doors, glass crunching under your heels while a maid is desperately trying to sweep up around you.

“I just need to check something,” you reason.

The knights don’t budge. “Guests aren’t allowed outside. Once the criminals are off the property then we have orders to lift restrictions.”

“What’s it gonna take for a girl to get some air around here?!” You lift the mask up to your forehead, glaring right through knights’ armor as realization roots into their features. They stand up straighter and instantly clear the way for you. Finally… you were really starting to regret your day off.

The night air is brisk on your face, inviting you to let the mask down once more to shield yourself from even a little bit of the winds, but you push forward without it just to embrace the temperature difference a little longer. And once you round the corner and make your way into the garden then the trees should be enough cover. Not just from the chill, but from the prying eyes.

If all you’re doing is checking up on him then there’s no need for the nervousness you’re feeling. The need to reason and rationalize your actions gnaws away at one part of you while the other part just wants you to embrace it. An internal battle that you may never win, but they always say to lose the battle and win the war. If you were to let your feelings run their course then would that be so bad? It’s risky given your position in the kingdom, but maybe you’re content with just having a crush and nothing coming from it. At least you can be honest with yourself about it.

That honesty is the most refreshing breath of air you’ve had all night, your chest and shoulders lifting as you do your best to hurry toward the garden. You may not have it all figured out, but you’ll be happy as long as you don’t pretend these feelings don’t exist. It seems they came out of nowhere, but they’ve been there all along while your eyes were too occupied watching him. And when all you see is him, you wouldn’t want anyone else.

“Hey, you’re not supposed to be out here.”

Again?! You turn with your irritation rising but feel the blood descend your face and your heart drop into your stomach. It’s your turn to stand up straighter now. “Commander.”

Her timing couldn’t be more inconvenient. “Why aren’t you at the ball?”

“I was looking for His Majesty,” you answer, almost robotically like you’re delivering a report. It’s muscle memory — if you get it out fast enough then you can leave.

“Look for him at the ball. Unless you want to be working? I didn’t give you tonight off for you to snoop around.”

The amount of self-restraint you have is amazing — no whining, no eye-rolling, and no groaning no matter how much your instincts would have you do with anyone else. “I’ll get back there then.”

It seems you’ve lost the battle before you could even start, and at this rate, you’ll lose the war too. Your commander accompanies you as you walk back to the ball with heavy feet and a deflated back, your mask once again secured on properly and hiding your disappointment just enough. You don’t bother to hide the frown that tugs on your face as you sip your fruity drink, nor do you hold in your sighs.

To be or not to be?

Someone’s getting carried away with their dances, but they aren’t the person you’re searching for.

To be or not to be?

The fire-breather is here. Is Nishinoya here to see him too?

To be or not to be?

When did you become such a lovesick puppy?

A groan leaves you, one of many to follow as the night seems to drag on. You thought it would get better, especially when Nishinoya finally made an appearance again, but there was no time to exchange words with him. If you don’t do it tonight then the atmosphere with him will undoubtedly feel awkward later. You know things you shouldn’t, feel things you shouldn’t, but both of them fit together so perfectly that you can’t help yourself. If you can tell him tonight while you’re still dressed up then it can be like someone else said it. You can tuck this memory away with the dress and the mask later, but you can’t hide it if you admit to your feelings as the Y/N he always knew. For once, there’s something even you can be a coward about.

And for the first time in days, your luck finally runs out. As if the clock struck midnight and the magic wore off, the ball ended without the happy ending you wanted and the guests all filtered out with smiles and some with darkened cheeks or jelly legs. Your own legs ached, but it was quickly dulled once you put on something more comfortable: the casual wear of Y/N, Prince Nishinoya’s personal royal knight.

Not to be.

What were once light and lifted shoulders hang low, if only just for tonight. You know you don’t have the luxury to mope around tomorrow — not when things are back to normal again and you’re expected to play your role as the loyal, valiant knight you’ve always been. The more you think about it as you walk through the castle corridors, the more you can mentally prepare yourself. Even if this means going back to your own room and laying in silence with a book to distract you from your frustrations. Anything, literally anything, could be better than right now.

“Y/N?” Hearing your name, hearing his voice, you stop in your tracks while your heart races on. “There you are! I didn’t see you all night, but I guess you were pretty busy with that random ambush, right?”

You speak up using the voice you both know, brushing off his comment with a small huff of a laugh. It’s a familiar notion that offers you a bit of solace to go back to how things were — how they should be. “You could say that. I know you were jumping right in too.”

Immediately, he’s Noya — hands on his hips and his own casual nightwear catching the candlelight and his physique while his damp hair frames his face naturally. He looks at you like you’re kids again and you’ve spilled his secrets, and in a sense you have. “Hey now, I did some pretty heroic things back there. Don’t go ratting me out right here!”

If you hadn’t known him, you wouldn’t have caught on, but the meaning behind his words is clear enough: talking in the halls isn’t the smartest choice. Back to the garden, where your cold realizations and fresh air can either haunt you or free you.

Side by side, the two of you follow the memorized path through the hydrangeas lines with hibiscuses. They’re an odd mix for sure — Noya pointed that out to you at first — but they’re a mix he said his step-father and mother picked out, and thus something that he likes to look at. That specific part of the garden is a symbol of their love, and a reminder to persevere even when life is stormy. Even now, with the golden lamps and the silver moon as the only sources of light, his eyes soak in the floral surroundings like it’s the first time all over again. Somehow you feel like you’re reliving a memory with him just by being here, one that’s making his lips curl just the slightest before he speaks up.

“I saved you a dance.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I did too!” He looks at you now, glowering even though he doesn’t mean it. His eyes lack any maliciousness, the shine in them too pure and playful, especially when his trademark grin is back. “I even practiced so you wouldn’t cry over stepping on my feet.”

If only he knew you did the exact same. “Ha. Ha. How considerate, Noya. I bet that was easier than sparring, right?” You playfully nudge his arm and he returns the gesture.

“I saved someone today too!” He lights up for a second, interjecting the banter with genuine pride. “I pulled her out of danger when those bad guys rushed in. You saw, didn’t you?”

“Hmm…” you tap your chin in thought, catching how his features falter slightly. “Yeah, of course, I saw. Don’t get too sad on me now!”

“Tch, be nice! It’s not easy being the hero, y’know.” Suddenly, Nishinoya’s footsteps come to a halt, his hand rubbing the back of his neck and eyes cast away from you. You know he has something to say, and maybe you know what or you’re foolishly hoping for a sudden storybook confession, but…

“It… makes me realize how hard you work.”

To be?

“And I don’t want to take that away from you. Your job, I mean. I’m the Prince you’re supposed to be protecting and nothing more.”

Not to be…

“That’s not true,” you mumble, the words not having your confidence from earlier. “You mean more to me than that.”

His arm flexes as he squeezes and massages the back of his neck, working away at his nerves and the knots that hold him back. “I believe you, trust me. I’m not dense.”

Debatable but… he knows? Does he know? Was I really the oblivious one here? You bite your lip, anxiously awaiting his next words.

“I know you’re devoted to your position as a knight and I just wanted to… wanted to say…” With a deep breath and a tug at the crown of his hair… “Iwon’tgetinthewayofyourjobanymorebecauseIreallycareaboutyou.”

If the wind had blown any harder — no, if the wind had blown at all then you wouldn’t have caught his quiet words. But you do, and they drive you up a wall and to the breaking point you hadn’t realized you were reaching. All those years spent beside him… you were so preoccupied basking in the sun with him that you hadn’t realized your feelings blossomed in the shade until they burst into a garden.

“What happened to being the ‘gal allowed in the off-limits area?’ Are you saying that’s just because of my job or something too!?”

Of all things to blurt out, you have no idea why it was that. The off-limits area means nothing to you, really, but the mere mention of it means a whole lot more now. Nishinoya’s eyes are staring right into yours now, wide like the moon in surprise and waiting for more like a starved wolf. You’ll be damned before you say more. But if you do then will you get what you wanted? Is this a good idea?!

“Uh…” His mouth opens and closes, needing more time to sew his thought together but you can’t wait any longer.

From your pocket, you pull out the mask and the hair barrettes, fingers clutched tightly around them because if you hold them any looser then he’d see your hands trembling. The clarity that crosses his features is slow to grow in, not sprouting until you have the mask up to your face and the barrettes hovered over the position they once were. He’s not dense, he’s dense and slow, and you’re having trouble keeping your breathing in check as you wait for him to start speaking.

To be or n-

Horror cascades his face, swallowing him up in a shadow of guilt mixed with panic and his hands gripping your shoulders with a sudden shake. “I WAS TALKING ABOUT YOU!”

“W-what?!”

“PLEASE DON’T GET THE WRONG IDEA!!!”

Is it your brain rattling in your skull from the jarring motions he’s moving you in or is it your head banging into your hands? What is he even saying? You can barely make out that all the color has risen to his face — each feature blooming in red.

“Noya, what are you-”

“W-when I told you I wasn’t interested in you!!” He takes a gulp of air now, finally freezing and just holding onto you so tight you might crumble. “I-… I meant that I wasn’t interested in you because I was- I am- interested in you. This you! Well, both you’s, but I didn’t know you were you and I didn’t want anyone to get attached because I was saving a dance so I could tell… you. And then I… did tell you?”

He really pauses now, hands moving to his damp locks and tugging as if that’ll pull the knowledge right out for you both. You know what he’s saying, but the loop-de-loops getting there are making your head spin almost as much as his. And his is spinning-spinning, that silly look plastered across his face while he sorts through his frustrations.

“I… I confessed to you back then, didn’t I? Technically?”

“I-I think so?” You want to say you can’t be sure now, but…

“At the same time that I told you I wasn’t interested in you.”

“Yeah…”

“UGGGHHHHH! Man!” He falls to the ground, landing flat on his butt and holding his jumbled up head in his hands. “I really did it now, huh?”

The nerves are kicking in again, but only as a soft buzz. At least you’re not the only frazzled one here as you sit beside him in the grass. “I think it’s okay, though. You didn’t know it was me, so technically you didn’t reject me.”

You don’t even have to look at him to know that it’s still eating away at his conscious, his poor brain working in overdrive to find a solution the doesn’t need. “I-… I can’t believe I did that. I do like you… A lot. And I was trying to find out if you liked me too so I lied about you having a crush on me before. But I don’t want to get in the way. I don’t like giving you a hard time.”

“That’s still sticking with you?” You scowl and he meekly nods. “I told you I was only joking. I won’t say it anymore if it bothers you this much. I just liked teasing you but I love what I do and I’d do anything you asked.”

“I know… That’s kinda the worse part. I know you’d do anything for me and I don’t deserve you.” He can’t seem to look you in the eye, keeping his head hanging through his somber confession.

“I don’t think I’d do anything,” you reply, trying to lighten the mood just a little. “But… I think the roles are reversed. I don’t deserve you who makes me challenge myself and open up.”

When he peaks up at you through his hair, you can see the ends of a burnt sunset on his cheeks fading away. “You’re saying that as my knight.”

“I’m saying that as the girl who can’t dance but learned how to just for you.”

His bottom lip trembles — you swear you saw it just a little — and then he takes your hand in his, wrapping them together and sharing the warmth despite the cool night enveloping you both. There are no crickets, no frogs, just the lights and the dragonflies lingering around the open spaces you don’t occupy. And with how close the two of you are, there’s more than enough open space for the pairs of dragonflies to take flight and the single ones to find each other.

“Does that mean you do have a crush on me?”

“I thought you said you weren’t dense,” you shoot back.

“I’m not,” he urges. “…But if you say you do then you should prove it.”

Oh no… You feel yourself growing warm in embarrassment, not at all wanting to fill in the blanks for what that could possibly mean. A kiss? A long-winded confession? A sacrifice? All you can think of is how you’re just lucky enough to be in the garden for whatever may come — you don’t want an audience for this. When you danced together and people watched, you were hidden just enough from everyone. But here and now it’s just the two of you and you’ve never felt more insecure around him before.

“How?”

He squeezes your hand reassuringly. “Marry me.”

What now…?

You don’t hide the gasp you let out, your gaze drilling holes into him and unmoving. Like a deer in headlights now, you’re completely at a loss with your ribcage nothing more than a sandbag for your racing heart.

Marriage? Were you that naïve to go to his courting ball without considering the fact that counting leads to marriage? At the same time that it sounds like the obvious procedure, you have more doubts than you’d like to admit. No amount of gulping will assuage the dry itch in your throat and the spit you choked on. And no matter how many times you repeat the words in your head, they’re only ricocheting off the inside of your skull without any sort of understanding.

“I’m joking, I’m joking. We aren’t ready for that.” Noya holds up his hands in innocence, but you see the mischief in his eyes and across his face. If it was payback for your own teasing then he definitely won, but it doesn’t seem fair to kill the competition with untimely jokes and cute smiles, anyway.

“I mean, I could tell everyone you were eager but not ready. Or maybe the other way ar- ow! Okay, no more jokes, I’m sorry!”

“Pretty soon I won’t have anything I want to prove to you,” you chide in a melody, squeezing his hand extra hard once more for good measure. “Hurry up and say what you want so I can pretend this didn’t happen and pretend we did it in a much cooler way.”

“I’d say we did it-”

“Noya.”

He sighs shakily but you see him fall into the cool and collected canvas of the Prince. Perfect for the throne, extraordinary at politics, and certainly a wonderful candidate for a honeysuckle sweet kiss from the girl he’s fallen for.

It probably wasn’t fair for you to lean in while he was gathering his thoughts, but something was pulling you in without regard for your better judgment. Or more accurately, some part of you was pushing yourself toward him, compelling you forward to close the gap inch by inch even as he started speaking again.

“Maybe just kiss me for now, if that’s okay?” He suddenly whispers the words, eyes darting down to your lips with his own instincts pushing him forward as well.

“Anything else, Noya?” You’re one breath away, maybe even a hum away from sealing your lips together, your warmth mixing with his and the grass staining the knees of your pants but you don’t care. You want your lips stained with the feeling of his and your mind stained with the memory until you can replace it with another kiss. The surge of confidence feels like it’s back, but it’s mellower — smooth like satin and wrapping you up until you can pinpoint that you’re just comfortable. Of course, you would be. If not with him, then who else?

His soft fingers meet the side of your neck with his thumb gliding back and forth on your jaw. “And then whatever you want.”

What you want next is the last thing on your mind. The first is melodies, like the music from the ball or the songs you sang growing up, all harmonizing on your senses when your lips meet his for the first time. It’s not frantic — the wind barely sways through the hibiscus leaves and you lean closer as if nudged by Zephryos — nor is it greedy — it ends as fast as it started. But the tingles it leaves across your lips feel like tiny thorn pricks, aching for the pressure to alleviate you once more, and he’s more than happy to oblige.

You let your hands rest on his shoulders with ease, his own cupping your face with featherlight touches as his lips dance with yours in perfect time. This was what you were dearly missing out on, you realize. It dawns on you with a warmth in your chest you know and associate with your longterm friend, like your souls are twirling around that room again except without watchful eyes. Now the medley is one only the two of you could create together, ending with staccato kisses and smiles sprouting on your faces with your foreheads planted against the other.

“Just a crush?” he whispers, searching your eyes for the answer he already has.

“Do you want it to be something more?” You can’t help yourself from brushing your nose against his softly, trying to convey your feelings without him making you say it.

He inhales through his teeth in a thoughtful hiss. “…Yes?”

“Then marry me.”

To be.

{ hq sfw taglist — tell me if you want to be added or taken off: @sckusa @ksyy @tomatokuen @aplexii @for-ests @tobiosbabie @xaichi @hq-cuties @keuromi @noya-senpai-imagines @leiasfanaccount648 @marshyrebelcloud @iwaizumi-chan @janellion @kkoalaworld @tomo-uwu @samwritesss @dyosatalaga @dearest-kiyoomi @kaithehero @dorkyama @tsukkiscookies @kingkags @makkihoe @basicallyberry @sarcasti-cally @yams046 @atsumunotsangwoo @kozumebri @differentballooncollection @daughter-of-stark @chaosamu @jemilktea @ladyinmoon @kunimwuah @badboysdoitbetter2 @richkookie @nyeom-nyeom @scrappydaisies @edensxgarden }

#nishinoya x reader #haikyuu fluff #nishinoya imagines #nishinoya fluff #haikyuu x reader #nishinoya scenarios #haikyuu imagine #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu fic #haikyuu!!#haikyuu #HQ #haikyuucreations #HQ!!

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idanwyn-et-al · 3 years

Text

(XIV|21-30: Abstracted. Idanwyn Lluanswys.)

[♪] // [Part 1.]

Yanxia was changing. Autumn curled the edge of each morning with chill winds and river fog; the last of the wild plums fell, frostbitten, to the stone. Doma was beginning to take its new form beyond the Moon Gates. Scaffolding covered much of what had once been charred ruins. When the winds were right, they bore soran bushi to Idanwyn’s ears, to Kanekiyo’s horns. Those ancient harmonies soothed her, kept at bay the fluttering nervousness between her ribs.

For all their banter during the previous sun, the two geomancers now wore companionable silence like shawls; like armor. They left the boat with one of their doryo from the Swallow’s Compass; after their mission was complete, there’d be no need to hide aetherical travel from the sage any longer.

Heavy-bellied rain clouds darkened the eastern horizon close to midsun, the sharp scent of cold water and distant woodsmoke borne on their windy backs. Eviscerated by Yanxia’s sharp peaks, the rain poured in arterial gouts. The Sea Wolf and the Raen were soaked in moments; neither seemed to mind much, though Kanekiyo’s ruby skin began to take on an amethyst tinge.

“Cold, lad?” Idanwyn called over the downpour. “Could set yerself aflame, aye?”

“Yeah, okay!” he called back, ducking beneath an iron grate that had yet to be repaired, its lower bars singed clean off by some manner of magitek. “You tell me where you see some fire for me to draw on in this mess and I’ll get right on it.”

Despite the circumstances, Idanwyn grinned. Kanekiyo was a good senpai, given her limited options; not many geomancers preferred the Yanxian style taught in the Compass over the Hingan style. Fewer still were those of Western birth; whenever that came up, Idanwyn would cheerily remind the inquisitor that she was born on a pirate ship in the middle of the ocean, thus giving her no proper hometown since said pirate ship was now sunk off the coast of Pharos Sirius.

Her abstracted thoughts scudded along like the clouds above as they continued their perilous, achingly-slow trek up the mountain, following an old hunter’s trail behind Namai, south of the falls. From time to time, the pair would pause, working together to take the stances of water, of wind, of earth, to make a garrulous river fordable, a slippery stone walkable.

Suddenly, they were at the spring that was the source of the falls. Idanwyn had been so focused on the next step; when there were but three left to take, she took them hesitantly, falling into seiza, then dogeza. None had asked her to, but no request was needed; behind her, she heard Kanekiyo’s leather armor creak as he did the same.

Seemingly grown from the flat stone before them, fishing with a simple line of silk tied to a bamboo pole, was a being like none other Idanwyn had ever seen. Hyuran, maybe; but old and knotted in on themselves like black pine roots. Their ears---no, horns---were green, finlike, chipped, half-covered with moss, but when Idan’s eyes looked for where a tail would be, she saw none. Their hands were obscured by the voluminous sleeves of their bark-brown robe; their skin appeared to be precisely the same shade as the robe, which only strengthened Idanwyn’s opinion that she was looking at some sort of animated tree.

“[Ask it, then,]” came their voice; when they spoke, frogs answered, a blue heron barked its halting cry.

“Ah...[revered one. I need to know if this is worth it. The relics...the information I have leads me to believe they are very dangerous in the wrong hands. What is the risk in bringing them to you?]” The Nixie’s Captain winced; she spoke too loudly, still compensating for rain that seemed to avoid this spring entirely.

“[You see any hands, girl?]” This being was one of perhaps three that could rightfully call her that, thought Idanwyn. “[A joke. I have them. Best to keep them hidden, for now. Eyes, too. Few have such eyes, now.]” The clouds, nearly bled dry, sent a showering mist down over the spring, a few probing rays of sunshine seeking the touch of the bubbling waters below. “[Come. The water will whisper it; you alone will make the decision. We know how you are.]”

Rising, still keeping her head respectfully inclined, she stepped forward. The sage’s line quivered, going taut, then slackened as something drifted up on its end, curling the silken fishing line into a spiral around it.

Idanwyn squinted, looking closer, then gasped. “Nae, tis no’...but tha’s summat lit’...ohhhh.” Comprehension flowed through her, a quiet breath of wonder. She understood.

Thanking the sage profusely, she returned to sitting seiza some six paces away while Kanekiyo made his own discovery; something else fished from the bottom of the spring. To Idanwyn, it looked like a scroll wound around driftwood; she couldn’t say what Kanekiyo saw, only that he reacted much the same as she had.

When they rode the aetheric currents back to Kugane a bell or so later, the Sea Wolf couldn’t get to her inn room quickly enough. A burst of wind aether to dry herself for now; later, the hot springs to soak the chill that had sunk hooks deep within her flesh. She had to write it down; later, she would have to tell the crew.

In the courtyard of the Bokairo Inn, a heron stood watch under the chilly autumn stars. When the moon rose, full and winged by clouds, it took flight, bearing knowledge known only to it as it sought the distant mountains once more.

#Idanwyn Lluanswys #FFxivWrite2021 #prompt 30 abstracted #my writing #ffxiv writers #femroe #roegadame #roegadyn #geomancer #welcome to my FFT inspired geomancer headcanons #this sage not related to upcoming sage #OR ARE THEY #they're definitely related to SOMEONE though I'll say that much #ffxiv Nixie

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faejilly · 4 years

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ohhhhh can i ask after the wing!fic (which is one of my FAV TROPES EVER)? what it's going to be/any lore you'd like to share?

SO YES

When trying to write magical wing-fic about people who are capable of going incognito, I had to decide how they’d hide them. (And how Clary could grow up without hers, because hiding a magical Shadow World would be entirely impossible if you had wings.)

I have this theory that part of the reason the Nephilim raise their children so quickly is that, when they’re young, full of angelic power and blood that they can’t yet control, they are especially tempting to demons, easier to sense (and obviously also easier to kill, if they’re caught). For all the Nephilim are terrible to their children, the show did a good job of showing that they love them, so they have to believe that raising generation after generation of child soldiers is necessary.

(This is emphasized by Maryse’s line in 3b, about how she raised her children to survive. She has no illusions now that she did it badly, but the only way she could have done what she did in the first place is if she truly believed they needed to be raised that way.)

So. Nephilim children are full of a wild, almost feral magic. Angels are eldritch, beyond comprehension, are so much more and other that it’s not easy to balance that and being human. Nephilim have to be trained, physically/mentally/emotionally to have control so that they can get that first rune as young as possible, because it is that enkeli rune that shapes their angelic heritage enough that they can survive it without losing themselves to it.

(This is also part of why I will never be on Team Immortal Husbands in terms of what I write; it’s important to me that Alec & Magnus choose to be human as much as possible rather than something other. I feel like that’s rather the whole point of Alec’s arc, that he truly believes he is not, cannot be better than the Down Worlders, that he’s forcing himself to admit that just because he defends Mundanes it doesn’t mean they’re lesser, just... different. Otherwise humans turn into pets rather than people, and how much easier is it then to believe Down Worlders are pets gone feral, wild animals that have to be put down? Each piece lends itself to each next one, enforcing the idea of Nephilim Superiority, when they’re still supposed to be human. They’re supposed to be protectors, not supremacists, that’s where the Clave goes wrong, where Valentine went wrong, that’s what he cannot ever let himself be.)

And that moment when they get their first rune is also when their wings manifest, that moment when they claim their power and their heritage, is the moment that they, idk, corral it to fit within their human frames and human desires. That is the moment that they become Shadowhunters, rather than demon prey.

That is ALSO why deruning is such a severe punishment, why it usually ends in death. It’s not just that they’re tempting prey for demons, (though that is how most of them die), it’s that they can no longer control themselves, their blood is as much of an enemy to them as the demons who crave it, without the power of the runes to balance it out.

Clary obviously doesn’t have an enkeli rune, and equally obviously hasn’t been eaten by demons or exploded from uncontrolled angelic magic despite her extra-potent blood, which means something else must have been done to suppress her power.

Not just that her memories are pulled out, the actual magic of her heritage has to have somehow been hidden away from her as well as everyone else.

And it can’t just be a glamour that someone else is maintaining, because the show’s pretty clear that stuff that’s glamoured is still there.

Though I have thoughts on that too! Because some warlock’s have wings or tails or horns or things that stick out and would hit people so their glamours couldn’t just be a visual illusion, they had to somehow... hide.

(SIDE REC: @ralfstrashcan‘s lovely little bit of fic & meta about how the fuck does Alec always pull his bow & arrows out of nowhere. Possible magic options that aren’t glamours!)

Sometimes, glamours are just visual illusions. (See Alec’s quiver in the gifs in that meta post above.) Presumably, Magnus’ glamour over his eyes is just an illusion, because otherwise all that flickering and changing of his vision between normal eyes and cat eyes would give him a headache. :D

Cat’s glamour over her skin and hair is probably just a visual illusion as well, because it’s just color, but if you think Lorenzo Rey would let someone who brushed up against his arm feel scales if he didn’t want them to? Crazy-talk. He’s got to be able to hide the texture as well.

(I think Seelies can only cast the sort of glamours that are visual illusion, because anything else would be lying about what’s really there, and Seelies can’t lie. But that’s a whole separate post about fae and elves and folklore, so.)

Even if we assume there’s a second level of glamour which makes the thing not entirely there physically, it seems clear that it’s still kind of there to the person, that there’s some intangible feedback that must still happen, because otherwise it’s like disappearing body parts and that’s weird? And also it would need a different word than glamour, like, wtf, that’d be a dramatic difference.

SO, Nephilim can “glamour” their wings so they’re not there there, but they still get some physical/emotional feedback themselves, because they’re still winged people, their wings are part of their angelic heritage, they wouldn’t just deny them.

But if Clary knew she had weird powers and wings, again, the whole hiding from the Shadow World plan wouldn’t work.

So she’s got to be under like, a full-blown curse suppressing her everything. (A curse that was developed by warlocks for those few exiled Nephilim who managed to have the resources to pay for a way to survive? The way Max Trueblood’s still alive out there, so some day I can write a reunion between Maryse and her older brother.)

ANYWAYS

I forgot where I was going with all that, whoops.

TL;DR: Wings are neat, magic is weird, Nephilim are fucked up but it’s more interesting if there are reasons.

#my sh rambling #sh meta #shadowhunters #wing!fic #Anonymous #jilly answers

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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1277

Who are you most nervous about introducing potential significant others to? Ooooh moving forward, probably Angela hahahaha I have no idea how I’d break it to her if ever I do start seeing somebody again. She’s well aware of all the shit that I let slide so she might get intense with the scrutineering.

What is the most exciting thing about your life right now? Just the fact that I feel on top of the world these days. My days of being depressed and picking at my insecurities seem to be far behind me and the change has looked to be apparent coming from friends who’ve told me I seem happier, louder these days.

What was the most important non-academic thing you learned in high school? To not be scared to fight harder for the things you believe in or what make up your identity, coming from having to hide a same-sex relationship during that period. That feeling of being constricted and having to hide to stay on some conservative seniors’ good graces really pissed me off so high school was really crucial in letting me discover just how much I’d be willing to fight and test the waters to be able to live as me.

Have you ever had a job that deeply affected your personal life? How so and do you still work there? Hmm no, not really. If anything my job is one of the things that helped make me a lot livelier and happier.

Do you have a “one who got away”? It felt that way at the start when my view was still skewed, but it didn’t take long until I realized she was not a loss at all.

If you were in a superhero movie, would you be the hero or the villain? Hero.

If you found a mouse in your house, would you be frightened? Mice or rats are the literal worst fucking thing I could see in my house. I definitely see myself making a big deal out of it lmao, especially rats.

Have you ever tried to perform magic tricks? Nobody ever taught me, so no.

Can you do more with a yo-yo than just "go up and down"? Nah, which kinda makes me feel ashamed because considering it was a Filipino who invented the modern yo-yo, I feel like it should be my responsibility to know a few tricks LOL.

What is one form of technology that you wouldn't be able to live without? Instant messenger.

Did you get an allowance, growing up? Why or why not? Starting high school. Before that I was living in our family’s duplex, so my grandma could make packed meals for all of us – not to mention the fact that my parents were also still on their way to establishing themselves at their respective workplaces so we weren’t all that well-off yet.

When we moved into our own place, we started with my mom making our meals but eventually it just proved to be time-consuming and a lot of work considering she also had a job to go to. With that and the fact that both my parents at that point already got a couple of promotions, we switched to allowance.

Would you rather go to a water park or an amusement park? Why? Amusement parks though I would only probably head to the safer rides and food stalls with all the deep-fried offerings haha. I cannot handle more intense rides. On the other hand, water parks have always sounded nasty to me.

What is one instrument you wouldn't mind learning how to play? Piano.

What's the longest amount of time you've had to wait in line for something? The stupid LTO, because you can never count on government agencies to be efficient. Technically my whole time in there took a couple of stages, but all in all I spent eight hours there.

What is something that you would like to learn more about? Korean. I just graduated from my Basic Korean 1 class but I already have plans to enroll in the following course, since I seemed to do well and I want to keep the momentum going.

What is something that one of your family member collects? Mom has a large collection of chef-themed figurines and other sorts of trinkets like a chef timer, shot glasses, etc - but mostly the figurines - that she has displayed in a glass case. I should keep that in mind for when I start Christmas shopping, actually...she hasn’t updated that collection in a long time. Thanks for the idea!

Have you ever moved to a new school before? If so, how did it feel? No, not in the middle of the same period since I went to the same school from kinder to high school for 14 years. I only “moved” when I started college. Like I’ve said in previous surveys, it felt freeing to finally not under be the hands of an environment ran by...well, Catholics. It was a culture shock to see rallies everywhere, to find out I could wear short shorts or even go to school naked if I wanted to, and to see boys in my class (I went to an all-girls), but it was all the good kind of shock.

Have you ever legitimately forgotten to do homework? Always, because I never wrote them down.

Do you enjoy autumn leaves or spring flowers more? Why? I experience neither season.

Depending on where you live, why might a day of school get canceled? Typhoon.

If you could meet any fictional character from a book, who would it be? Melanie Hamilton from Gone with the World.

What are some common places that people tour when they come to your city? I rarely see foreigners here since my area isn’t particularly known for tourism; most go to the island provinces like Cebu, Aklan, Palawan, etc. If I had to recommend spots here, I’d tell them to go for Pinto and maybe the rooftop bars that offer a view of Manila’s skyline.

What's one food that you did not enjoy as a child, but do as an adult? Chicken curry, which I used to dread.

Would you rather have a mermaid tail, a fairy's wings or a unicorn's horn? I guess the wings just because I feel like it’s the only practical one.

What is an animal that you'd like to have as a pet but it's not allowed? I don’t think that way about animals I can’t keep as pets anyway.

What are some things that you do to make the world a better place? I always clean up at restaurants (my mom doesn’t understand why I do it because “the servers are here for a reason, Robyn”) but I always see the relief on their faces when they see I’ve stacked up the plates and cups so I don’t see a reason to stop doing it. I keep the door open for people who happen to enter/exit a building the same time as me, share dog adoption posts, don’t make a fuss about or towards a shop staff who messes up...things like that. I hope it’s able to help, even if just in a small way.

Has the last person you had sex with ever had sex with someone besides you? I don’t know. I wouldn’t be surprised if she has already.

What’s your favorite store at your mall? We have several malls within the vicinity but I like frequenting NCAT.

Have you ever done a workout DVD? No but my mom is fond of those.

Who usually takes out the trash in your family? Either of my parents.

What song are you currently obsessed with? My Universe is soooooo good. It’s Coldplay’s classic sound but they somehow managed to perfectly blend in BTS’ style as well, so I love how it turned out.

When you go fishing, do you make someone else get the fish off the hook? I've never gone fishing.

Do you take any prescription meds? Nope.

What happens if you don’t take them? Who was the last person you dreamt about? My dad.

Do you prefer your tea sweetened or unsweetened? Sweetened, though I don’t usually actively look for iced tea. I’d have it if it was served, but I don’t typically order it for myself.

How often do you honk your horn? As long as I am annoyed, which gives my mom a mini heart attack every time because she insists I just let people have their way to avoid getting into fights. Sometimes when she’s driving and someone’s being stupid on the road I lurch forward to do the honking for her and it pisses her off soooooooooo much but it also gets the job done so *shrug*

Do you have any children? If so, names and ages? I don’t.

Have your parents ever witnessed you doing something inappropriate? What? TMI but I almost got caught doing the m-word once but my reflexes were at lightning speed that day so when my door opened I was able to fix myself up and appear as though nothing was happening lol. My mom also saw a hickey on me once but I was able to veer the conversation away when she started inquiring.

Did you get babysat a lot as a kid? No, I did the babysitting.

If you were the principal of a school, what would you do differently? Actually deal with teachers who mistreat or make issues towards their students. I had several teachers I know didn’t like me but I could never do anything about it because there was no way in hell the school was going to take my side.

Are you doing anything fun tomorrow? Continued from yesterday. If I took this question yesterday to refer to today I would’ve answered yes because we actually have a really fun PR stunt scheduled for execution today, wherein we get to sponsor someone’s whole wedding from food to flowers to the host and fillm crew :D :D But tomorrow is just Monday so the real answer to this is no.

What is something you'd like to receive as a housewarming gift? I dunno the usual housewarming gifts, but I would appreciate anything practical, or anything that you’ll need at the least expected times, like batteries or even like Sticky Tack.

How old were you when you first experienced the effects of puberty? Oooh I was an early bird – I was 9 when I could first tell my first period was on its way; it came a month after I turned 10.

What is your least favorite holiday, and why? I don’t dislike any holiday because they all mean a day off work lol.

What were some outdoor games you played as a child? We usually played piko (hopscotch), our local version of freeze tag that we dubbed “Ice ice water” for whatever reason, and a garter game that we call 10-20. Dodgeball was a favorite during recess and lunch, too.

Did you accompany your parents on "Take Your Child to Work" Day? That’s not observed here, but my mom did use to take me and my siblings to her first workplace. Are cemeteries peaceful to you, or do they freak you out? They’re actually more interesting to me than anything else. I like learning about the different lives of many different people, even if I only technically know them by their birthday and date of death. Sometimes the inscriptions would be more detailed and tell more about their life, sometimes I’d come across babies who only lived a few days...and it’s just interesting to have those glimpses into life.

Which ancient civilization would you be interested in learning more about? Filipino, because Western colonization destroyed proof of most of it.

Do you have better long-term memory or short-term memory? Long.

What was the last situation that made you cry? Describe. I cried this morning. Nothing bad or heavy, I just found myself thinking again about my mental state last year.

Which forest animal would you be most afraid to encounter? Anything that wouldn’t hesitate to tear my limbs apart.

Do you believe in anything supernatural? (ie: spirits, etc) No.

Has anyone close to you ever gone to war? No. The closest link I have to the military, other than my dead great-grandfather, is Angela’s uncle who’s like a general or like a colonel or something, idk titles.

Have you ever experienced altitude sickness? Yeah, occasionally. Pressure in the ear is a bigger nuisance to me, though.

Is there anything, any event, you wish you could remember more clearly? The last time I saw my grandfather. My only clear memory of him that day was stepping out of the house to leave (my mom and I were visiting) and him sending me off with the message to always be kind and good. If I had known I would never see him again, I never would’ve left.

Have you ever rubbed anyone’s feet? Hmm no, not that I can recall.

If you had to get advice from someone of the opposite sex, who would you go to? I’d go to Hans for certain advice, but not for every single situation. He’s the only person that comes to mind.

What was the last new food/drink that you tried? So last Wednesday I finally got to try this Instagram-based doughnut shop that I’ve been eyeing since August and it turned out to be even MUCH BETTER THAN EXPECTEDDDDDD. Like yeah their photos were always mouthwatering but I didn’t expect it to taste as good as it looks, since most pretty food I’ve encountered usually end up just tasting meh. Anywho, I got two orders of their sampler box and they served me their specialty bacon doughnut, signature brown butter, and a bunch of their chocolate and peanut butter variants and I loved every single fucking thing.

Have you had a good day today or was yesterday better? Oh it’s hard to tell, it’s only 9:05 AM. Both days might be uneventful, though.

Have you ever played Sudoku? I don’t actually get how to play it hahaha. I feel like I’m too stupid for sudoku.

Do you ever take surveys for money? I tried it last year when applying for jobs was still a bitch for me, but the thing is most of those surveys look for employed participants so there was rarely ever a survey that fit me anyway.

Do you like Barbie or Bratz better? Bratz.

Do you prefer purple or green grapes? I don’t like grapes.

Who was the last person that made you laugh? Idk, probs one of the boys since I was watching videos of them earlier today.

Where does your best friend live? A nearby city.

Who did you last confide in? Angela.

Does your car have an alarm? Sure.

Where was your mom born? Somewhere in Metro Manila.

What can always make you feel better no matter what? My dogs.

What is something you’ll never eat again? Why? I don’t think there is anything. I feel like I’m always bound to retry things and that I would be open to doing so, even fruits. One thing I’m firm about never drinking again, though, is coconut water. Get that SHIT away from me.

What is currently happening that is scaring you? I’m not feeling scared these days.

Have you ever found a stranger’s note somewhere? If so, what did it say? Probably. But nothing sticks out.

#survey #surveys

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geeky-politics-46 · 3 years

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The Asgardian Candidate

Loki/The West Wing FanFiction Crossover

Chapter 6 - “A Stranger To The Rescue”

The White House was still in a state of shell shock.

They had suffered two massive blows to their re-election campaign back to back at the hands of Mr. Loki Laufeyson.

The pounding they got in the 2nd debate was one thing. They had one more debate left. They could recover from that, even if it was bad.

What had essentially crippled the campaign nearly beyond salvage was something that had been completely unthinkable, until now. A sitting vice president announcing he was leaving the ticket he was currently on, for the administration he was currently serving in, to run as his challenger’s VP.

The tickets were now Laufeyson/Hoynes & Bartlet/?

After the announcement the president’s poll numbers plummeted, & campaign donors had started to bail. Everyone understood why. They had to find a candidate to run as Bartlet’s vice president. It couldn’t be just a replacement for Hoynes, they had to be better than Hoynes.

If they were going to make any sort of rebound in the polls they had to find the human personification of America itself. A patriot. Someone who could have been born on the 4th of July & made from apple pie.

It was Leo who had stepped forward with the only suggestion. He said he knew a guy who might fit that bill. That he knew him from when he served in the military, well he didn’t know him exactly, but he knew of him. After a few calls, & maybe even a bit of pleading on Leo’s part, the man had agreed to meet the president & discuss joining the ticket.

He too was a novice in politics, like Loki, but if he was half as good as he seemed on paper it wouldn’t matter.

Jed was studying the man’s records & FBI file when Leo opened the door to announce that their potential VP had arrived.

Leo’s assistant led him in & then stood behind the man utterly transfixed. “Thank you Margaret.” Leo said holding the door open for her to exit, but to no avail. “Thank you Margaret… Margaret! Thank you.” Having finally gotten her attention, Margaret quickly turned & left somewhat embarrassed at her own behavior.

Both Jed & Leo could understand why she had been so hypnotized. The man standing before them appeared perfect.

He was tall & broad shouldered, with well defined muscles. A firm yet subtlety squared off jaw, vivid blue eyes, & dirty blonde hair perfectly combed into place. He looked like Disney prince did a stint as a G.I. Joe, & then come to life.

He snapped to attention & saluted as the president rose from his seat. “It’s an honor Mr. President, sir.”

“At ease solider.” Jed responded chuckling, slightly startled by his salute. “Err… actually it’s captain isn’t it?”

The man relaxed & dropped his salute as he responded, “Yes sir, Captain Steve Rogers. If I may speak freely sir, having already been told why I’m meeting with you today. As an officer of the U.S. military I have sworn, as you have, to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign & domestic. Frankly sir, after watching him & hearing his views on how he plans to run this country if elected, I do believe Loki to be a threat to the US & the constitution if he were to be elected as president. I don’t like bullies, no matter where they’re from. Therefore it is with honor & duty that I accept the offer to serve as your running mate.”

Jed & Leo both exhaled deeply for the first time in several days, feeling the muscles in their necks immediately relax.

Jed smiled eyeing the man curiously. Could he feel it too? He had assumed most people younger than Leo & himself couldn’t feel the air of the great dictator that Loki gave off. How could they? They had never seen it in person before, or heard the tails of war while watching the flashes of pained memory in their parent’s eyes. Sure there were movies & museums, but real first hand memories of the last World War & those who could share them were all but completely gone now. This man seemed almost out of his time. As if he escaped from an era long gone, but remained untouched himself by the hands time. A memento of what America could be at it’s best.

Captain Rogers did have a couple caveats of his own to offer in negotiation with President Bartlet. He wanted to serve with honor, & he wanted to make sure he was able to execute the office in the best way he could if they won. “I do have a couple requests to make of you sir, if I am to serve as your vice president. The first is that I want us to be completely honest with each other, & if we disagree we hash it out in private together. The second is that I want to be the last person in the room on major decisions. If I’m going to serve as your right hand then I want to really participate.”

Bartlet was slightly taken aback at the younger man’s forwardness & candor. It was a far cry from John Hoynes, who had at times roiled against Jed’s decisions. Even going so far as to on occasion leak a disagreement to the press when he was really in a snit with him. Leo had always attributed John’s ill behavior to Jed coming from behind in the primaries to steal the nomination away from him. However in just a few sentences Steve Rogers proved he had more heart & backbone than John Hoynes had managed in nearly 5 years.

It Jed’s mind it wasn’t even a question. He knew he could trust this man. He felt it in his bones. He still dutifully glanced toward Leo awaiting his silent approval. Leo simply gave a single nod. They agreed to Captain Roger’s requests without hesitation.

President Bartlet then gratefully held out his hand towards the captain, “Well I guess I shouldn’t get too used to calling you Captain Rogers then. By the time I remember I’ll have to start calling you Vice President Elect Rogers instead.”

The two men shook hands & sealed their political fates to each other. If they won then they won together, if they lost then they lost together.

Captain Rogers smiled brightly & gave a slight nod as he clutched the President’s hand “Thank you, sir. You can just call me Steve. I’m with you until the end of the line.”

Leo smirked & jokingly added “See, it wasn’t all that hard finding someone.” For the first time in a long time, lately Leo had found himself tempted to retreat to alcohol. He hadn’t told Jed, but this campaign had him more rattled the longer it went on & Captain Roger’s words seemed to confirm that Leo wasn’t the only one who sensed something very wrong in Loki. To comfort his thoughts he had found himself wanting to escape the campaign problems in the bottom of an empty bottle. After all old habits die hard, & it had been a habit during the first campaign. Now he stood, his hands in his pockets, holding one of his AA chips. Thanking god (or whoever really controlled everything) for Captain Rogers. Without even knowing it, Cap had already protected one person from an enemy. Even if it was just an internal one.

The ticket was now officially sealed. It was set as Bartlet/Rogers.

—————

Perhaps he had underestimated the Midgardian this entire time. Perhaps Bartlet really was a foe worth his time & effort. It made him almost respect the man a little.

He held the front page of The New York Times in his left hand, right hand resting under his chin, studying the headline & image before him. Brow furrowed, causing his gleaming horned crown to shift slightly higher into his raven hairline.

How quaint.

There standing with him arm around the president was Captain Steve Rogers. Both men smiling & waving to the crowd where they announced their new ticket. The papers had already started calling him “Captain America”. Fawning over him as if he was some sort comic book superhero. Some of them had even gone so far as to draw him into one themselves, complete with a stars & stripes jumpsuit & matching shield.

Loki pictured a battle between “Captain America” in full costume & himself in full Asgardian armor. Fine tailored suit morphing into black & green leather with ornate gold plating, & his gold horned crown transforming into his full elaborate helmet. While comical on one hand, Loki was quite a showman. Perhaps in the event of a recount he could conjure up that outfit for the captain & solve the election that way instead. Leaving Bartlet & Hoynes to fight it out amongst themselves.

To Loki’s ears he even spoke like some sort of cartoon as well. All sugar & sweet, yes sir & yes ma’am. He questioned whether this Captain Rogers was even capable of telling a lie. Although the American’s had already had one president who used that schtick before. It was still something the crowd seemed to be eating up. Loki almost wished he’d thought of it himself, but what fun would that be for him really? The god of mischief & lies having to play nice. His nose crinkled & upper lip snarled as his thoughts soured at the very suggestion.

For every devious act or trick Loki had implemented, the Bartlet campaign seemed to be trying to one up him in a the wholesome department. Perhaps it was time to simply match wit for wit. Maybe Loki’s silver tounge had finally met it’s match. His lips pressed into a tight line, ever so slightly pulling his bottom lip in with his teeth as he thought.

The third debate was open topic, questions could come from any area. He figured that would allow him to fair better than the first debate, no need to try to memorize budget statistics or job numbers. He could just as easily pluck a number from someone else’s head. He was sure the intrusion into their mind would go unnoticed if he only did it when he absolutely needed to.

The president though would also surely fair better on the topic of defense this time around. His team would be going through Loki’s responses from the last debate as he sat there. This debate they would be on much more even footing.

He would not hold anything back this time, now that he knew Bartlet could clearly play the game just as well as he could. He would actually have to prepare & study for this debate. As much as he loved reading the idea of spending hours reading about Midgardian matters made him wince.

Loki quickly stood up from the desk. He had to act on his plan quickly before his distaste for spending time with mortals had a chance to outweigh the importance of the debate. He really wanted to win the presidency, otherwise he would never stoop this low.

He walked briskly to the door of his office, yanking the door open so hard it hit the wall with a deep thud. All of Loki’s campaign staffers froze at the sound & a thick silence fell over the entire room. Eyes wide on many of their faces. Loki had them terrified of him.

He resisted the urge to giggle with delight at the terrored faces he had evoked. Instead he calmly & quietly took 2 steps forward into the large open office space. He scanned their faces & inhaled deeply. His mind searching for who could best fulfill his need.

He found 3 faces. A male & 2 females. All rather mousey & plain. Their desks each piled high with binders & newspapers. Computer monitors cluttered with open windows. Yes, these 3 should work nicely.

“You, you, & you.” Loki pointed to each of the 3 as he began his verbal command, voice deep & thick with passioned energy. “In my office. Bring everything you have on Bartlet’s policy positions, & whatever we’ve said mine are. You have 5 minutes! Don’t test my patience.”

Loki immediately turned & strode back into his office,leaving any questions about his order hanging in their air. Eyes quickly darting from person to person around the room in both confusion & curiosity. They only snapped back to the present & returned to their work as they heard the door to Loki’s office slam shut behind him. Time seemed to suddenly unfreeze as staffers began talking again & phones started ringing.

Back in his office Loki positioned himself behind his desk. He had made it this far. He could practically see himself behind the resolute desk in the oval office. It was no golden throne of Asgard, but god he wanted it. His birthright was to rule, & he fully intended to.

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hitchell-mope · 3 years

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ABC headcanons part 1. Ben LeRoi

WARNING!!!! THIS POST CONTAINS NSFT MATERIAL

His relationship with Mal will be included with this seeing as it makes no sense to me to not include it if you know what I mean

A = Aftercare (What they’re like after the act). Ben is incredibly attentive afterwards. He cleans Mal up. Changes the sheets. Get her drinks and snacks. Basically doesn’t take her of himself until he’s sure she’s comfortable

B = Body part (Their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s). On him. He admits it’s a little vain. But he loves the enhanced musculature he got from gaining magic. And the ahem Enhanced Equipment down south isn’t too shabby either. On Mal. Ben loves everything to do with her otherworldliness. Her horns. Her wings. Her scales. Her tail. Etc etc

C = Cum (Anything to do with cum basically). Ben doesn’t have very strong feelings on it really. Doesn’t hate it. Doesn’t love it. But Mal likes it so he ahem dispenses it wherever she wants it.

D = Dirty Secret (Pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs). It’s more of an open secret but Ben is quite honestly obsessed with dragons. He and Mal first did it after the first time she turned into a dragon during the cotillion confrontation. It ah really got him going

E = Experience (How experienced are they? Do they know what they’re doing?). By part three he’s very experienced. And he definitely knows what he’s doing. He knew what to do before his first time. He had his own private library after all. And he had surprisingly little supervision after his fifteenth birthday. So it was easy to read up on the subject

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying). Ben’s loves being face to face as it happens. Makes it seem even more intimate. He’ll gladly do it in what way they can. But he prefers face to face

G = Goofy (Are they more serious in the moment, or are they humorous, etc). He’s a little goofy. Out of nervousness the first time. But after that he picked up on Mal’s slightly obscene sense of humour and joined in on the dirty jokes. So they’re both a bit goofy while still retaining the romantic aspect

H = Hair (How well groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.). He used to keep himself well groomed down there. Not so much after he gained magic though. And yes. It all matches. Ever since the “being turned into a beast” incident accelerated the process every single hair on his head is a dark but somehow still vibrant shade of purple from his head to his toe knuckles.

I = Intimacy (How are they during the moment, romantic aspect…). He’s very romantic in the heat of the moment. Providing they have time for it however. But still. He always tries to make it as special as he possibly can.

J = Jack Off (Masturbation headcanon). He’s not a fan. Until he was seventeen and Mal told him not all myths are true he still thought you’d go blind if you did it to yourself. And while he’s still not big on it he will do it if there’s no other option available other then his own suffering.

K = Kink (One or more of their kinks). Dragons. Magic. And this is a fairly recent one. But after he got the facial hair Mal accidentally let slip a certain parental honorific. Which he fully loves and more than fully endorses

L = Location (Favourite places to do the do). Anywhere basically. Special mention goes to the abandoned dragon cave he and Mal visited on spring break. And miles above the clouds that same day. Oh. And the royal jet.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going). Mal in his clothes. Showering together. The aforementioned honorific. Any display of Mal’s dragon form. Basically any anything Mal says or does gets him in the mood. He’s eighteen. What do you expect?

N = NO (Something they wouldn’t do, turn offs). He would never hurt Mal unless she asked. It’s sort of impossible for him to hurt her since they’ve got magic and all but that’s still a line he won’t cross unless she specifically asked him to do it. And the very moment Mal doesn’t look like she’s enjoying herself, he stops and goes to to en suite to take care of himself after he’s made sure Mal’s ok.

O = Oral (Preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc). Ben is nothing if not a giver. And he’s insanely good at it. Gold standard skill. As for receiving. Mal’s very good at it as well magic helps clear away any obstacles they might encounter.

P = Pace (Are they fast and rough? Slow and sensual? etc). He prefers to go a little bit slow. It makes it last longer and it’s more intimate. At Mal’s urging he can so fast he’s practically invisible.

Q = Quickie (Their opinions on quickies rather than proper sex, how often, etc). He prefers longer sessions but if they absolutely have to he’ll go for a quick one. Such as when they had to turn invisible and duck behind a topiary bush at his eighteenth birthday party.

R = Risk (Are they game to experiment, do they take risks, etc). He’s not adverse to experimenting. They’re both thinking of inviting either Jane or prince Tyrone to join them for a night. And he has definitely taken risks. Such as the time Mal paid him a visit under his desk during work hours as Doug rattled off fiduciary reports.

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…). His personal best was on their honeymoon. A solid 24 hours. And one round every hour on the hour. Besides that they try to squeeze in two of three rounds throughout the day if they can manage it. And they are always successful. It helps that they can freeze time.

T = Toy (Do they own toys? Do they use them? On a partner or themselves?). A few. Let’s just say that he doesn’t mind being restrained. Or in the receiving end of Mal asks. And they’ve definitely used their sceptre on each other. Mal’s personal favourite was The Night Of Three Ben’s.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease). If he’s feeling sneaky he will definitely tease. Such as the time after the desk visit where he returned the favour and paid a visit to Mal while she was having lunch with her Arendelle family.

V = Volume (How loud they are, what sounds they make). Ever since their first time he’s let out a lot of beastly growls and elated whooping. Mal for her part matches him in loudness. And they both curse in french. A lot

W = Wild Card (Get a random headcanon for the character of your choice). He’s taken to surprising Mal by greeting her in half beast mode since she didn’t get to see him like that when they were trying to stop Chad’s coup. In turn Mal’s taken turning into a humanoid version of her dragon form to surprise him. And it’s always effective.

X = X-Ray (Let’s see what’s going on in those pants, picture or words). Let’s put it this way. He was already “king sized” before he gained magic. And it’s only become even more impressive after he gained magic. And Mal is definitely impressed

Y = Yearning (How high is their sex drive?). Pretty high. He’s eighteen. In love. And has a very powerful brand of magic. So he’s always willing and able.

Z = ZZZ (… how quickly they fall asleep afterwards). He doesn’t sleep until he’s sure Mal is asleep. Unless of course they’ve managed to fit in another round. Then they both fall asleep almost as soon as they’re finished. They make sure to clean up though.

#disney descendants #ben florian #mal bertha #bal #ben x mal #mal x ben #benmal #malben #dragon king #zendaya!mal #abc smut #alphabet smut #nsft

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skyeknight-hyperfixations · 3 years

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Written in the Wings

"C'mon Aster, I promise! I'll try not to freeze your tail this time by accident."

The rabbit scowled, "That ain't a promise, ya twit, especially if ya pair it off with a 'try.'"

"But I'm so bored!" Jack groaned, falling back mid air, his wings fluttering to keep him from hitting the ground. "And I've already bothered Ryder with his Animal training with the newer fairies."

Aster raised a brow, paws on his sides and foot thumping on the ground repeatedly. "Now ya decided to bother me?" He huffed, "How 'bout workin' on your Frosting instead? 'm sure there are a bunch of windows, plants and frozen lakes that are gonna need that."

"Please, I'm the best Frost fairy around. I don't need the practice." Jack snorted, "Just let me ride you to the border and see the mainland animals from the Autumn woods cross over!"

"And why the bloody hell can't ya just fly over yourself?"

"I'm running low on Pixie dust and restock isn't till next week. But I have enough to spare if I just fly going back."

"How about walking then?"

"C'mon bunny! You owe me!"

Aster scrunched up his nose, "Aye?" He snorted, "How do you figure?"

"Okay, you're going to owe me." Jack corrected himself, "Because if you don't let me come along, I'm not going to tell you about a particular someone's very particular prank."

Aster groaned. "Ugh, I hate it when I have to visit winter woods to monitor the animals crossing over." He said. "you're a pain in the arse always. All right, all right, I'll take ya."

"All right!"

"But ya ain't coming anywhere near the border line itself. They're bad for your wings." The bunny warned.

"Aw bunny, you do care."

Aster rolled his eyes, "And no need getting them Spring Fairies into any of your trouble."

Jack made a mock-offended gasp, "When have I ever been in any sorts of trouble?"

"If ya want me to answer that, it's gonna take a while."

Jack shrugged, conceding to that and flying over to rest on the rabbit's back as he hopped along.

Back at Spring valley of Pixie Hollow, the fairies were taking their time preparing for their season since Winter was just about to start in a few weeks. Over at the Tinker fairy village, the Tinker fairies were preparing baskets to be sent to the winter woods.

One of these fairies, Hiccup, was riding a lizard. A carriage made of twigs and leaves were loaded with thinner strands of leaves.

"Look sharp, everyone!" Gobber hollered, "The Snowy owls will be arriving to take the snowflake baskets to the Winter woods." he smiled before scanning the area, and his eyes fell on a fairy lounging about. "Milo, stop reading all day and start tinkering."

Jim looked up from where he was weaving a basket with Ben, an anxious squirrel who's a bit more nutty than the ones he eats. "Funny how they're called snowflake baskets," The Fast flying fairy hummed, "when they're not made of it."

"Don't you start now, Jimmy."

"It's Jim, Gobber!"

"That's head tinker fairy Gobber to you, kid!"

"And a mouthful." Jim rolled his eyes, "you should be glad I'm using my free hours helping the tinker fairies out."

"Actually, he should be glad you lost a bet against me and had to help us." Hiccup quipped, and with a mechanism resembling a fishing pole, he reeled another batch of leaf strands from a lizard. "Is that the last load, Toothless?"

The lizard grunted, giving him a gummy smile.

"Thanks, bud. Again, wouldn't hurt if you used your words once in a while."

The freckled fairy hummed, before flying over to Jim and Ben.

"Am I doing this right, Hiccup?" Ben asked, "I can only see in shades of gray, so was all the strands I got the color a leaf should be?"

Hiccup smiled at the Squirrel fondly, "It's fine, Ben." He said. "I think Merida was looking for you, something about baby squirrel training."

The special animals of Pixie Hollow help the animal fairies nurture regular animals brought from the mainland. Usually, in seasonal rounds to the mainland, Animal fairies encounter abandoned baby animals. Not all infant animals end up abandoned, but those that do, they bring to Pixie Hollow to care for. Some of them, once grown independent enough, are brought back to the mainland. Those that aren't, they keep in Pixie Hollow.

"All right, I'll see you around then." Ben nodded, "See you, Jimmy."

The Fast flying fairy waved the animal off, before sighing. "I'm never getting rid of that nickname now, am I?"

"Morning Jim," Hiccup smirked, before settling the thin leaf strands, "this should be enough to finish my batch of snowflake baskets."

Jim looked over, "If you say so; you know about this crafting stuff more than me."

"I still can't believe we make these things but don't get to take them to the winter fairies."

Jim mimicked his tone, "I still can't believe you guys are calling them snowflake baskets."

"Dang it, Jimmy, if ya got a problem with the way I name things, just say so!"

"I am saying so!"

Hiccup rolled his eyes, before nudging his friend and giving the older fairy a placating wave. "Go easy on Gobber. He's a more easy going head fairy than yours, after all."

"I guess that's true," Jim conceded, "Don't let Gogo hear you say that though, or tell her I agreed with you. She already doesn't like me very much."

Hiccup chuckled, "Not that you care about what she thinks of you much," he quipped. Jim shrugged, "Seriously though, wouldn't you want to go into the winter woods?"

"Between you and me, I rather keep my wings since I enjoy flying with them than on Dragon flies." Jim deadpanned.

Hiccup grinned cockily, "Which is why you lost that bet with me." He teased.

Jim snorted, shoving his friend. "Anyway, you know they wouldn't last a day in that cold, never mind us." he said, "So don't you start getting any ideas."

Hiccup made a look of mock indignant, "I assure you, I don't know what you're talking about." He said innocently.

"Yeah, don't even try," Jim rolled his eyes, "your ideas are trouble. Remember when you almost delayed Spring?"

Hiccup scowled, pointing at the fast flying fairy crossly. "Hey, that was as much the fault of Snotlout poking on my self-esteem as it was mine." He said.

"Funny how you didn't deny having a fault on it too."

The two fairy friends continued to tousle each other more, till Gobber yelled at them to quit fooling around.

"Anyway," Hiccup rolled his eyes, starting to weave a new basket. "Since when were you afraid of a little risk?"

"Since it's more than just a little, and I believe I mentioned flying." Jim hummed as he finished up the one he was doing, until a familiar voice was heard calling out his name. "Ack, although, if not flying meant getting him off my back..."

'Him' was referencing a certain dust keeper fairy, who was just flying towards Tinker fairy village with stock delivery of pixie dust.

Hiccup snickered, "Just go out on that date with him already." he said. "What's the harm?"

"He's annoying."

"Yes, yes, that's why you always end up sitting beside Dimitri instead of your own fairy group, or me, whenever Queen Anna has an announcement or during any of our events." Hiccup drawled, earning him another nudge from Jim.

Jim glared at his friend, "Well, that just means they're more annoying than him." He said, "You know, fast flying fairies are very competitive and can be jerks at those times."

"Don't I know it." Hiccup mumbled.

Dimitri flew over to the two, grinning widely... Mostly since Jim was there. "Hey Hiccup, here's your batch," he handed over a leaf pouch to the tinker fairy, before turning to Jim. "And here's yours..." Then, he lowered his voice and puckered his lips a bit. "But you know what to do to get an extra batch."

"You know that's against the rules." Jim deadpanned.

Hiccup grinned, "No, last I check, kissing wasn't against the rules."

Jim hits him in response to that.

"And you know I have my ways," Dimitri said, as if Hiccup hadn't spoken, "and accept them anyway... Every. Time." he smirked, sending Jim a wink.

Hiccup raised a brow, giving his friend his own smirk. "Every time, huh? But if this happens often..." He then feigns a gasp, "So you had gone out with him already!"

"Ack, I told you to keep that between us, you dimwit. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Is that reputation pretending you don't like me? Because I got news for you, it's not well maintained," Dimitri smirked, "Jimmy."

Jim scowled, "Oh for the love of... Give me that." He huffed, grabbing both pouches and hiding the extra one in his jacket made out of butterscotch daisy petals. It didn't really work with the Fast flying fairy purple color ensemble, but Dimitri had given it to him and that was the color of the Dust keeper fairies.

Honestly, Hiccup was still at a lost why Jim pretended nothing was going on with him and Dimitri when clearly, everybody and their Head fairies could tell there was.

Then, a horn sounded, announcing the incoming arrival of the Snowy owls. The three fairy friends looked up in wonder, and see the aforementioned creatures coming in. Gobber's voice is hollering something along the lines of activating the pulley.

Another tinker fairy did as told, and the baskets were brought up by a conveyer system developed by Hiccup. The mechanism brought the baskets in time for each owls to grab each one in their talons. A frozen tablet floats over as well, and Gobber flies over to check the message of remaining orders needed.

"That's it for the first shipment," The large fairy called out, "But according to this, they still need a lot for tomorrow's. So don't start dawdling now! Milo, put those books down already and help!"

Hiccup grinned, using Gobber's distraction as a chance to fly higher to see where the owls were going after taking a basket; off back to the winter fairy territory. Despite his earlier arguments, Jim flew after him to get a good look as well followed by Dimitri.

"It's like a whole 'nother mainland," Hiccup sighed, "I'd give up all the lost things I've collected to see what they've got over there."

Jim raised a brow, "Does that include all your tools made from lost things?"

"Okay, maybe the ones that are only for display so far." Hiccup conceded.

Dimitri shrugged, crossing his arms. "Not that you'd have to, either way." He said, "I'm not one you'd say is by the book..."

"Really?" Jim drawled sarcastically.

The Dust keeper fairy continued, ignoring the sass. "But the 'No crossing the border' rule is there for very good reason." He said. "Bad things happen to those who disobey it."

"But if no one's ever done it, how bad can it be?"

Jim sighed, shaking his head. "Honestly, do you have a death wish, Hic?"

"And what makes you think death's the 'bad thing that happens', hm?"

This time, both Jim and Dimitri groaned.

"No, no, come back here you naughty kit!"

Startled by the urgent cry, the three looked down to see Ben chase after a younger squirrel, that started going through the quad of Tinker fairy village, disrupting the work in progress.

"Oh Ben," Jim shook his head, noticing Hiccup's invention and thought of an idea. He hurried back down, taking the device to help Ben, literally, reel in the frenzied kit. "Gotcha!"

The squirrel lets out a sigh of relief, "Thanks, Jimmy. Always a life saver."

"It's Jim." The fast flying groaned, handing the device to Hiccup. "At this rate I'm going to forget the real name."

Dimitri laughed, "Well, I like both." He said.

"Yeah, you would."

Hiccup started to unbind the kit from the string around it, as Ben placated the kit, patting its head.

"Now c'mon, little guy, Merida will be waiting for us already with your brothers and sisters at the border." The older squirrel said. "We have to hurry if you're going to join them."

"Oh, you're taking them across the border today?" Hiccup grinned.

Ben sighed, "Trying to, and it's a long way still," he huffed, "Feels even longer since this guy's such a handful."

"Need some help?"

Jim and Dimitri grimaced, exchanging looks with one another.

"It should not feel like such a chore being someone's friend," Jim shook his head, "Fine, if Hiccup's going I'm coming along too."

Read it here

Hoping to get more readers this way. Hehe.

Edits done by Jasmin Abarca (@jasmin_abarca) Thank you again for it!!

#Rise of the Guardians #How to Train your Dragon #Hiccup #Jack Frost #Jim #Dimitri #ao3 fanfic

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justanotherpersonsuniverse · 4 years

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So here are some ideas for the techno augments and mutations for some of the cast of the Cyberpunk Mafia AU.

MARINETTE: she has 3 pairs of arms giving her 8 limbs like a spider. One pair is her natural arms and the other two are her cybernetic ones. They cybernetic limbs are are filled with various embroidery tools like scissors, thread dispensers, bedazzlers, and when she combines two she can even turn them into a sewing machine. For self defense she's rigged her arms to also be able to fire needles like an smg gun. She also has a pair of goggles with multiple rotating lenses that allow her to switch her vision to either super up close like a magnifying glass or super far away like binoculars.

KAGAMI: Kagami has some reptilian mutations. She has bright red scales along her arms, neck, and legs which are extra sturdy and act like armor for any vital weak points. She has a pair of horns that double as a sort of antenna for for certain signals. It's mostly for sensing really strong tech in an area. They can give also her the more terrifying appearance in the dark. Her most dominant trait though are her reptilian eyes which can actually switch to a biological heat vision. The problem with the yes however is that it's a mutation that's exclusive to the Tsurugi Clan and can cause problems for her from those either seeking the clan or the mutation itself. Kagami's mother was blinded becuase of such an incident. She also has a tattoo on her back of a pair of dragon wings. Also I wasn't sure if this was too much or not but I thought maybe she could have a dragon tail as well which is where most of her emotions show since she usually has to be so passive. Like she's trying to hide how happy she is but her tail is just wagging like crazy.

KIM: Basically raw muscle with this sort of neon blue/green that flows through his veins giving him a sort of radioactive appearance. I kind of imagine him with a build somewhat like Luther fro the Umbrella Academy but less hairy.

MAX: max more or less lives inside his high tech chair that has a practical cocoon of holo screens surrounding him giving him ALL the info he needs at once. The rest of the chair is a mix of hover technology and a bunch of doctor octopus like arms that do most of the functions. He's also almost always seen with a pitch black pair of round goggles on at all times. He seems to make it a point to hide his eyes.

LILA: as a digital construct Lila just shows up on screens as a digital avatar of herself. Although when she's possessing someone's tech augments they start glowing a sort of pinkish orange to signify that the chameleon is in control.

ALIX: she has her robotic rabbit legs and a pair of rabbit ears that gives her superhuman hearing. And she will deny this to ANYONE that claims otherwise but her mutation also had the unintended side effect to give her a puffy rabbit tail. She usually hides it under a long jacket. When Chloe finds out she thinks it's the most adorable thing in the world.

CHLOÉ/SABRINA: they were mostly done by other users so I'll leave that open. From what I understand they both look very human but have had ubsurd work done on them.

ALYA: she's basically made of cameras and recording devices. Her eyes? Direct live feed cameras. That weird spot in the palm of her hand? A camera. Her ears? Advanced audio recording equipment. Are those eyes in the back of her head? Oh look more cameras. She sees and remembers EVERYTHING. Even the stuff she'd rather forget about.

AURORE: she actually doesn't have any augments or mutations. Partly becuase she can't afford the cost and partly becuase she likes the idea that what she's able to do, is all becuase of her natural ability and experience. She does carry around a wicked electric stun baton/ Umbrella combo for self defence. The fabric of the umbrella is even strong enough to resist bullets. (think the umbrella from The Kingsmen.)

NINO: he's half cybernetic in that a lot of his torso had to be replaced after an incident. He did manage to equip himself with super sonic speakers directly into his chest so can blast beats as an actual weapon.

The Couffaines: with the exception of Anakra who absolutely wanted to rock a peg leg just becuase, non of them actually have any augments either. They're just armed to the teeth with every kind of weapon imaginable and seemingly the ability to completely ignore the laws of physics because, and I quote, "Literally no laws are safe from a Couffaine!" rumors say they beat the crap out of Zeus with their bare hands but rumors do tend to get a little wild whenever a Couffaine is involved.

I think of more mods for people later, including more specific stuff for Luka and Juleka (maybe a combo battle axe guitar for Juleka and Lazer rifle guitar for Luka?) but i think that's enough for now.

————

This is gonna be so fucking dope

Alya being a living camera is such a visceral and almost horrifying and monstrous image is absolutely amazing

I think I’ll leave Alix to just being cybernetic and not mutant, but while she’s missing her legs, the cybernetics go up to her waist line like almost pants- and that has a bunny tail.

Kagami I’m still debating between mutant and cybernetic or both, because I so desperately want to give her a robot arm.

I can imagine Nino has heart, respiratory, and stomach problems because of that incident and he coughs up blood like All Might lol

Max is mysterious as fuck and I love it- I bet he has cyber eyes (Lila posses those only for the purpose of animating herself in his vision like a ghost. Think like the short film ““Best Friend”” by Gobelins. This goes for Adrien too when she possesses him as well)

I’m loving this thank you guys so much

#Mafia au #submission #Ether-solrac

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thebibliomancer · 4 years

Text

Song of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 1

Song of the Dark Crystal by J.M. Lee because its best boy Kylan’s time

Last time in Shadows of the Dark Crystal, Naia set off on a journey to clear her brother’s name of treason against the Skeksis. Naia teamed up with best boy Kylan, butted heads with Tavra, and met a cool Archer. She eventually discovered that the Crystal of Truth had become darkened and was driving many creatures of Thra fantasy rabid. And that the Skeksis weren’t just to blame but were also drinking Gelfling and super wanted to drink Naia and Gurjin because twins. Naia and Kylan manage to escape but Gurjin and Tavra get left behind.

So it was less than an auspicious coming of age story for Naia but she did grow her wings. That’s something.

Chapter 1

Having arrived at Stone-in-the-Wood at the end of the last book, Naia finally meets Rian. It’s awkward for everyone.

Kylan (now the POV guy) and Naia head into the woods part of Stone-in-the-Woods to meet with Rian’s sister Mytha.

She’s a fun character. Very bubbly and full of questions. She’s got the kind of energy that Naia’s experiences in the previous book thoroughly ground out of her

I feel like I’m going to be feeling that a lot.

Annyway. Mythra. Interesting name. Only one letter off from Mithra, although who is to say that means anything. I wonder if the thra in Mithra is supposed to be like the planet Thra thra.

A lot of Sudden POV Guy Kylan’s thoughts are worrying about how messed up Naia has to be from their experiences last book. He’s a good, worried friend.

Like, Mythra tells them their experiences sound amazing and brave and Kylan reflects that he and Naia are both thinking that running away from the Skeksis doesn’t feel amazing or brave.

There’s also a good bit where Naia asked Mythra if she believes Rian despite him being branded a lying traitor by the Skeksis.

With no apparent hesitation, Mythra answers “Of course I believe Rian. He’s my brother!”

Bit of a shame that the POV has shifted from Naia because I’m sure she’d have Thoughts about that considering how much of her own journey was filled with doubts about Gurjin and feeling like maybe she didn’t know him.

Mythra is younger than Naia though. And Rian is her older brother vs twin. But still, contrast.

When they reach where they’re supposed to be meeting Rian, they find him being slightly trampled by a Horner.

Another Thra critter! A Horner has green-fur, whorled horns, and a clubbed tail. Apparently they’re diggers and rooters, as later in the scene Rian will complain that he keeps running into Darkened Horners because they dig up the dark crystal veins and are too dumb to look away. I’m personally imagining a horrifying combination of boar, ... ram, and ankylosaurus. I love Thra’s fauna.

Kylan worries that Naia will try to dreamfast with the Darkened Horner which could be dangerous as messed up as her emotions are so he asks her not to. She agrees and instead flies right in front of the angered creature to distract it from Rian.

Thaaaaats Naia.

“Get out of here,” Naia ordered. “While I have it’s attention!”

“I said I don’t need your help! “ Rian spat back, though he took the opportunity to move closer to his spear.

Geez, Rian. You’re not making a great first impression.

But the Horner is laser focused on Naia now, even when Rian spears it in the butt. It charges at Naia and she manages to dodge for a bit until she makes a mistake and ends up in a bad position. But Neech the Shoulder Eel pops out of Naia’s hair and jumps into the Horner’s fur, presumably trying to gnaw it to death since Neech’s teeth can’t break the Horner’s hide. But the Horner drives itself into exhaustion trying to scrape Neech off against a tree and passes out.

Or, as Naia hopes, the creature heard her plea to let go of the darkness even without dreamfasting. That’d be nice too.

With that problem sorted out, Naia and Rian can actually formally meet. Although Rian already recognizes Naia as Gurjin’s sister what with the twin thing.

“You’re Naia. Gurjin’s twin.”

The hardened voice was Rian’s. He was tall for a Gelfling, with olive skin and dark eyes. His thick dark brown hair was tousled and wild, broken by a single streak of blue above his right eye. His face was young and kind, though his eyes were weary and his lips were pressed in a tired line.

“And you’re Rian,” Naia said.

They had heard his name so often since they had begun their journey. In fact, at many times, his name was almost all they’d had for guidance. To finally meet him in person had seemed impossible, yet here they were.

This is a good moment because, yeah, Rian has to be built up into quite a figure in their minds by this point but lets back up a second!

His thick dark brown hair was tousled and wild, broken by a single streak of blue above his right eye.

Excuse me!

Did Rian dye a streak of hair? Or is this natural? Do Gelfling naturally get anime hair? This is so alien to the image I have of Rian!

Anyway! Rian asks after Gurjin and Naia pretty flatly tells him that Gurjin didn’t make it. Kylan speculates its her way of ripping the band-aid off but either way it leads to an awkward silence as none of them can bring themselves to say what needs to be said.

So Mythra says it for them once she finishes dressing the passed out Horner’s wounds.

She says that they need to figure out what to do about the Skeksis and then shoves Naia and Rian at each other and tells them to dreamfast so they can make a plan.

Rian wipes his hand on his tunic before offering it, which is the only time someone has done that and now I’m wondering if its SOP for when you’re not in a big frantic situation and have time to think ‘oh wow my hand might be dirty/clammy.’

I’m still fascinated at the etiquette of dreamfasting.

Kylan is still mostly thinking about what Naia is thinking about.

Kylan watched Naia, feeling a pinch of protectiveness. If she had not felt well enough to dreamfast with the horner, was she really in a safe place to open her heart to another Gelfling, to share what had broken it? They had heard Rian’s name many times, and sought him for days, but he was still a stranger. An ally, but not a friend.

When Naia glanced at Kylan in hesitation, that was all he needed to know. He stepped forward and offered his own hand.

“Naia’s heart is broken now,” he said. “But I was there, and she told me what she saw. I can’t give you her memories, but I can give you mine and my memory of her tale.”

Aww, what a good friend Kylan is!

Rian is indifferent to the hesitation and instantly agrees to dreamfast with Kylan instead.

Kylan characterizes blue-streak Rian in an interesting way.

He didn’t seem to care either way, all action and little emotion.

This is a drastically different take from the show Rian who cared so much all the time that it hurt.

Kylan does speculate that Rian’s own experiences might be the cause for this. Like that he might be sort of shut down, emotionally.

Still, its interesting. We didn’t get to know Rian very much at all in the first book, except secondhand. And there were differences. He was able to delay reacting to the Skeksis draining his girlfriend instead of having a shocked outburst right away. So right away its a Rian who is less impulsively emotional about things.

Although the first book also characterized Rian as serious and organized compared to Gurjin being more lackadaisical. While show Rian was a goofus and Gurjin was a bit of a straight man to his and Mira’s antics.

It’s just interesting to see such differences in Rian since he was one of the characters we got to know best in the show.

Anyway, Rian and Kylan start to dreamfast.

And it occurs to me that another reason why Kylan volunteered to do it in Naia’s place is that it would be a very boring upcoming chapter if Kylan just sat around watching two other people dreamfast. He has POV responsibilities now.

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #Song of the Dark Crystal #liveblog #Naia #Kylan #Rian #Mythra

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legendary-assassin-stance · 4 years

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Bryok wasn’t entirely certain why Cerise had sent both him and Myrr out for this particular mission -- it wasn’t like the simplistic assassination that needed no flair nor planning was difficult for only Myrr to complete, and it was rare that Cerise didn’t have either of her second-in-commands keeping watch over things in the camp. Perhaps it was because he knew this part of Elona better than the sniper?

The wind whipped around what little of his face wasn’t covered with his cowl as his griffon lazily glided through the cooling, evening desert air, occasionally flapping her wings to keep herself level. Glancing over his shoulder, he met Myrr’s gaze and raised a hand to motion downwards to signal that he was going to bring them to a landing spot before it got too dark to see where they were going. The assassin gave a short nod, and the necromancer straightened himself in the saddle once more.

Giving two quick taps to Nekhbet’s sides with his heels, the griffon complied by tucking her wings against her body and falling into a dive towards the ground below them. There was no sound from his companion’s griffon, but Bryok knew all the same that Myrr was keeping pace with him; he angled Nekhbet towards a scraggly cliff, gently tugging back on the reins to get her to fan her wings out and land with a flurry of wing beats. As silently as a whisper, Myrr landed next to him, the sniper’s griffon instantly trotting forward to preen Nekhbet’s neck feathers.

Bryok snorted lightly at the affectionate nuzzling between the two griffons, moving to tug down his cowl now that it wasn’t needed and turning his attention towards Myrr, who was watching him intently… though there was a softness to the edge of his eyes that Bryok had gotten extremely keen at noticing. The corner of the necromancer’s mouth curled slightly, and he moved to slip off Nekhbet’s saddle, giving the griffon’s feather crest an affectionate ruffle. “We should set up camp here, where we won’t be easily spotted.”

The sniper hummed, his gaze flickering around the small area, and seemingly deemed it fine when he removed his hood. “It’ll do, we aren’t going to stay for very long,” he responded, voice low as to not disturb the calm that was slowly settling over the sleeping desert. Bryok nodded, more to himself, and moved to start untacking Nekhbet so the griffon could shake out her feathers and stretch without the extra weight of the saddle. He could feel Myrr’s eyes resting heavily on his back as he brushed his fingers through the feathers on Nek’s sides, which had gotten mussed from their long flight.

It was not a surprise to feel the sniper’s presence move, a hum vibrating in his chest when he felt arms wrap themselves around his torso, and a chin rest on his shoulder. “You’d best get to removing Wolfsbane’s saddle before she gives you a very nippy scolding, dearheart,” Bryok murmured, a sharp huff escaping him at the feeling of Myrr nuzzling the sensitive area behind his ear. “You do realize we’re on a mission, yea?”

“And we’re stopped for the night, aren’t we? Unless you want to spend the next eleven hours doing nothing but checking over our gear for the millionth time. I’d much rather prefer you didn’t,” Myrr breathed next to his ear, and a slow shudder ruffled the feathers that trailed down his body.

“I… suppose I can’t argue with that.”

The sniper’s chuckle rumbled against his back and Bryok’s ear twitched as Myrr nipped at his earlobe; even only half-focusing on their mounts, the necromancer could practically see Wolfsbane roll her eyes at her owner’s antics. Nek turned her head and stared at both sylvari, huffing and moving to peck lightly at Myrr’s hip to get his attention -- it partially worked, and the assassin growled in annoyance at the interruption. “Alright, alright, you hellions. Give me a minute, would you?”

Bryok laughed lightly, twisting himself away from Myrr’s arms and giving the other a mischievous smirk before he turned and moved to follow Nekhbet, who had settled herself against the wall of the cliff’s outcropping. He sat down and nestled himself back against the griffon’s side, watching in amusement as Wolfsbane gave her owner a hard time for leaving her gear on for so long; the griffon wriggled, nipped, headbutted, and danced around every attempt to get her saddle off, an awfully humanoid look of disdain on her face as Myrr became increasingly exasperated with his mount’s shenanigans.

“Wolf!” the sniper finally snapped, and the griffon fell still, watching as Myrr wandered his way over to her, hooking a hand around the horn of the saddle to keep her in-place. “You’re an absolute nightmare, you know that, right?” Wolfsbane chirruped, turning her head to ruffle Myrr’s hair with her beak, and he sighed, lifting his free hand to scritch the griffon’s forehead. “Yeah, you know you are.”

“It’s because you let her get away with this sort of thing,” Bryok said, a lopsided grin crossing his face when Myrr glanced back over his shoulder to glare at him.

“I don’t see you reprimanding Nekhbet for all the stunts she pulls.”

“She respects me. She knows she can torment you all she wants.”

The indignant scowl that appeared on Myrr’s face got a chuckle from the necromancer, and he lifted a hand to give the other a lazy gesture. “C’mon then, stop lazing about with untacking Wolf and come here.” Myrr looked like he wanted to retort with something scathing, but held his tongue -- a rarity, when it came to the assassin. He simply huffed and turned back towards his griffon, going through the process of getting all of his gear off of her.

---------

The two sylvari were curled up against Nek’s side, leaning against one another and asleep; they both trusted Wolf enough to have her keep watch and forewarn them of anyone trying to approach their hiding spot.

It was the small, almost unnoticeable debris falling from above that roused Bryok to consciousness, and he had mere moments to remember his surroundings before an ungodly shriek split the air. Both griffons jolted, letting out unified squawks, and the necromancer moved with agility that seemed impossible for him to possess.

Myrr, a few moments late to waking unlike Bryok, was not so lucky despite his far better reflexes.

The dark mass that had been scaling down the wall dropped, smothering the startled sniper, and in the dim lighting that Bryok’s eyes were rapidly adjusting to, he could see that an Awakened Abomination had managed to find their camp somehow, its lashing tail nearly slicing the necromancer in half. He managed to dodge out of the way, but that wasted precious seconds that he could’ve spent attacking the damned thing.

He could hear Myrr shouting from beneath the bulk of the creature, unable to grab for his weapons while simultaneously keeping snapping teeth from latching onto his throat. Even Nekhbet and Wolfsbane couldn’t draw the Awakened’s ire enough to keep it from finally choosing a new plan of attack and darting its head down to fasten its jaws on Myrr’s side with a sickening crunch. The assassin screamed in pain, and Bryok didn’t even realize that he’d let his Reaper’s Shroud overtake him until he was bodily slamming into the Abomination’s side with enough force to detach its teeth from the sniper and send it crashing against the cliff face.

He could hear Myrr hissing and cursing under his breath as he tried to stem the bleeding, but Bryok’s attention was still focused solely on the Awakened that they had to deal with. Nek and Wolf were slowly forcing the still-dazed creature towards the ledge of the cliff with a series of pecks and slashing talons; Bryok watched with a calculating gaze, finally letting out a sharp whistle that stopped both mounts in their tracks once the Abomination was backed against the open air behind it.

He waited for the Abomination to rear up for an attack, it having finally regained its bearings, before he lunged forwards, the shadowy reaper scythe cleaving straight through the unprotected underside of the Awakened’s neck. It let out a gurgled, choked noise, falling forwards onto all-fours again as a mix of embalming fluid and blackened, old blood splattered the ground, eyes alight with fury. Bryok snarled ferally in-turn, lashing out with a forceful kick that caused the creature to scrabble off the edge and into the darkness below.

The threat gone, Bryok exhaled and allowed his Shroud to bleed off of him, dissipating it in a matter of moments. Then Myrr let out another low hiss of pain, and the rest of the situation came crashing down on the necromancer. Whirling, Bryok quickly darted over to where Myrr had managed to prop himself up against the rocks, a shaky hand pressed against the bite wound that had torn a chunk from his side. Nek and Wolf stood nearby, as alert as guard dogs, just in case the Awakened had the forethought to bring friends along.

“Fuck-- just-- here, hold on one second, kitten,” Bryok mumbled, tugging his offhand dagger from its sheath on his belt and rolling up his sleeve on his left arm. With an unflinching movement, and an ignored snap of “Don’t--” from Myrr, Bryok sliced a shallow, clean cut on the upper part of his forearm, watching as the lifesap seeped to the surface of his skin. Sheathing his dagger once more, he smeared his fingers through his own sap, moving to coat as much of the bite as he could, lips pressing into a thin line once he finally got a good look at how deeply the Abomination had buried its teeth into the sniper.

“You know I hate when you do that,” Myrr huffed as he let his hand drop from his side, exhaling sharply when Bryok pressed his own hand where Myrr’s had been resting and started to channel his blood healing through the sylvari’s body.

“Well, it’s my preference, so shut up and let me work.”

“You don’t need to fuckin’ bleed yourself to perform your healing magic, you stupid asshole,” Myrr growled, accusation blatant in his tone, and the necromancer sighed, refusing to look up and meet the other’s gaze. The fact that the sniper had resorted to surface-level insults meant that he was far more worried for Bryok than he was willing to let show.

“You got injured because of my lapse of judgement of the area. Atonement through blood is the least I can--”

“Atonement?”

“Myrr.” Bryok finally looked up, unfazed by the fury that danced in the assassin’s eyes. “Dearheart.” The anger died slightly at the necromancer’s quiet utterance, though the look on Myrr’s face was still unhappy. “We’re past the point of argument on the matter. Just… please. Let me do this.” He leaned forward to place a featherlight kiss against Myrr’s lips, ignoring the grumpy-but-resigned noise that the other made in his throat.

“Fine. Let’s finish this damn mission and go home. I hate the fucking desert.”

“There’s something we can finally agree on.”

#guild wars 2 #gw2 #gw2 fanfic #gw2 fanfiction #tyriaslibrary #writing #journal scribblings of a lost soul #oc: bryok #other characters #NMC Era #long post #am i posting all the snippets i've written all in one go? yes #is it a horrible idea? also yes #OOPS #sORRY for the spam :')

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bunny-hoodlum · 5 years

Text

Don't Leave Her(e)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/20434955/chapters/48480602

Sasuke follows an Otsutsuki into a world very much like our own.

It lead him farther than he’s ever gone.

A new dimension opened up to him.

He would like to get used to this by now, but no. His Space-Time dojutsu still left him winded.

He stepped out of the side of a building into a narrow alley, the abyssal portal closing behind him.

An assortment of unknown sounds bombarded his senses, so loud they seemed in competition.

Chugging, whirring, whooshing. Blaring horns not unlike the those on the freight ships back home. There were beeps that stuttered and others that dragged on.

Amongst the din was a constant shuffling like a herd in the distance. There too played music with instruments he’d never heard before.

It was rather… chirpy.

A noisy creak alerted him. A door a few feet to Sasuke’s left opened outwards and a man in a white apron and white hat stepped out, trash bag in hand.

But…

Sasuke hadn’t sensed him.

The man took no notice of Sasuke as he headed for the dumpster. Soon as he tossed the bag in and headed for the door, he halted to a stop.

The cook scrutinized him for a good minute.

“Ain’t never seen anyone wear a cape so casually, ‘cept the cosplayers on the bridge. You lost?”

Sasuke shook his head. “Just passing through.”

The cook craned his head back, looking down his nose. “Uh-huh. From where?”

Sasuke looked to his right, taking note that the alley lead to a brick wall. The building ahead appeared to be five storeys tall, its fire escape evidently unused.

Having no answer, Sasuke strode for the exit.

“Wait. Wait now, hold-” The cook grasped at Sasuke’s left arm, only to come up empty. “-up?” His grip slackened enough for Sasuke to slip through.

Leaving the alleyway had been like emerging from a tunnel of ignorance.

The world opened up to him, blinding at first, then overwhelming with the sheer activity of life all around him.

Thousands of people filled these streets. Phones to their heads and bags in their arms. Vehicles he’d never dreamed before sped along what seemed like a concrete river. Monitors which hung off of the faces of sky-reaching buildings flashed obnoxiously with gleaming faces and polished products.

A monstrous scream accompanied by an enormous shadow swept overhead, spiking his heart rate.

A giant bird?

No. It had a long, conical body with a tail like a shark and blades for wings. It was evidently metal, shining white as it hummed fiercely towards its descent.

An old anecdote from Naruto’s teen years came to mind, the only one where he rode upon a giant flying island turtle. But he doubted Naruto could help him understand this UFO any better, even if he was here.

Upon closer inspection, Sasuke noticed something: It had a bright red emblem on its tail.

A red leaf.

_____

The trail was gone.

Sasuke cursed his luck.

Perhaps they had merely passed through this realm.

But now Sasuke was stranded until his chakra replenished enough for another crossing. At this point, he was more inclined to return home than follow a cold trail.

Sasuke tugged at the collar of his cape, sweat slicking down his skin. The gesture brought more attention to himself, based on the passive stares he was receiving.

Just like back in his world, it was the height of summer.

He was missing the summer solstice festival. He couldn’t promise to go with them. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t like to.

Sakura said she’d send him pictures. She already showed him the yukata Sarada would be wearing. He wouldn’t be able to see the pictures until he got back, though.

The season was the same, but somehow it was much more stifling than he was used to.

Actually, it was a lot more of many things he was used to.

For starters, the roads back in his world are never this crowded. He feels like a minnow swimming against a current of impatient salmon, ready to be tossed out.

How is it that there are this many people existing in a single mile radius, and yet they have no perceivable life force?

He just couldn’t get his head around it.

_____

Sasuke needs to get his bearings.

He needs to prevent the Otsutsuki from feeding off any more God Trees.

What if there was one here?

It was worth to check.

Finding relief away from the crowds, Sasuke stepped into a wide side street. Square stone seats and benches lined the center, offset by a series of shrubs encased in stone boxes.

Shops lined either side, and overhead were diamond-shaped awnings that spanned the entire arcade.

As Sasuke strode past an eatery of sorts, cool mist struck his eyes and mouth.

He jumped back slightly, ignoring the looks from the customers seated in the patio dining area. From the awning of the restaurant was a system of black devices attached by a black wire. From the mouth of these devices spewed a constant production of mist that shrouded much of the patio from the summer heat.

Sasuke reminded himself to move on. And to stop getting surprised by the little things.

He was only bound to run into more.

____

This was the first time he’s seen Sarada since she was born.

She was two now.

Sakura held their toddler, her expression warm and a little exasperated as Sarada grabbed onto his forefinger.

Quite the grip.

Sarada began nomming on his finger.

Oh. That’s what she wanted it for.

“She’s been teething,” Sakura said. “I’ve tried frozen mochi, a homemade anesthetic gel, my parents stopped by with a kokeshi, all with limited success…”

Sasuke smiled at his adorable daughter. The hard bumps of her budding front teeth not unlike a dog’s play-bites, and he felt strangely proud of her. Proud of her health, her growth.

“I’m sorry to leave you with everything, Sakura.”

Deep down, he’d love to trade places with his wife, to experience the same joys and stresses as her.

She waved him off. “We’ve already discussed this. You’re fighting for peace of mind. Someday Sarada-chan will understand.”

Sasuke’s jaw shifted.

Because on his worst days, he hardly understood himself at all.

_____

It’s when Sasuke finally takes a moment to purchase food at a nearby grill stand that he realizes his currency is unrecognizable.

Figures.

He’s concerned he’ll have to make multiple trips back to this world. In which case, he better make the most of his time gathering intelligence.

His phone doesn’t work.

Of course. Why would it?

He has access to Konoha’s main databank; what Shiho and her ever expanding department of coders call 'the Intranet’. But here, nothing.

He thinks his technology may not be up to date, let alone remotely compatible. Another thing to look into, for sure.

Sasuke folds the phone closed and rests his mouth against the flat of his fingers.

His hard stare into the distance gains focus as he registers something. There on the television screen appears to be a familiar face.

But that had to be a mistake.

Sasuke got up from the stone bench and approached the store window displaying various TVs.

One had a drama, not unlike the new form of scripted entertainment cropping up in his world. Another showed a man at a desk and two other men were seated off to the side. There was a martial arts tourney held in an octogonal ring there, horses racing along a dirt oblong on this screen, and six people in brightly colored jumpsuits struggling up a flight of white stairs over on this screen. Why they kept falling down and getting back up, he didn’t understand.

But he imagined Naruto wanting to give it a try.

Ignoring these distractions, the one thing that really pulled at his gaze was the news coverage.

PM Sarutobi Extends Visit to Kumo no Kuni

That was him.

That was really him.

Liver spots and all.

Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He looked so different out of the robes and hat. The dark gray suit was tailored to fit, emphasizing his diminutive stature. He wasn’t that old yet, but he was getting there, and he would likely only continue to shrink.

Just when Sasuke’s imperfect reasoning had begun to toy with the possibility of reincarnation, Hiruzen was shown seated at a conference desk beside none other than A himself.

And the old hard-ass still had both arms.

Sasuke rubbed at forehead, shutting his eyes as he tried to process everything.

His forehead rubbing soon upgraded to firmly knocking against his skull.

No. He didn’t understand it all.

_____

He pressed his mouth to his wife’s small, round shoulder, earning a low, drawn-out moan.

A sharp wail disrupted this evening of stolen kisses and Sakura pulled away, suppressing her groan.

“Let me soothe her. It may be nightmares again.” She said, getting up.

Again, huh? Sasuke wondered what a three year old had to be afraid of.

His hand was on her shoulder in no time. He dipped in for a quick peck. “Get yourself ready for me. I’ll be back in a minute.”

His wife’s blush stirred the want more as she nodded obediently and reclined into bed.

Slipping out into the hallway, he made it to Sarada’s room.

She was standing and clutching at the rails of her crib. Her hiccups were frequent, almost violent and her sobs frantic.

She spotted him in the doorway, and it was like an instant switch. “Papa.” She chirped matter-of-factly.

He always wondered if it had been Sakura’s idea to teach her 'papa’ over anything else.

His father had always been 'Chichi-ue’ to him.

But Sasuke had demurred from taking the mantle of clan head. He had far too much to do. He had been the final Uchiha, the last true heir and he ran their name into the ground with his so-called 'wilding’ as Kakashi-sensei liked to tease. He needed to clean the slate. He needed to earn back his place.

Sasuke lifted Sarada up, inspecting her face for any trace of fear or sadness.

“Papa.” She reached for him, arms waving. She was perfectly fine now. He did say he would only need a minute.

As soon as Sasuke put her down, the pained screams started again. And in a panic, he scooped her up again.

Her big black eyes stared at him expectantly.

What was he supposed to do during this part?

_____

There was a curious amount of disquiet in a world so peaceful that Sasuke had to wonder what prevented it from falling apart at all.

Jashinist Slain after Tokonoha Commissioner General Indicates Group’s hand in The Nines Incident

“… There’s a lot of misconceptions going around about what we worship and the nature of our rituals. But it’s all purely symbolic. We invite people to see for their own eyes that we are not dangerous…”

Sasuke heavily doubted there were any misconceptions.

Former PM Senju Hashirama’s Legacy Brought Into Question

Sasuke wasn’t ready to go down that rabbit hole again.

Uzushio-Hi no Kuni Relations Worsen as the Fifth Anniversary of the Nines Incident Draws Near

“… They refuse to release the full list of the victims names. My daughter was nine months pregnant at the time. I just want to take her home. I just want to bury my daughter…”

Sasuke had the vaguest dread as to what this 'Nines Incident’ meant in this world.

But if there was no monster here like Kurama, then to what scale had been this destruction?

Momochi Zabuza Evades Arrest for Botched Attempt Against LDP’s Oppositional Leader

Apparently some things never change.

Whatever the current climate of unrest seemed to be, he sense no threat of war.

Perhaps this world was too big to suffer as a whole.

Some people may get scratched off, but that’s all it is: A scratch.

Had the massacre never happened and his grandparents passed away of old age, he likely wouldn’t have been able to muster a misty eye. He barely knew them enough at the time to be fond of them.

Sasuke’s world is vast, but the lines between territory and loyalties are clear.

A single domino can topple an entire nation.

Was a single domino enough for this world to fall too?

_____

Night had fallen and the streets had emptied.

The alleys and roadsides took up bedraggled, bearded men resting on their cardboard beds.

But then Sasuke came upon a man in a nice suit, face down in the street. He wasn’t injured, Sasuke soon found. Just black-out drunk.

Sasuke shifted him upright and leaned him against a nearby wooden bench. Sasuke paused to observe his breathing.

It was going to take some getting used to, not being able to sense life in the way that was so innate to him.

A place like this would be absolute hell for Karin.

Sasuke had noticed the CCTVs for some time.

It was better he didn’t perform any strange acrobatics for the time being.

_____

Sasuke toyed with the idea of creating an assumed identity.

He didn’t know how long it would take him to be sure this world wasn’t cultivating a God Tree. He wouldn’t be able to stay anonymous for long.

He would need to adapt to this world’s level of technology, as well. Seeing the wires pulled away from the sides of buildings, suspended instead upon metal spires that looked tadpole tails, he knew there was a difference in the logic of their engineering. If it wasn’t simply ahead of theirs, it was surely done out of necessity and perhaps tradition.

Back home, the wires were visible, running alongside buildings, homes and roofs like arteries.

Shinobi, who often travelled above the ground, had no fear of snagging their ankles or neck. The design, therefore, was their tradition, their necessity.

One final thing he became aware of the sheer amount of individual businesses packed in a single mile radius. Cafes, clothing stores, electronics, furniture, groceries, these things seemed to have fused at the hip, forcing new businesses to build atop them like bricks.

Perhaps commerce was the blood of society in this world.

Perhaps this was what the so-called End of History was to look like.

When all wars are settled, there is nothing else to do but play with money.

_____

An unassuming stone staircase caught his attention, for it lead three flights down into a darkened, verdant park.

The walking path wove like a snake between the trees.

Black metal trash cans stood along the trail here and there. Green dispensers carried rolls of black bags. They sported a sign, showing a stick figure stooping over behind a dog.

Huh. He wondered what that Inuzuka boy would think of this.

Sasuke took a seat on a lone wooden bench. He craned his head back to rest.

But when he closed his eyes, he became unsettled.

Even if he relied on his ears, or that subconscious instinct that told him when he was being watched (an ability he decided that had to be vestigial from being an indirect descendant of Kaguya), his senses still sought out the flickering warmth of chakra.

Closing his eyes felt like he was sinking into a place he could never wake up from.

_____

Something scurried in the distance. Through the bushes. Too big to be a squirrel or stray mutt.

Sasuke lurched upright and there peeking out from behind a tree was a little girl.

She had straight, dark hair in a cropped princess cut style. Her skin was white, her eyes blue, and she couldn’t be older than four or five.

Unsure what to do, Sasuke waved at her.

And she waved back.

Sasuke reached into his vest pocket, digging out four pieces of hard candy in paper wrappers.

Sarada snuck them in when he wasn’t looking.

Black tea flavor. Sakura said they were her favorite.

Sasuke leaned forward, elbow propped on his knee and he held the candy out towards.

In the back of his mind, this gesture felt a little shady to him. If some strange man happened to offer his daughter her favorite candy, he would be inclined to reveal the hilt of his sword.

The little girl stepped out from behind the tree.

She took one little step. Hesitated. Then another little step. She repeated this pattern, when halfway her eyes brightened and she ran up to him.

She reached for the candy, her hand hovering short of grabbing one while her big eyes implored him for his approval.

“They’re for you, from my daughter. She told me sweets should be shared amongst friends.” A total fabrication, but how else was she going to trust him?

The little girl plucked a single candy from his palm and fished it out of its paper wrapper, then popped it in her mouth.

She then grabbed another one and held it out towards him.

Oh yeah. He did say sweets should be shared amongst friends.

Pocketing the other two pieces, he accepted the candy from her. He gazed at it reluctantly. He’s had these in his pocket for over a week. A gift from Sarada, perhaps even a bribe in her mind to get him to stay. For him, they were precious keepsakes.

Well, it wasn’t like he was never going to see her again.

Sasuke worked the candy from its wrapper with his thumb, popped it into his mouth and let the flavor meld onto his saliva. It was pleasant and smooth, not too sweet at all. An unassuming treat.

The little girl’s face began to scrunch and droop, as if she were working on a cough drop instead.

“Don’t like it?”

She shrugged. Through a mouthful of darkened saliva, she said. “Not sweet enough.”

“Hn. What’s your name?” Sasuke began to cautiously eye the toddler. Her lavender pants were soaked with muddied water from the knees down. Her white shoes were caked in mud as well. Her elbows were scuffed, giving him the impression that she must have fallen. Her skin and her hair were otherwise clean, showing that she was not like those downtrodden men from earlier.

It must be that she was only gone recently enough that her family wasn’t looking for her yet. But that would change soon if he didn’t act.

She looked at him funny for asking. “Hinata.”

In this world full of coincidences, time seemed to slow to a halt.

And in the brief seconds when her eyes would close, a round, timid face from his childhood replaced hers with perfect sameness.

“How old are you?”

She thrusted four fingers towards him.

He hoped this wasn’t somehow her.

“Is your birthday soon?”

She shook her head. “Too hot. Us'lly snow comes out to celebrate with me.”

No. This was just a coincidence. She couldn’t possibly be who he thought she was.

She scooted towards him, hands clutching the edges of his cape. He stiffened, hoping she wouldn’t see the scabbard angled against his back.

“Aniki, you taking me back to daddy now?”

Sasuke clasped his hand over hers and nodded.

_____

Sasuke stood in the hallway, holding Sarada against him as Sakura slipped her shoes on in the genkan.

“I’m not going to be gone long, but you sure you’re going to be okay with her?”

“She’s sleeping.” What was there to worry about?

Sakura brushed her bangs aside, looking torn between leaving him or staying.

They were short on groceries. Sakura’s director duties at the children’s clinic had cut into the little free time she had, and his appearance today had been spontaneous to say the least.

“Okay.” She finally said. “I’m leaving now.”

“Take care.”

This was all he could do really.

Sakura knew what they needed, what they usually stocked up on when he wasn’t around. She most likely felt compelled to pick up extra things now that he was here. And with his self-imposed penance, he wasn’t going to be much help carrying all of that back from the marketplace had he gone instead.

This was all that he could do.

_____

Hinata’s resting against him just like Sarada was that day. She seems to have taken to him quite easily.

It’s calming, going for a walk like this. He thinks of doing with this Sarada some day, before she got too big of course, with Sakura’s hand curled around his bicep.

Their village was beautiful, and there’s so much to try and explore. He keeps hearing about it. It’s Naruto’s pride and joy to share how it was evolving, expanding. Rokudaime must be proud, too. He tries to say he’s just a holdover Hokage until Naruto is ready, but no one was going to let Kakashi talk himself down like that.

Every day something new sprouted up to the point that an official newsletter had begun to circulate through the village. Naruto told him the first time he, Hinata and Boruto had waited in the longest line ever for the new bakery that had debuted right across Dango-ya.

Sasuke understood right away: Competition is good for growth.

The city lights greeted them as he drew closer to the shops he had ventured passed during his first hours. Their windows were darkened however, and he believed it was well past business hours.

But in a place this developed, he was banking on one thing: Finding a convenience store.

Konoha was beginning to have shops like these.

Naruto wrote him once, (back at a time when neither of them were quite accustomed to their phones just yet), and he had gone on and on about the selection of instant ramen he had discovered on their shelves.

He sounded just like his twelve-year-old self. As excitable and single-minded as ever.

Hinata started to squirm against his shoulder. She was getting antsy.

“You hungry?” He asked.

“Mmhm.”

She hadn’t been able to tell him much about her home or where it was, but taking her sullied state into account, he felt he could narrow it down. This place was like a paved island. His search would have to begin outside of its limits.

“How come you weren’t scared of me?”

She shrugs. “I have a lotta big brothers. You look like them.”

Interesting. Sasuke tried to picture Hiashi with a whole brood of boys. In that picture, Neji stormed in, fending off anyone who would dare replace him as her most beloved brother.

Sasuke had heard from Naruto how the reformed branch member had become so fiercely protective of his younger cousin. To think the key to Neji’s freedom from hate had been one withheld letter penned to him by his father. Why it had been revealed so late, Sasuke failed to understand. But for all the pain Sasuke had caused, he kind of envied Neji for being able to make it back home so easily.

“So what do you mean I look like them?”

Bright white lights beamed out of a squat building, their white and blue sign shining just as brightly.

“They wear dark clothes, their hair is dark, the faces they make are dark.”

“They scowl at you?”

They crossed the parking out and entered inside. A synthetic bell tone welcomed them.

“Not at me. I seen them look mean at someone else’s brothers.”

“Hn.”

They began to peruse the shelves. Sasuke considered finding something that Sarada would enjoy.

Royal Milk Tea Biscuits? Matcha Chews?

Hinata pointed at a row of packaged cinnamon rolls, and Sasuke frowned.

He picked it up in a hurry and the moment the cashier stepped outside the back door, Sasuke slipped out the front.

Just a pile of coincidences, he reminded himself.

_____

There was a booth up ahead, lonely and a little out of place.

A man in uniform idled inside on a chair, his legs pointed out towards the street. His clothes were shades of blue, dark pants and dark vest, pale dress shirt and a dark, brimmed hat with a golden emblem on the center.

Hinata stirred and pointed towards the man. “He knows my daddy!”

Sasuke slowed, wary of catching the man’s suspicion. “Does he?”

Hinata nodded vigorously. “They’re in my house all the time.”

What the hell does that mean?

The closer Sasuke neared, the more his gut told him what kind of person this was: Law Enforcement.

“Aniki, he can help us.”

“Yeah, I know…”

It would be the quickest, most sane thing to do. But it wasn’t in the cards right now.

They’d want ID, a home address…

“Sorry Hinata-chan, but we can’t trust him.”

She peered up at him for a beat before settling back down. “Okay. My daddy says that, too.”

Sasuke kept his head down, forcing himself to make it past detection.

Naruto had come to him one day on behalf of Rokudaime. They wanted to reinvigorate the police force, build it up to its former glory. Sandaime had long relied on ANBU to keep the order, and Godaime after him, but that was no longer viable.

Because the police force was no longer being placed upon a single clan, they were working on the interviewing process, as well as reviewing the previous standard of regulations. A copy of the citizen registry, alongside an old compilation of past arrest records found in his father’s preserved study had given him significant insight for updating those regulations.

The last thing Sasuke needed was to get detained. Kamui wasn’t even an option, not unless the situation were truly dire.

“Where’s your daughter?” Hinata asked out of the blue.

“She’s at home.”

“And what are you doing here?”

“I’m working.”

“Oh.”

_____

In his attempts to have more presence in Sarada’s life, this too has been occurring just as frequently.

The first time he heads for the genkan, his sandals are missing.

He finds them in the storage room.

The next time they’re missing, Sakura screeches.

They’re in the toilet.

The next time they’re in the trash, soaked in melon juice and forcibly hidden beneath discarded egg shells, bok choy stalks, and styrofoam meat trays.

Sakura gets mad.

He doesn’t.

Sarada stops hiding his shoes.

So when he slips them on, a tiny crawling sensation lances up his spine. He stares down at the mess. He’s just pushed pudding everywhere, and it’s oozing between his bare toes.

When Sakura holds up Sarada towards him with an expectant glare, he pokes his wife’s forehead then Sarada’s, and takes his leave.

He didn’t know that was the wrong thing to do until the most recent incident.

His shoes are missing again.

They find Sarada in the backyard. She’s shoving large rocks down the high-tops of his right sandal. She’s thought this through. They’re too large to slide out of the cutouts on their own.

“SARADA!” Sakura scolds, marching towards their daughter.

Sarada whirls around on them in a panic. She grabs the left sandal, which has not been stuffed with rocks, and chucks it across the backyard with a bitter shout.

Sasuke grasps his wife’s wrist before she reaches their daughter, and it was the wrong thing to do.

“Are you going to do something this time?!” She wrenches her wrist free. His lack of response, his obvious lack of awareness earns his wife’s full ire. “Stop trying to be her friend. You are her father.”

“She’s little.”

“She’s being a brat. And you know why this keeps happening?!” Sakura grips his hand and hard. “Every time you’re here, you undermine me. She thinks its okay because you act the same no matter what she does. Is that fair? Is it fair that I have to be the bad guy all the time?”

His chest constricts. Any rebuttals he had were void as soon as he felt them on his tongue.

It startled him, the feeling that layers of happy illusions were peeling down all around him.

Sakura’s changed. Motherhood’s changed her. Of course it would. Of course she would know these things that he doesn’t know anything about. Of course.

But they became a mother and father at the same time. He thought… He thought that was it. Like he’d just been moved into a new squad with a higher promotion.

“I’m sorry-”

“Sasuke, I know. You’re always sorry. I know.”

Yeah. He was sorry his wife was still married to a teenager. He was sorry that he’s been disrupting the space she’s created for their daughter to grow in. Sorry he has nothing to contribute.

“Sasuke.” She urged. But she wasn’t giving up on him. She was trying to put him on the right path.

But he was still scared.

He didn’t want to be the bad guy, either.

“What should I do?”

Her grip softened. “Just be firm with her. She knows better than to disrespect someone else’ property.”

“Does she?”

“Yes. She plays with Choji’s girl. I’ve talked with you about this.”

“Yeah.” He doesn’t remember this at all.

'Firm’ she says. Right, his mother had been firm with him before. His father, instead, withheld praised Sasuke knew he deserved. They loved him, he knows. He isn’t mad. But when he recalls how he felt back then, he had doubts towards them. He felt like he wasn’t good enough for his father, that he was a needy nuisance towards his brother, that mom didn’t need to rely on him nearly as much as she did on Itachi’s successes.

In a single instance, he could cause his daughter as much pain as those moments had for him.

And he would carry that knowledge with him forever.

Sasuke stepped off the engawa and approached his little girl. He crouched down before her, holding her gaze like he was staring down ten thousand poison-tipped senbon.

“Sarada-chan, no matter what you do, you can’t stop me from leaving.” Straight facts. A three-foot tall four year couldn’t stop a shinobi of his caliber.

But that wasn’t what Sarada wanted to hear.

And that’s not how she heard it at all.

Her eyes widened, trembling. They were glassy with tears.

He moved forward to course correct, to hug her, to love her, but she stomped off for the discarded sandal.

Picking it up, she gives a running start and throws it even farther away, right into Sakura’s rose bushes.

Sarada ran off.

“SARADA! Sasuke, hold on, I’ll get her! Sarada!” Sakura sprinted off their property. It didn’t take long for her to scoop up their screaming toddler.

He watched his wife in a daze as she scolded Sarada so expertly, and in that moment he thinks that his and Naruto’s childhood roles have truly reversed.

No longer was Sasuke a natural at whatever he set out to do.

He was the useless one.

_____

“Are we going to walk there?”

Sasuke’s brows furrowed. “Is it too far?” Walking is the only way I get around. He wasn’t sure how Kamui would work on a powerless human, either.

“Yuh-huh. I was home with mommy. Then I was on a plane with mommy. Now I’m here… without mommy.”

Sasuke was about to ask what was a plane, until the last part.

“I thought we were looking for your dad.”

“Yes. Look only for dad.”

“But what about your mom? You were with her last, you shouldn’t run away.” He recalled the last time he saw Sarada bolting out the backyard. He wondered if he was causing not just resentment towards him, but towards Sakura as well. She didn’t deserve what was happening to her. He really hoped Sarada would understand some day.

A little fist came down on his shoulder and she began to kick. “She did it first! I want my daddy!” She flopped face-first against his shoulder, her frustration palpable.

“Okay, okay.” Sasuke awkwardly bounced her in his arm, something he happened to recall Sakura doing back when Sarada was much smaller.

“You don’t know where we are.” Hinata said.

“No.”

“I don’t know where we are.” She said.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure this out.”

“Nobody knows where we are.”

Sasuke bit down his tongue.

If he wasn’t careful, that part may not be true for very long.

#naruto fanfiction #sasuke uchiha #sarada #sakura haruno #sasusaku #hinata hyuga #Hinata Hyuuga #boruto era #modern au #worldhopping #multiverse #twoshot

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spectral-ask-memes · 4 years

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🥊🍅💥🏀☀️🌙⭐🍏💧🔮🌸🌺 💜💗💗💗 for either your favorite oc or your least favorite! or both!

i almost said montresor was my least favourite which is Such A Lie because i accidentally got attached and i’m very glad he ends up being Significantly Less Bad than he initially was

anyways. it’s all under the cut (crossing my fingers that it actually works properly) (and i think i’ll answer for annabel and arthur)

🥊 Does your OC prefer to take the lead or follow orders? With everyone or just with certain people? Is there a reason for this?

annabel doesn’t really... choose? she’s fairly smart and tends to consider that the things they’re all going to do will have an effect on other people and what will happen later. she ends up being one of the bigger characters and part of the main group that actually Knows What’s Going On and, by extension, somewhat a leader?

arthur was more of a leader back when he was sailing, and as he got older he was more okay with sitting back and letting things happen. granted, that also possibly got him killed (well, not really. but if you go with the original story, it is)

🍅 How easily is your OC embarassed? What subjects make them flush and why? What event has made your OC the most embarassed they’ve ever been?

i would say that annabel lee isn’t embarrassed too easily? she knows what she’s done, and the embodiment of death is willing to actually physically fight someone for her. that’s not to say that she can’t be embarrassed, though

arthur... just doesn’t tell you. you can’t find anything to make him embarrassed simply because you don’t know anything about him. he’s very good at keeping it as secretive as possible (not necessarily on purpose. he probably thought he told montresor)

💥 Are there any emotions your OC doesn’t know how to deal with, doesn’t understand or hates having to feel? Any reason behind this?

annabel lee tries to be happier, at least in the first part, and tries to just. ignore negative emotions. but she eventually learns how to deal with the more negative emotions. in the first part, she’s also not quite sure about montresor--she loves him, and at that point they’re almost like cousins or siblings. but at one point, it seems as if montresor has just been going around and committing Crimes (they think he’s murdering people.) and she has to figure out how to work through the “he’s practically my brother and i don’t know that he would do this?” and what appears to be in front of her (it ends up okay though). because i personally find emotions difficult and have trouble putting words to them it is also difficult for me to put the right words in the correct order, but i think that this is (at the very least, for a segment of the story) a good summary

arthur,,, i honestly don’t know that we get enough of him to tell? probably the emotions he didn’t express. wait that’s more of a Regret? so then, arguably, affection, but he’s spent time trying to work through that (and raised Montresor, and did a fairly decent job of it, in the end)

🏀 Does your OC have any skills that people wouldn’t expect them to have? Do they have a hobby or pass time that others would consider strange or weird? How did they learn this particular skill or pick up this hobby?

people probably look at annabel and expect her to be Very Soft (which, yeah, she is, she’s a very kind and affectionate person). but she’s also very much a badass? she likes swimming and rock/shell collecting, and also found that she enjoyed helping dupin with Investigating quite a bit

arthur likes to sail. he enjoys exploring and Not-Dying.

☀️ How well does your OC take care of themself? Do they tend to put others before their own wellbeing and if so how often? What is their favourite way to pamper themself?

annabel lee!! is very much!! a person that thinks self care is important!! and i love her!! so much!! she does try to take care of others, but she’s also learned that she needs to have Limits and take care of herself too.

arthur went from “probably selfish, puts himself above others” to “adopted a little boy who was abandoned by his father and would now give him almost anything probably” and we love that development, except that sometimes it might possibly be bad? as in, it helps play into the “Montresor Actually Murdered Him” narrative (as well as possibly the real narrative, in which arthur got sick and probably sent montresor away so that he wouldn’t catch it, which plays into some Other Things that we don’t need to get into right now because it’s. a lot)

🌙 What are some of your OC’s favourites? Favourite food, colour, season, stuff like that! Give some general simple facts that tend to get overlooked!

annabel lee likes cookies, pastel colours (pink/blue/yellow/purple specifically, and also some brighter ones? it depends sometimes), and spring. she likes to garden, i think! she and her fiancee have a nice house and a garden that they work on together and it’s very good :) (also, i like to think that she and her girlfriend [now fiancee] probably tried to propose to each other at the same time)

arthur probably also likes cookies but thinks brownies are neat too, he likes blue/grey/green/gold/magenta, and summer. he also adopted montresor after montresor’s mother died and his father abandoned him, so that’s Very Good Content. arthur really is doing his best,,, (it’s also taken me until this question to realise that i do have a least favourite, and that least favourite is either prospero [MURDERED] or fortunato [MURDERED] but it’s okay)

⭐ Does your OC like to sleep alone or do they enjoy sharing their bed? Have they been to any sleepovers? Have they ever been camping? What did they think of the experiences if so?

annabel lee! very much enjoys cuddling!! she likes to have the Friend Group over for big sleepovers and they probably have big cuddle piles (and they deserve them, honestly). i think all of the characters have sort of been camping? in her case, it was probably with lenore and dupin

arthur tends to sleep alone, save for a few times at sea. he has been camping, and probably took montresor a few times when he was a child.

🍏 When your OC says “I had a bad day” what does that tend to mean? Is it really as bad as they’re saying or are they being a bit dramatic?

when annabel lee says she had a bad day, it means that she definitely had a bad day (although there are probably some occasions on which she might be being a little dramatic, because that’s fun sometimes)

arthur won’t tell you how his day is going, because it probably slips his mind. he’s got a lot he’s trying to take care of, and really, he doesn’t have that many bad days now?

💧 What is something from your OC’s past they’re the most ashamed of and why? What is something they’re really proud of? And lastly what is something in their past that could make them shake with dread?

annabel lee is probably ashamed of the time montresor was convinced she was dead (although that wasn’t her fault). she’s proud of her friend group and how they’ve managed half of what they did.

arthur is ashamed of some of the things he did while sailing (i’m still finishing his backstory + reading the thing for him and stuff). he’s proud of his son and raising him :,)

🔮What does your OC think is their best trait. What is actually their best trait? What about their flaws? Are they one to admit these flaws or do they like to pretend they’re perfect?

i’m going to be honest: i haven’t really thought about what they think their best and worst traits are, simply because it hasn’t come up yet in the story? but:

annabel lee probably thinks her best trait is her memory? she makes a point to remember certain details about her friends, and also things for helping with cases. really, though, she’s also incredibly brave (pluto straight up tells her they’re the embodiment of death, and instead of being terrified, she tells them that it’s cool and asks if they’d like a cookie. i love her). going hand in hand with her bravery, though, it can lead to her being a bit reckless at times? she’s a bit hesitant to admit it, but she will.

arthur is willing to listen and change if he needs to, and is wiling to educate himself. i would agree that it’s probably his best trait (again, we don’t get a Lot of him, especially not where i’m at in the story right now, though). his worst trait is arguably how much trust he can put into people now.

🌸 What’s a sentence that would make your OC’s day better? One that would make them laugh? One that would make their day worse? Why? What words would you have to say to them to completely ruin their day?

for annabel lee, the first really varies. probably something along the lines of “we were successful/didn’t die”. there are many sentences that could make her laugh, depending on who said them and the way they were said. she does find the initial conversation about victor amusing, though, i think (i’m still working on that scene). also how pluto references various other works of literature, she finds some of those amusing. i think one of her (and my own, if i’m being entirely honest) favourites is probably when pluto stops mid-sentence while they’re talking about something important and just kind of goes. “wait. are those two guys still waiting? we have to make sure, we can’t let godot get there”. one that would ruin her day is almost definitely someone else dying or getting injured.

arthur is an enigma, even to me. but in somewhat seriousness: he’d probably be happier if someone told him something good happened, in general? like montresor telling him about making a new friend. he is also rather amused by the fact that montresor has dated a fair share of his friend group (and one of them was on accident). he was pretty bummed about getting murdered/sick and dying.

🌺 What additions would your OC make to their body if they could? Lets say, if they don’t have a tail would they want one? Wings? Horns? Do they wish they could shapeshift?

annabel lee is working through learning to love herself as she is, and would rather Not. she wants wings. and is definitely planning on tattoos, if she doesn’t already have some, probably. she thinks being able to shapeshift would be Neat.

there was a time when arthur wanted to be able to breathe underwater.

💗 Ramble a bit about this character!

god,,, i just love annabel,,, so much,,, she’s very good!!!! she’s my badass child and i love her so much. pluto almost definitely fights someone for her. honestly most of this has just been me rambling about her

#not an ask game #not an ask meme #not a request #ask #i answered a thing

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