#technically stranger things too but only if you pirate it

[blahaj-blastin]

A gay ass spooky season watch list (and where to find them) 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️👻

(Please add!!!)

- I Saw the TV Glow (Max) (My favorite movie of all time actually)

- Lisa Frankenstein (Prime Video) (“It’s cause he’s decomposed” he’s trans, nice try)

- Rocky Horror Picture Show (Hulu) (Obviously)

- Scream (Max) (They’re in love and you know it)

- The IT Movies (Max and Netflix) (I don’t love these movies, but Reddie is cute)

- Seed of Chucky (Netflix) (Chucky: Dad of the year)

- Fear Street trilogy (Netflix) (Lesbians time travel? I don’t actually think I finished these—)

- The 1990’s Addam’s Family movies (Paramount+) (Morticia and Gomez are T4T, I will die on that hill)

- Literally any Monster High movie (They’re all queer icons)

- Scooby Doo and the Witch’s Ghost (Max, Boomerang) (The Hex Girls <<<<3 Thorn was my childhood crush)

- ParaNorman (Pluto, Prime, Tubi) (We love a gay twist)

- Wendell and Wild (Netflix) (Really underrated representation)

- The Lost Boys ($3.99 on Prime) (I’ve never watched it, but my coworker says to put it on)

- Gravity Falls (Disney+, 41 episodes) (Look me in the eyes and tell me Dipper Pines is cis)

- Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix, 10 episodes) (Actually one of the cutest TV couples ever)

- Dead End: Paranormal Park (Netflix, 20 episodes) (Very special place in my heart)

- The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals, Black Friday, Nerdy Prudes Must Die, Nightmare Time (Starkid on YouTube, Nightmare Time has 7 episodes) (A town full of gay people)

[myymi]

“Look. Yer new here, I get it.” Sails grumbled, his mechanical arm resting on the hedgehog’s chest to force him to keep his distance, “But you need to learn our rules and fast.” He growled, eyes narrowing into a glare.

Sonic tried to keep his body from visibly wilting at the rejection. He wasn't used to being pushed away by his little brother, and it seemed to hurt worse the second time around.

Except they aren't his little brother, are they? Nine and Sails don't know him. They shouldn't trust him. But he needs them to. Sonic needs his brother(s?) to trust him to keep them safe, why won't they let him protect them?

That's his job, isn't it? He has to keep them safe from those who are hunting them or whatever awful thoughts are plaguing them. What good is protecting the world when he can't protect his world?

“Whaddya mean?” He decided to ask, firmly ignoring the way his voice wavered even after the fox in front of him raised a brow at it.

“I mean quit stickin’ yer nose where it don't belong.” Sonic tried to ignore the fact that only one of the pirate's ears folded down as he crossed his arms, shrinking into himself. “My tale ain't your business, so quit poking.”

“I didn't mean to offend you or anything,” Sonic said, raising his paws in surrender. He'd never want to push his brother to talk about something he didn't want to. Why didn't he just drop it? “I was just worried, y’know?”

“Don't worry over strangers, landlubber.” Sails warned, his metal arm retreating from the teens chest as he averted his gaze, “it'll only make things harder for ya.” He mumbled, almost too quiet for the other to hear.

“But you're not a stranger, Sails.” The older argued, watching the fox’s movements, “I know everything about you!”

“No, you don't.” The kit frowned, his fur bristling, “If ye did, ye wouldn't be here askin’ questions about a life that doesn't concern you.” Was the last thing he said before turning away from the hedgehog, quickly making his way to somewhere on the boat that wasn't near him.

Sonic's ears flattened against his head as he watched Sails walk away, his left paw holding his right arm in an absolute death grip. He groaned and ran his paws down his face.

This was his own fault.

He's always been one to preach about boundaries. He remembers he used to have to remind a 4 year old Tails quite often that sometimes people just didn't want to talk about or do certain things and that was okay.

So why didn't he keep his big, stupid mouth shut when he saw Sails start to pull away?

Sure, Sails wasn't technically Tails, but they had the same mannerisms. His tails twirling around themselves to appear as a single appendage, his eyes looking down to stare at his crossed arms, his fur proofing up, and his foot tapping against the ground were all signs that someone was pushing him too far. Sonic knew that, yet he wouldn't stop pushing.

Maybe it was the desperation to understand this two tailed fox. Because he wasn't his fox, but he was so close he might as well be his doppelganger. Yet the teenager didn't actually know him.

But he wanted to. He wanted to show the kit that he was the one the kid should trust. He wanted to prove to Sails that he was a free shoulder to lean on if he needed it.

A big brother who would always have his arms open, waiting to comfort the fox should he need it.

It was a need for the hedgehog. He so desperately needed his little brother to understand he was always here that he forgot that Sails wasn't his brother. Not in those blue eyes, anyway.

To Sails, Sonic was a stranger. He was just some guy they found on an island who begged to be let aboard their ship. They had only met a few hours ago.

He was, understandably, overwhelmed by the hedgehog. It seemed like the stranger knew almost everything about his life, except for one key detail; Sonic didn't exist in it.

And that's exactly what made Sonic keep pushing. He wasn't a part of Sails’ life, but he wanted to be. Because he knows what Tails’ life was like before meeting the hedgehog, and he needed to make sure Sails was safe.

Nine wasn't.

Mangey wasn't.

There had to be at least one variant of his little brother that was okay. The kid's safety couldn't only rely on Sonic, surely there had to be one of them that got off easy.

But he guesses that was just another assumption he was wrong about.

“Landlubber!” Sonic's ears twitched at that, swiveling around until they located the direction the shout came from. He turned around to see Batten flying above him.

“What’d ye say to Sails?” She asked, one hand resting on her hip as the other held the hilt of her sword. The bat nodded her head up towards the crow’s nest.

Squinting, Sonic could see Sails was leaning against the banister, his head hung low.

The hedgehog winced and rubbed the back of his neck, “I kinda pushed him about something I shouldn't have.” He admitted, ears folding down against his head. “Do you know how I can make that up to him?”

Batten’s frown deepened as she glanced up to the fox for a brief moment, “Don't do anything. He'll sort it out on his own.” She advised, lowering herself down to land beside the hedgehog. “And don't bring the topic back up again. Ever.”

“Noted.” Sonic tried to smile, but it was very obviously strained. He sighed and looked away from the fox, not wanting to be caught staring.

He wasn't used to leaving Tails alone. When the fox was upset he would always bring him a gift to make up for whatever it was he did.

But maybe it's time to stop treating these two tailed foxes like they're his little brother. It never seemed to work out in his favor.

[linkemon]

Sibling headcanons 1

Friendly reminder that English is not my first language. You can check my Masterlists both in English and Polish here.

Naganohara Yoimiya

✧ Being Yoimiya's little sibling means being open to the world and people. Your older sister has always encouraged you to meet the kids in the neighbourhood. It is also related to the fact that she also divided her attention on them and not focused it only on you. You're jealous of it, and she can't always see it right away. But when she does find out, she always apologizes.

✧ You make fireworks together. You're pretty good at it now but when you were little she took you with her to the workshop and you almost set her hair on fire. She loves telling this story to others. You must have heard it dozens of times, and each time you kick her in the ankle so that she stops embarrassing you in front of new people you meet.

✧ Together you help each other with grandpa. You love him but it can be tiring. Especially since many things have to be explained to him slowly and very loudly.

✧ Neither of you can cook. You prefer to eat something quick in the city. You are always busy, everywhere and everyone knows you.

Xingqiu

✧ If there's one thing you can be sure of, it's that Xingqiu will get you into reading books. He'll push you on novels and either you become a reader or you die.

✧ As the third child in the family you lead a pretty comfortable life. One could even say worthy of a royalty. Especially since you're not much into your father's merchant guild business. Immersing yourself in the fantastic adventures of fictional characters, you feel that you are alive.

✧ In the past, your brother pretended to be adventurers and pirates. You used to play the princesses he had to save. Mostly because you agreed to play as long as you sat in one place and could read.

✧ You help him proofread "Legend of the Sword" for which he is extremely grateful. He promised to bring you an autograph from Inazuma, Calx, his illustrator, of whom you are a big fan.

Keqing

✧ As Keqing's older sibling, you don't have it easy. Actually, your relationship is a long, winding and bumpy road. And it doesn't look like it's going to fully recover.

✧ Your sister is always busy. And yet she is never satisfied with her achievements. Even though you tell her to rest, she doesn't change her mind. Therefore, it would be difficult for you to spend more time together.

✧ You mainly see each other at work, which is also a source of disagreement between you. You've always felt inferior. Keqing holds a high position and your family has always compared her to you. She tried to straighten it out a couple of times but it didn't work. You understand it's not her fault but it doesn't help to look at her any more favorably.

✧ The last time you saw each other was shopping during the Lantern Right festival. The fact that she found time for you then was strange to say the least. Apparently, a friend made her realize that she should take a break. You didn't comment that she listened to a stranger and she never listened to your advice. Together you chose a beautiful dress for her. You've been seeing each other a lot more since then but that doesn't mean the problems have gone away.

Sayu

✧ Technically, you're not Sayu's biological sibling. But that doesn't mean you don't act like you are. All members of the Shuumatsuban recognize this as true.

✧ You literally take some errands for her so she can get some sleep. She loves you for it. If she gets a pillow or a blanket as a gift, you can be sure that she will lazily hug you to thank you.

✧ You are one of the few people who are allowed to pat her on the head. Just not too often, after all, she wants to grow taller, and everyone knows that slows down growing up.

✧ You took her measure on a forest tree once. Every now and then she stands there and you mark her height again.

✧ Despite her laziness, you can be sure that in important situations she will not fail. Her master is gone but she still has you. She's not going to lose her older sibling. There's no way she's letting anything happen to you. The little ninja will immediately go to save you and always succeed.

[robinchan-hananomi]

I’m very glad the One Piece live action left Rika and Gin in, even if it scrapped most of their story lines.

Luffy grew up watching and admiring Shank’s crew. And to be honest, Shanks is the only REAL pirate crew Luffy had much exposure to growing up. (Blue jam could be considered too, but he was operating more like a bandit by the time the brothers were assisting him than sea pirates). Because of them, Luffy had rather romantic ideas of what a pirate should be. They should be people who live to party, who eat and drink while singing and overall being in a celebratory mood. He saw them as free and adventurous spirits, who traveled the world chasing dreams and treasure.

But one other thing Shanks really taught Luffy, was his code. Luffy isn’t a hero. Technically he isn’t a ‘good guy’ either. Luffy will help someone who needs it, but usually it’s because he’s effected in some way. He befriended someone, he liked the attitude someone showed, he wanted some food, ect. Luffy doesn’t go out of his way to liberate countries like the Revolutionaries but he also doesn’t stand by and watch people suffer or be hurt either.

Luffy became a pirate with the goal in mind to have a crew better than Shank’s. That meant all the people in the crew had to be ���good’ people in the way Luffy saw real pirates being. People who wanted dreams and adventures, not to pillage or harm others. People who would follow Luffy’s path but also not be afraid to tell Luffy what they need to tell him to keep him from veering off too. And with all that in mind, Luffy was actually pretty careful in his crew selection, especially in the beginning.

Usopp was originally turned down (to be Captain by Usopp’s own offer) before the crew saw what he could do and brought him in. Nami was also someone Luffy saw a bit in action before he fully cemented his ideas on her too. But Zoro and Sanji were the ones that we really see the moment where Luffy decided he cannot have his crew without them.

When Luffy was first talking about and to Zoro, he even said he wasn’t sure if he would invite Zoro to join his crew. Luffy’s attention was definitely captured when he saw Zoro not only attempt to chase Rika away from the marine’s grounds before she was spotted but then eating the disgusting rice balls and telling Luffy to inform Rika that not only had Zoro eaten all of it, but that he liked it. Now Luffy had no way of knowing that Zoro hated sweets at that time, but he did know the rice was full of dirt and mud and it wasn’t good due to Helmeppo’s reaction. Luffy knew that Zoro was doing it to be kind to Rika. Then Rika told Luffy about how Zoro was only in the situation because not only did he protect Rika, a complete stranger, but he also gave himself up in her place to be punished! Zoro had actually put himself at risk to protect a little girl and despite the danger he was in, he still prioritized the strange girl’s feelings above his own welfare. Luffy had realized that at his core, Zoro was a kind and honorable man and adamantly refused to leave Shell’s Town without Zoro.

Then Luffy had already met Sanji and was interacting with him, but Luffy didn’t show any interest in Sanji as a crew member until the incident with Gin. Gin had already presented himself as a threat, pointing a gun at the cooks and threatening to shoot them for food. Yet Sanji showed great kindness, compassion, and empathy for Gin by going into the kitchen and making Gin something to eat. Sanji couldn’t stand by and watch a man suffer while the other cooks had been content to toss Gin out and wash their hands of him. And when Luffy saw Sanji feed Gin, Luffy had said right then that he had found his cook.

I am sad we didn’t get many characters that we loved in the live action, but I honestly don’t think you could show Luffy’s recruitment of Zoro and Sanji without Rika and Gin.

[p4ge-of-sp4ce]

Would you ever kiss a girl??????¿????Not that I’m invested in the answer or anything…

My partners sent a shit ton of these anonymous asks and I'm going to be answering all of them in this post, so buckle up!

First off, yes absolutely.

The funny thing about this is that you are technically asking for a friend, you are also however using his account I'm pretty sure. I don't care much about appearances when it comes to QPRs outside of factors that impact the cuddling experience, so I guess height is a plus. I don't know much about gundam but I love talking about Brandon Sanderson! Have you also read all of Homestuck like 4 times but only most of Wheel of Time? Also I love playing ttrpg's, and I'll play any of them at least once!

That feels like that was your fault :/

Absolutely. if you don't have collarbones, then I'm sorry its an absolute dealbreaker. (jk to any aliens or collarboneless robots I'm just being silly)

I swear that I have done this before 🤔I'm just not sure when... But to answer your main question, I guess yes!

Nah its fine. 4/5 scientists recommend it actually.

Hello! I love you too, totally random stranger! :)

Given that this is anonymous and therefore I technically have no way of knowing who sent this, I am going to go with no. However some otherworldly premonition tells me to say that I think its funny, its probably annoying to followers who don't know me irl but my audience is always myself.

No comment, this belongs on its own in a museum.

What color are the wolves? Mine are Orange and Cyan :3

LETS GOOOOOO!!! LETS FUCKING GOOOOO!!!!!!!! RAAAAAH!!!!!!

I appreciate the detail about him enthusiastically consenting, and for the sake of the hypothetical I am going to say that his girlfriend has also consented. Yes. I will be accepting no further questions about this topic at this time.

Of course I would love my girlfriend equally if she were a pirate :) I love her for her, and that isn't going to change if she were a mermaid :) ... ... Alright now that the normies are gone. I would be more attracted to my girlfriend if she were a mermaid, mermaids are hot. I haven't spent this entire week researching and writing societies, biology, culture, and religion for the three main aquatic races of dnd for nothing. Idk if my answer changes if I were a pirate. I think I would feel cooler, but idk how that would impact that relationship.

[mamamittens]

Failwife au but it's a cute moment.

So, there's been some adjusting for Nikia. Being in a pirate ship. Some expected nausea, her difficulty eating out of social embarrassment/awkwardness, and general RBF=\=actual bitchy intent.

But there's also another thing.

She has a terrible time sleeping. It does not help that RBF.

Part of it is a normal bed (or a hammock if you believe their bunk areas are more traditional and designed to accommodate multiple people in a single room--idk that ship is massive I think it's at least dorm room situation myself). She's used to a bed built to accommodate her wings. And barely twin size mattress does not do her any favors.

It's just not big enough. Or at least there's not enough support to scrunch up a little. She's a tight little cocoon sleeping uncomfortably on her wings nightly. And she's not tall enough or, frankly, large enough to justify them automatically giving her a big ass bed. No one else knows how difficult it is to sleep with a giant wingspan after all.

And the second issue? Noise.

She's used to a very specific ambience.

A blizzard outside of well insulated walls.

The crackle of a fire.

Perhaps the gentle music of a record player if that's a thing in OP, I genuinely don't know.

Distantly the snores of a guest but that's exceedingly rare and usually after hauling their ass out of said blizzard. So she's too tired to register it.

But on a ship there's just so many... Odd sounds.

Depending on where it is, she can hear the creaking of wood. The shuffle of strangers in their beds. Snoring. Footsteps. Idle conversation. Maybe the sea rocking the whole ship.

Even worse with haki, she can sense so many people around her. Constantly. Every startling noise rocketing her senses back to full sensitivity.

So yeah... There's only so much time can do to help her adjust.

Back aches like a bitch from the cramped way she has to tuck in her wings or risk them being stepped on. Overstimulation around the corner after rough nights. It's no wonder she never looks like she's actually smiling.

Then there's a party she's basically bullied into attending. She mostly watches from the sidelines, pretending to drink a mug of ale. Until the boys get enough liquid courage to pull her into a group of casual conversation with a few others. Occasionally Thatch or Izou wandering off for more food or drink or the challenge of strength. Always returning back to the pile of pillows someone tossed out for a conversation pit where Nikia was sitting. Too comfy to leave for once. Not that she could pick her way to below deck at this rate, it was so late and so many people were already passed out.

She ends up curled around a pillow and asleep on her side. Not squished into a small space because anytime someone tried to take their spot, Izou or Thatch would magically reappear to reclaim their seat. She's technically on one wing, but it's folded so most of her weight is perfectly just off her primary feathers. The other blanketing her.

Thatch nearly wakes her up loudly lamenting how cute she looks, Izou catching him just in time. They remove her glasses and consider taking her to bed. Hers. Theirs. Somewhere not on deck at least.

But she looks so peaceful! It's criminal now to risk waking her!

Ace nearly ended up her cuddle buddy cause she was cold but he's got practice dodging grabbier hands than hers. Does laugh and tease the boys tho

They're drunk enough to just slip in on either side and pass out. They were definitely trying to cuddle her but very poorly. Unfamiliar with working around her wings as they were.

But they wake up much more comfortable in the morning. Scooted closer than expected. Nikia cuddling Thatch's arm and her wings curled around both of them. Almost totally hiding them from the sun from head to foot. Enough that they were the last ones to wake.

Nikia however, did not wake up. Totally dead to the world, having fallen back asleep at some point listening to their heartbeats rather than the dozens of foreign sounds.

She sleeps for two days. It doesn't help that they sorta-kinda-accidentally groom her wings at some point, sending her further into her miniature coma.

Marco was not amused once he grilled her for her apparent exhaustion. It was a bit of an embarrassing oversight all things considered. They accommodated many aboard in dozens of little ways. Anemics given free reign of special snacks. Fishmen placed closer to communal washrooms for a midnight glass of water without walking too far or waking a lot of people. Women having a similar placement just for any accidents for easier cleanup. They certainly have bigger beds for people literally Built Different.

Maybe this is how she winds up with the rare non-commander privilege of a room all to herself to accommodate a bed big enough to spread out in. Perhaps originally intended for married couples but most of Whitebeard's crew either pretends they don't know what commitment is or are literally incapable of it to start with.

Either way, Whitebeard mourns the lack of grandkids he can dote on better than grown adults. It's part of the family thing he wants lol (still refuse to believe none of them have kids. Statistically unlikely, just saying).

Thatch and Izou set their sights on angling for a 'totally just platonic sleepover' at some point cause damn was that a nice ass rest. Very soft wings to be buried under.

Nikia is too busy luxuriating in her newfound sleep freedom. The sounds are still a bit of a problem, especially now that she's in a new area with different schedules of hallway mates, but it's much more doable without the cramps or fear of being stepped on.

[writernopal]

OC As Animals Tag

Tagged by @mariahwritesstuff for this tag she created! Thanks so much, this was super fun to do though I may have gotten a little carried away😅

Tagging (gently): @lynnedwardswrites @lexiklecksi @autumnalwalker @ryns-ramblings and anyone else who wants to do this!

Rules: Choose any Oc/s and pick an animal that relates to them and why. You can also include images or drawings of your own but don't have to.

I'll be doing this for the MC cast of the "As A Stranger Or A Friend?" series which will be interesting because two of them are Lizardfolk so they are technically animals already, but I'll chose some for them anyway!

Mariel - Rabbit

This one was a no brainer! She's warm, motherly, and emotionally intelligent, which aligns with pretty well with rabbit symbolism (Fertility, luck, creativity, compassion, and intuition). However, those these traits take some time to come out because she's pretty shy. Aside from their symbolism, Mariel shares a lot of behavioral characteristics with them, such as thriving best when surrounded by others (rabbits are very social), needing various places to hide, startling easily, and being very active (she doesn't like idling). She's also described as a rabbit in the text by Fay and Wilkes though Axtapor prefers to think of her as a bird.

Axtapor - Hyena

Yeah you read that right lol. A hyena. Despite his name being a variant on 'astor' (meaning hawk) I think he's better represented by this animal instead. They are often thought of opportunistic scavengers and generally get a bad rap, but their actual behavior is quite different! They're witty, strong (these guys have a bite strong enough to pierce elephant hide AND crush elephant bones), and are not wasteful (they eat almost every part of the animal they hunt). These traits all apply to Axtapor too! He's a savvy outdoorsman, hunter, and of course, a pirate (he knows all about picking people clean of their riches) Male hyenas are also at the bottom of the pecking order in their packs, females are usually the dominant ones, which holds true for way that Axtapor relates to his grandmother, sisters, and other women in his life. (He usually lets them take the lead) Hyenas are also incredibly caring and nurturing, something that is VERY true for the way he treats Mariel.

Fay - Octopus

Another no brainer. Octopi symbolize the unknown, secrets, intelligence, and transformation. Of all the characters of the AASOAF cast, Fay has reinvented herself the most, learning, changing, adapting each time. They are very resourceful creatures, which is true for Fay too, she often leverages whatever she has in her arsenal to obtain what she wants (no holds barred). Ancient depictions show them as sea monsters and representative of the evil hiding in the ocean, which in more ways than one, applies to her.

Wilkes - Bear

Wilkes physically resembles a bear (he's the tallest and biggest of the MC AASOAF cast) but also has a lot of this animal's personality traits. He's patient, tenacious, courageous, and also very protective (this is especially true when it comes to Fay). Despite his appearance, he can be very warm and people tend to trust him (his reputation as a hero of the Holtep Empire precedes him). Maybe the only thing that doesn't fit with this animal is that there is A LOT more to him than meets the eye.

[its-monster-mash]

This has been sitting in my drafts for 1000 years oops Rules: Post the names of all the files in your wip folder regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet of it or tell them something about it.

Thank you so much for tagging me @venus-haze!! I am also excited to participate in the self-callout lol

I don’t actually have a “WIP Folder”, I just have. A lot of WIPs. About to expose myself on a lot of different fandoms lol(I have a million different sideblogs that I organize a lot of the things I like by)

• Didn’t Your Momma Ever Tell You Not to Talk to Strangers? — Bo Sinclair x Reader (House of Wax) *I am also converting this one to an "Original" piece so I can publish it as a serial, so if you see the other version on Amazon under the pen name "M.E. Roselli" that's me. I'm still going to keep writing it as this fanfic, but there IS an alternate version. The other version is about a cult instead of Wax; instead of Vincent, Bo("Buck" in the alternate version) has a twin sister who was raised to be the cult's messiah. The cult is dead and gone along with their parents, but she's still living it. I just know that a lot of people's fanfics are being stolen, so I wanted to clear up that that is NOT the case with mine.

• Holmes and Dracula VS. Jack the Ripper — Original Work (Sherlock Holmes and Dracula team up to stop Jack the Ripper from bringing about the Apocalypse)

• Tides of Lust — Original Work (Meliora, a traveling bard with demonic blood, goes on a pirate adventure with a feared disciple of Davy Jones and also meets a Vampiric Warlord)

• What The Dead Men Say — Original Work (Ivar Ragnarsson ends up in Victorian England, where he has little choice but to team up with an archeologist; was technically an ACV fic originally, but I hate the ISU stuff and refuse to include it so really it’s just a history fic tbh)

• Playing House with Private X — Original Work (A cryogenically frozen super soldier navigates the modern world with the help of a would-be super soldier who slipped through the cracks. Very slice of life; it started as a Soldier Boy fic—American Pie, but I scrubbed it of IP so I can continue it as an original work and publish it as erotic shorts)

• ‘Til Death Do Us Part — Original Work (Would-be Murder victim Judith “Jude” Carpenter tries to start a new life in a small town…where her would have been killer has taken up residence as the priest. The two must work together to survive the town’s dark secret.)

• Careful What you Wish For — Original Work (Janie, a serial killer hitchhiking to avoid capture, ends up being held prisoner by Levi, a recluse out in the middle of nowhere, and she pretends to be a helpless victim in exchange for food and a warm place to sleep. The story focuses on her disturbing inner monologue through her act.)

• Lord of Roses, Master of Thorns — Original Work (Ancient Vampiric King Alistair Val Mirron must fall in love to end his curse of immortality; Myrinthe, an odd Peasant introduced to him by and old flame, seeks to remain in the castle at all costs to avoid being forced to marry the annoying rich boy in town.)

• Taken From the Ren Faire — Original Work (This was meant to be a cheesy erotica short but I accidentally gave it a plot. Oops. Fantasy Author Vera Fox is spirited away into a fantasy world after drinking some strange mead from an interesting new vendor. She ends up in a fake relationship with a former bandit while he tries to help get her home; when they get separated, she questions if she even wants to go back to her old life, and this is only compounded when she finds her Ren Faire lover is trapped there too. This one is full of tropes because I'll be honest, I'm "Writing to Market" here, but I love the characters anyway. Owen-her Ren Faire lover- has a huge Clydesdale named Stormbreaker that he rescued from a roadside medieval themed attraction, and I love him.)

• A Marriage of Inconvenience — Homelander x Reader (The Boys; Amazon Show)

• Woven Sagas — Eivor Wolfkissed x Ivar Ragnarsson (Assassin’s Creed Valhalla)

• Mother — Skyrim Fic about my Dragonborn raising Aventus

• Critical Darling — Homelander x OC(Darcy Hayes, Dreamweaver) (The Boys; Amazon Show)

• In All My Dreams I Drown — Reaver x Sparrow (Fable 2)

Tags: I am abysmal at remembering URLs off the top of my head, but I will try. @sketchy-rosewitch @visceravalentines @rottent33th @ventiswampwater

[ghostcat96]

Yipppeeee!!! So what kinda stuff you into :3 Or even whos you’re favorite characters?

Also I saw you liked gravity falls do you have any of the books…

I have a lot of things I'm into, so I'm going to split them up by like, media type. Also, sorry that I'm going to be doing a long ramble about the stuff I like, I'll send you an ask after this so you can do the same to me, haha

Shows:

Hazbin Hotel- this one is obvious haha

Our Flag Means Death- I used to have a special interest on pirates when I was a kid so this show felt like tailor made for me

Glee- I know this one is a bit cringey, but I like that about it. The storylines are ridiculous and the songs are good

Gravity Falls- I used to be hyperfixated on this show when I was around 11 and the Book of Bill has reignited it

The Owl House- it's just such a good quality show, I love it

Supernatural- this is another show that goes off the walls a bit in later seasons, but again, that's part of what I like about it

Dead Boy Detectives- this show is so good. I was so upset when Netflix cancelled it

Stranger Things- I hesitated to put this here because I actually don't have any interest in the show anymore, but I do really like the fandom, so I figured I'd still put it

Movies:

Scream- this is my favourite horror movie franchise. It's just a really good movie, and the rest of the movies (apart from the third one and the two newest ones that I haven't seen) are also amazing

Books:

Heartstopper- technically this could fit into shows as well cause I really like the show, but I read the books first so I'm putting it here.

The Witch Boy- I think more people should read this, it's a graphic novel and is really good. Great art and story.

Magical Boy- the same as the witch boy. More people should read it, and it's great. It's about a trans boy who finds out that his mom and her mom and so on were all magical girls, and now he has to be one

Video Games:

FNAF- this was my first ever special interest so it holds a special place in my heart

Undertale- this was my second ever special interest and listening to the soundtrack still makes me emotional

Slime Rancher- this is the only game that I've ever played on the same save file for more than a week, it's so cute and amazing

Minecraft- I have played this game since I was a toddler, and all of my favourite childhood youtubers were minecraft youtubers (only three of them turned out to be bad people)

Musicals- I'm a theater kid so there are a few and I don't really have much to say about any of them so I'm just gonna list some

Hamilton

Be More Chill

Dear Evan Hansen

Beetlejuice

36 Questions

Misc: My current special interest is not a piece of media, so I'm going to put it here

Reptiles! I love reptiles so much. They are the best thing ever. I really want to become a reptile keeper (zookeeper but specifically taking care of reptiles)

I'm also quite into writing and drawing. Fanart and fanfiction, obviously, but I also like drawing my OCs, and I have a few original story ideas I want to write with them.

I actually have a list of my favourite characters in order of how much I like them already made!

Izzy Hands- ofmd

Vox- hazbin hotel

Blaine Anderson- glee

Castiel- supernatural

Lucifer- hazbin hotel

Rosie- hazbin hotel

Bill Cipher- gravity falls

Steve Harrington- stranger things

Hunter- toh

Alastor- hazbin hotel

I used to have journal number 3 but I lended it to a friend and she never gave it back so I no longer have it. I have a hunch my mom is going to get me both the journal number 3 and the book of bill for my birthday or christmas so hopefully I'll have both :D

Sorry for the long response again, but like I said, you'll get the opportunity to ramble at me too if you want XD

[servin-up-surveys]

survey #220

When was the last time you were bitten by an animal? What kind of animal was it? My cat, but not aggressively.

When was the last time you had sex/did something sexual? How was it? Slightly over a week ago, fine. I was having anxiety issues and I was totally fine afterwards so that was nice lmao

When was the last time you did something illegal? What did you do? Pirated music semi-recently.

What was the last colour you dyed your hair? It's a pastel lilac right now!

Tell me about the first five photos you have on your phone or camera. You mean like... the five I see first/the five most recent? I downloaded two nature-related wallpapers a few days ago, then there's two pictures of me with my new hair, then one from the Pride event.

Who was the last person you know to have something big happen to them (i.e., get engaged/married, have a baby, etc.)? My acquaintance Ian got engaged.

Is there anybody over the age of 40 that you think is hot? heh

Have you ever been punched in the face? No.

Do you have to watch yourself in the mirror while you brush your teeth? No, I pace.

Do you think your last ex deserves to die? No, I may not like her, but I don't think she deserves death.

How’s the love life going? Great.

Do you think the last person you Facebook messaged is a virgin? She has a child, no.

Have you ever been cheated on, or had a guy move on extremely fast after a long, seemingly sincere relationship? Yes to the latter.

Have you ever had someone drag his or her nails down your back? well a survey ain't asked that before, but yes

If you’ve been hurt in a past relationship, are you more jaded this time around? Of course.

[TW: ABUSE] Have you ever been in a physically abusive relationship? No, this is NOT something I would tolerate under any circumstance. I'm out.

Have you ever felt more like you needed someone, and less like you loved that person? No.

Is there any habit, attachment, or addiction that you feel you have beaten or risen above? World of Warcraft. I still play it a lot, but by god it's nothing like I was when Jason and I dated/maybe a year and some change afterwards. In my waking hours, it's all I did. There was nothing more fun to do, in my opinion. I would turn down better things to do because I wanted to play it. I consider myself very lucky that I fell out of it because of money (it's not free to play, although it later implemented an in-game currency way of paying, which I use now), and I was without it for at LEAST a year, I think more. When I started playing again, I was never quite the same about it, and today, I find it way less engaging and tend to only have fun for short bursts of time in it. Even though I have the game open a lot and may tab in to do stuff, my relationship with it is nothing like it once was. I've gone on breaks by my own will when I just stop having fun.

Have you ever lived with a friend? Yes, technically, because I was homeless at the time. I wasn't actually an official resident though, and I only stayed a couple months while my mom secured a home.

Have you ever only liked someone because you found out they liked you? This isn't exactly the case, no. I only dated Tyler because he wanted to; I wasn't particularly interested, but I decided to give him a shot. We were friends in high school and I thought he was a fine guy then, so I figured why not. I never really reciprocated the liking, though. I was just trying things out.

Do you think people act weirder or that stranger things happen when there's a full moon? No.

Do you think you would make a good parent someday? No, and that's why I won't be one.

In which were you happiest: elementary, middle, or high school? Elementary.

Have you ever written something on a street sign? No.

Life is nothing without passion. What are you passions? Animals, nature, proper education on them and their conservation; human rights and autonomy; and photography, among other things.

How's the weather lately? It's too hot and not enough rain. We're in a bad drought; we've only gotten one rather short, mild thunderstorm as of a few nights ago.

You can bring back one dead pet to life. Which one? REALISTICALLY, I wouldn't do this. I don't want to experience a pet's death a second time. But for the sake of the question, so long as he wasn't dealing with what he was at his time of death, Teddy, my dog. He was my pet of all time.

Is there a pillowcase on your pillow? Describe it: Yeah, it's just a basic beige one.

School: what classes are you taking at the moment? I'm not in school anymore. I don't think I'll ever be going back.

What scent is your deodorant? You know what, I have no idea. It's just Secret.

Are you happy with what you see when you look in the mirror? Nope.

Does it get super hot in the summer where you live? Yes it does, and it keeps getting worse. Global warming, y'know.

Would you ever date someone of the same sex? I've done it before and I'd do it again.

If you HAD to be raised by another family member than you were, who? Um... probably my mom's actually sane brother and his wife. They're good people.

Are you close with you best friends' parents? Do you know them very well? I'd say we're close, and I feel I know her relatively well.

Do you like reptiles as pets, or do they gross you out? Reptiles are my ideal pet, actually.

What is the youngest age you would consider dating somebody? Maybe like... 22. But that's still pretty low for me, I'd have to really, really like you.

Favorite type of seafood? Shrimp is the only seafood I've found I like.

Are you more traditional or progressive? Progressive as fuck.

Are you into the occult? Aesthetically, totally. But as far as faith and stuff goes, no.

How long was your longest relationship? Three and a half years. Girt's catching up, we're pushing three. Got a good feeling we'll pass that.

Did you ever honestly believe you were going to marry your highschool bf/gf? Oh, I was entirely and utterly convinced that this was fact. It was GOING to happen. It didn't, and my life nearly ended because I couldn't cope with that.

Are you a virgin? Do you believe virginity is "sacred?" Yes, no.

Would you say that you have a lot of friends? No.

Are both your parents alive? Yes.

Were you raised by your biological parents? Yes. My dad didn't do much raising, but.

Has your family ever been broken? Oh for sure. It still kinda is.

Do you think your parents respect your space? Yes.

Are you close with you siblings, if you have any? No. I wish I was...

Have you ever in anger told your parent(s) that you hated them? Oh, I absolutely have to my dad. Maybe not those words exactly, but trust me, the message was clear. I will always regret that letter.

What’s your favourite Thai dish? I don't know Thai food. I haven't knowingly tried anything from it.

Have you ever been on a date with someone you met online? How was it? I straight-up dated someone I met online for I think over two years. We were fine. We each just had too much going on mentally to keep each other afloat in the way couples should.

What sort of games do you like to play? Horror, fantasy, so long as the stories are great and the gameplay is fun.

What was the last candy you ate? I can't even remember.

Do you know anyone who is deaf? No.

Do you eat or drink as soon as you wake up, or do you wait a while? I get plain water, yes. I have to take my thyroid medication, then 30 minutes later, I can have flavored drinks and eat.

What's your favourite kind of Oreo? Double-stuffed.

Do you play any games on your phone? If so, tell me about one. Pokemon GO everyone knows, but I also like Dragons of Atlantis: Heirs of the Dragon. I liked DoA when it was an online computer game, and I enjoyed that more, but the app version is fine.

Do you have more male or female coworkers? I don't have a job.

What's the longest stretch of time you've spent completely alone? Somewhere around a month, when Mom was in New York while her mother was dying. I was very lucky I had some sort of video hyperfixation going on at the time, because otherwise that long alone would've driven me fucking mad. Mom herself was surprised I was fine the whole time.

Do you have the same color eyes as your mother? No, hers are brown and mine are a grayish blue.

Have you ever been put to sleep for surgery? Yes, and for a colonoscopy.

When was the last time you went bowling? I don't think I've been bowling since Girt and I tried dating the first time in like '17 and he took me there on a date.

Do you personally know anyone who is transgender? I know multiple transgender people.

Do you have piercings anywhere except your ears? How many and where? I have a vertical labret in my bottom lip.

What’s your opinion on leggings as pants? I don't give a shit.

Who was the last person you were in love with for more than a year? The person I'm dating currently.

Do you have a secret life? You could say that, I guess. I keep my online life under lock and fucking key, for no real reason other than rejection-sensitive dysphoria; I'm terrified of people judging me despite me not doing anything truly "out there." It drove my mom insane growing up, she was so convinced I was doing something immoral with how secretive I was and it resulted in a lot of fights, but I think she gets it now, especially as I've become more aware about my autism and open about how mortifying the concept of people judging me is. I've talked more about the topic.

Have you ever seen the last person you kissed without a shirt? Yes.

Do your parents know EVERYTHING about you? No.

Favorite thing to eat with peanut butter? Chocolate.

If you had to get a piercing right now, what would it be? Nostril stud. I want one, it's just not something we can afford right now. There are more important things that need monetary attention.

The last time you held a baby: Not since Emerson (my four-year-old niece) was just born.

Does your mom eat meat? Yes.

What would be your reaction if one of your parents said they were having another kid? My mom doesn't have her reproductive organs anymore. My dad is married to a woman who has absolutely gone through menopause. Neither are having anymore kids.

How do you feel about snails? I think they're adorable.

Are you physically affectionate with your friends? I'm a hugger, but that's pretty much the extent of it. I guess I'd kiss the cheeks of ones I'm exceptionally close to as a gesture of comfort, but idk.

Do you kill spiders when you see them? Absolutely not. I will ignore them or most often take them outside.

Would you ever adopt a child? Girt would like to adopt a teenager when we're a lot older, so I guess. I'd PREFER not to, but I'd take a teenager over an actual baby that I needed to more intensely "mom" over, if that makes sense. I might very well change my mind about it by then, maybe I'll thoroughly want to adopt too.

Do you like your name's meaning? No, it's boring.

Do you and your mom look like sisters? No. We look similar, sure, but definitely not like sisters. Her eldest child ABSOLUTELY does, like it's fucking scary how much Mom and Katie look like twins, excluding the apparent age difference.

Are you the same height as your mom? I think she's half an inch taller than me.

What subjects do you like to read about? Meerkats, reptiles (especially ball pythons/their care in domesticity), spiders, photography techniques and stuff.

Are there any (obviously fictional) villains you can't help but love? Darkiplier, but I mean, if you know the universe Mark created with his characters, is he REALLY even a villain lmao. Besides that though, tbh I tend to enjoy villains a lot, so. I just think they tend to be more interesting and Hot goddammit

Can you name a villain who you could kind of side with? ^

What color eyes does your significant other (or crush) have? (If applicable.) Brown.

Does anything around your home need repairing? Well, the car more than anything. It's been dead in the driveway. A couple of the wood pillars that hold our front porch up need some TLC too; the paint is super worn and one especially has a portion that looks like it was eaten at by termites, even though we don't see any, and it's been like that for years now, so if something WAS actively eating it, it'd be down by now. The dishwasher leaks at one corner, but not severely; Mom just places a towel there when it's on.

[local-starry-catboi]

🌹ꦽꦼ̷ ᴺᵉˣᶤˡᶤˢ ᵉᵗ ᶤᶰᵈᵒᵐᶤᵗᵘˢᬉིུ🌺

ꦿBloody Typhoonᬄ

ꦿHeavenly Houndᬄ

ꦿMetal Pumaᬄ

Date: 11.09.2020

Fandom: One Piece

Characters: Kid Pirates (ccs + ocs/sonas), Donquixote Doflamingo

Theme: The freedom and untamed nature the Kid Pirates are experiencing

Crossposted: One Piece Amino

The title is a Latin phrasing thingy (I hope that's translated correctly) that means "Intertwined and untamable"; with "intertwined" or "woven together" (nexilis), and "untamable"/"untamed" or "fierce" (indomitus). I'm bad at the whole how to title thing so I found it easier to go with some fancy word instead >.>

Also, ye, I felt the need to write something more because - as I found out after "King and Queen", it's hella fun to write something that isn't a fanfiction [chapter]. My creative brain cells died off in the middle of writing this past the first 1-2 stanzas cuz I had to charge my phone, so it took a TAD longer to write this than I had wanted. But here it is~!

Before we eventually start: I intended to write this focussing solely on Metal Puma (pairing between Eustass Kid and my OC Light). In the end, I went a partially different path and included Heavenly Hound (pairing between Doflamingo and @silvernyxchariot 's sona Manda/Nyx) and Bloody Typhoon (pairing between Emma and @/idonthaveacluewhatsgoingonhere's [insta] oc Osiris) as well as changing most of the poem to match all three couples (and to be told from a pirate's POV, technically from a Kid Pirates'). Well, one way or another •^• I'm proud of the lines referring to them, tbh •3•

Last but not least: Find the FOB reference~ xD

Say, what is it you know about a pirate's life?

Is it the sweet freedom for what we all strive?

Chasing the late King's chest, old, full of gold?

Oh, poor rat, are you wrong - but just as bold!

Albeit, you landlubber, this does not go for us all.

We notorious Kid Pirates, too, aim for the crown.

We often drive each other up against the wall.

Yet none would not let a single one of us drown.

Are you planning to leave a member behind?

The Hell! Are you out of your own right mind?!

No, we would not discard even a single mate.

We all will stick together to face their fate.

To this brutal crew, it is basically as easy as pie:

You underestimate us, what a horrible mistake.

We will stay side by side, or we all are gonna die.

Under no circumstances, to kill, we don't hesitate.

Only destruction alone isn't our sole company,

As much as it's death, out on this troubled sea,

While wreaking havoc out on all those islands.

Our loot: supplies, gold, glittering diamonds.

Some grew close enough to become pairs of lovers.

They claim: "Though I may be rotten to the core-"

With their partner, could show their true colours.

"- Nonetheless, I shall cherish you forevermore!".

Each gave up their heart life had made hard.

He, who sings of love, must be a foolish bard.

Like a pair of magnets, we pushed and pulled.

Rarely ever could they one another get lulled.

This especially goes for our dear captain and cook.

Like Emma's and Osiris', their love far from poor.

Merely few weeks, talks, looks, was all that it took.

But neither is Sloth's and Joker's deep red amour.

Mutual passion and love - deep and profound.

Easily turned each other's world upside down.

Side by side, they strike down their enemies.

Their legacy will be remembered for centuries.

Only to one another they got themselves bound.

Paired for the rest of their upcoming lifetime.

Thought to be lost, their other half they found.

Watching a dawn, purple to orange, on the horizon.

When one found themselves in danger -

Going out from rats - a random stranger.

Nobody else touches them but they alone.

Saving their love with a "Darlin', hello~.".

Never ever they would admit to be jealous.

Soon, rat, their other half will get protective.

Especially not when in front of their precious.

One of them straight-forward, one aggressive.

Not even mother sea could get them tamed.

Young, wild and free - about that unashamed.

Beware, you landlubber, because they're near.

Don't enrage them - or else, you'll disappear.

[formdrop]

Completed FANFIC LIST

Celestial Roommates

"So your possible roommates are already up there, I let them check it out since you were a little late..." Codie catches something.

"Wait, room-mates? I thought there'd be just me and one other person?" Mrs. Simmons turns to look at her sheepishly.

"Well, technically it was just one roommate. But since last week it's two now that they're separated..." she trails off. Codie frowns in confusion but the manager waves her off. "It's alright, they're very nice, I'm sure you three would get along."

'But there's only two rooms...'



You Are My Lucky Stars

As an employee of the Lucky Stars Gift Shop, you have a great view overlooking the Daycare. This wouldn't be a problem if the Daycare Attendants weren't so distractingly cute!



Snake Your Way Into Me

Congratulations! You've been hired!

The brand new assistant to the FazCo Laboratories, researching two members of an unknown species. It's all very exciting and you can't wait to get your hands on some super snazzy new animal friends, but they are way too cute for their own good! What are you gonna do? How are you going to deal with two very handsy 20 foot long snakes?



Daybreak

You are a barmaid at the infamous Gold Coast Pub.

Sun and Moon are Captains of the infamous Daybreak.

What would it be like to be infamous together?

A riveting pirate adventure with lots of action but mostly just being adorable with the boys.



Dance With Me

You are an aerial dancer performing for a dinner. The Don of the city's mafia interrupts said dinner, making himself known to you as he literally catches you from a nearly disastrous fall.

"Dropped right out of the sky, didn't you, doll?"



We Lurk Inside The Shadows

A little black book spells out names that burn in your heart. Your sole purpose is to rid the world of their filth, to cross out every one of those names. When you meet two lovely cafe owners, you second guess your career path. What would they do if they found out what you do?



My Lovely King

You are from a long line of hardened businesswomen. It's your job to make connections and open up the way for business deals, but now you've got your biggest challenge yet. A very adorable King who is rumored to have a dark side. Its such a shame that only one of them has sharp teeth, cause you'd sure love to be bitten.



A Cursed Kiss

The rain poured on the cobblestone around you. Thunder boomed overhead, forcing you to flinch as you pulled your soaked jacket closer. No one is willing to take you in for the night. There is only one place left, the cursed castle.



Balloons and Magic

Sun and Moon were the Freddy Fazbear’s Mega Pizzaplex Party Planners. The parties were only ever booked for the Glamrocks, never for them. So filling out the weekly party whiteboard, was just another task. That was until they get a surprise that would change their lives forever.



Glimpse of Us

Everything at the pizzaplex has slowly become more and more automated. You've watched a lot of your friends and fellow coworkers get laid off in favor of the funky staff bots. You always assumed you'd be safe in the daycare. You were working with small kids, after all. They need a tender touch! Oh, how wrong you were.

Two years after your not-so-polite firing, however, Fazbear comes calling. Apparently their precious, perfect attendant is in need of some assistance. And they requested you. You initially considered refusing, but the pay is double what you're making editing papers, so you dive back in. But things have changed more than you ever thought they could have.



The Stranger The Better

Reader is a forever exhausted young adult who has social difficulties doing their best to pay the bills, so when they get hired at the well-paying, almost entirely automated Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza-Plex, they don't really hesitate to think things through before stumbling headfirst into a horror mystery surrounding this company and its crew of quirky (and surprisingly kind) animatronics.



There's a monster in the garage

Why do you hear banging noises in your garage?



A Wise Man Said I'm Alive; Nobody's Ever Told Him He's Wrong

You get to tinker on the best tech this side of the equator and get paid for it; pay no attention to the weird things happening in the tunnels, or the way the animatronics are acting just a little off, or the way the security team seem to be operating on revolving door contracts. They all tend to get a bit quirky at night.



In Deep Dreams Between the Waves

You see a fish, but the fish isn’t really a fish, because he looks up at you with big yellow eyes, wide with fright. Large black pupils dart around frantically. He’s small, less than half your size, which surprises you. You know mers are supposed to be big sea monsters that sink boats or cause storms, but you don’t see a monster. You think of a baby while staring at his chubby round face, creased with fear, and his small tail.



Glitter Glue Me Back Together

You're scared to start your new job as the Daycare Attendant's Assistant, but you slowly realize this job is the best decision you've ever made.



By the North star

You had been fishing with your father in the Gulf of Mexico when a storm came through, you washed out into the sea and on shore miles away from your initial fishing spot. You'd planned to make it to the nearest town and call the coast guard for help, but you instead learn the storm has thrown you into another world that was almost identical to your worlds fifteenth century, only difference being the pirate crew of anthropomorphic animals that were now your captors, all because your bag ended up on their boat and you were dumb enough to go after it.



Electric Love

You received a call from your former boss to come to fix the animatronics, you didn't expect to find all your babies having depression, anxiety, existential crisis, and any other emotional issues.



Painted Rocks

You lived along the coast for a short time, having moved from a nearby city. The locals never took kindly to city dwellers, but you made a habit of ignoring their stink eye.

Rumors of sirens and beasts below the waves punctuated your daily life, but you thought nothing of it. Until--well, until terrible screams tore you from your bed and to the coast.

Looks like the locals' rumors about sirens were true, but the humans appear more bloodthirsty.



Astro-Nautical

You're a mermaid who's just come across the weirdest ship of all time. Or rather, the ship is perfectly normal, but its crew? Not so much. You aren't sure you'll be safe here, but as a sea creature you've never truly been safe anywhere, so it might just be worth a shot. For now, at least... Surely they'll let you go when you ask?

We'll find out.



My Sweet Starlight

Excited for your new job as a daycare helper, you get ready for the day. Little do you know, you'll fall in love with more than just the kiddos you play with.



With All My Love, Crumpet

London, England 1800s

A runaway stops at a local tea room for a cuppa, and sees a cute paperboy selling newspapers in the rain. A close friendship ensues over cakes and tea, but what happens when the family comes for her? And what will it mean for their relationship?

Do you read fanfics? >:3C If so, which ones do you prefer? >:3CC

oh yes yes yes i read fanfics! i havent read many in a while but i really like ones with hurt comfort or soulmate aus! also detectives

[callioope]

Still haven’t moved on from the Mighty Nein, and I know we are getting so much amazing content for the CR seventh anniversary but I’ve had this sitting in my head forever and now seems as good a time as any to post. 

Mighty Nein additional content wishlist:

(1) Comic about Beau and Yasha’s post campaign adventures

illustrations of visiting Yasha’s tribe which technically we did see but. graphics for it would be sweet i think

story about how they adopt the kids from Fjord’s orphanage

happy soft domestic moments, possibly involving mild gardening drama, Essek and Caduceus cameo

(2) Novel about Esesk and Caleb’s Aeor Adventures 

Essek and and Caleb keep in touch between leaving the Grove and reuniting for their Aeor Adventure (“don’t be a stranger” Essek wonders as he trudges through the Aeor snow back to the outpost. “i am isolated in this frozen waste how exactly am i supposed to go about that” well sir you are a mage; essek invents a spell to communicate with caleb long distance because i’m sorry but the 25-word Sending is not enough to support extensive scholarly spell debates

whatever the heck the Devexian fall out is, and also maybe insight about what the heck those bubbles of people were about. i need to know.

speaking of things i need to know. extensive essek backstory as he and caleb get to know each other. specifically, what the heck adeen did and why he sucks.

lots of pining and healing and making magic together

(3) and of course, an Uk��otoa (uk’otoa) One Shot

One-year later reunion party on Rumblecusp (I know I know, a Beauyasha wedding would be ideal BUT they already did the fancy ‘wedding gets sabotaged by recurring villain’ shtick with Vox Machina so I’m trying to be realistic about what might be possible)

For some reason, they can’t just teleport there (maybe too risky that they could end up in the ocean?), so they have to sail, and that’s how Uk’otoa & Minions ambush them

Now I know what I said about weddings above, BUT a PotC esque wedding on the ship would be pretty sweet. I have no preference for which couple but Fjord and Jester ARE the pirates after all, and Fjord would be the pseudo ‘main character’ for such a one shot 

Speaking of ships, the most important part of my wish is this: (a) Aabria DMs so that Matt can play Essek; (b) near the start of the one shot, while sailing, Jester visits Essek’s room hoping to catch Caleb there with him as the Nein all have bets about whether or not Essek and Caleb are together. Jester stretches out an awkward conversation -- possibly Essek is in the bath? I don’t know if that makes sense to have a bath on a ship -- and eventually Jester leaves. As soon as she’s gone, Caleb pops up and says ‘I thought she’d never leave.’ VM fans know exactly what I’m talking about. This is how Liam and Matt reveal Shadowgast Established Relationship. And how Liam gets his comeuppance against Laura

They invite Vilya, who not only comes but also brings her daughter; Keyleth meets Essek so they can start their ‘long-lived characters in love with liam’s characters support group’ 

[phoenixyfriend]

Anakin Introduces his Jedi Babies (and Himself)

Context:  Anakin and the Jedi Babies, chrono

Warnings for: canon-typical dismemberment, unfortunately-aimed puppy crushes

Word count: 5,839

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

The first time a Jedi meets a Skywalker, it’s on Bandomeer.

The planet is close to Mandalorian space. Finding someone associated with Mandalore is, technically, not that surprising. There are even Mandalorian operations on the planet.

What is surprising is the fact that the person from Mandalorian space is an unfamiliar Jedi Knight who is utterly unstoppable.

(Obi-Wan Kenobi has no way of knowing how similar his experiences are to what might have been, on this planet. Mandalore has been interfering in operations here ever since Ylliben Skywalker started reporting visions about the coming catastrophe. Where that interference has helped or hurt... well. There’s no way to know.)

(Is there?)

When Xanatos shows up and starts taunting Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, there’s a giggle from the doorway.

All three have to turn to look at the individual in question.

Mid-twenties, leaning against the doorframe, slim but strong, covered in dark fabric and half a set of armor. A scar by one eye, well-kept hair, and a smirk that could burn the longest fuse. A lightsaber, unlit, in one gloved hand.

This man is... very attractive, Obi-Wan thinks. This is not an appropriate thought for the situation. Obi-Wan thinks he can maybe blame it on the exhaustion.

“No, no, keep going,” the stranger says, sounding like there’s a laugh stuck in his throat. He waves dismissively. “Let’s, ah, let’s hear the master plan. Good ranting voice, maybe a six out of ten on the ‘I’m better than you’ and a four on the actual intimidation. You can do better.”

“Excuse me?” Xanatos hisses, sounding incredibly malicious to Obi-Wan’s ears. “Just who do you think you are?”

“And now you’re overselling it,” the stranger sighs. “Are you new at this? You seem new at this.”

“I would... also like to know who you are,” Master Jinn admits, shifting uncertainly as he tries to keep both du Crion and the stranger in his sights.

“I’m just your friendly neighborhood Jedi Knight, here to fight darksiders because... that’s my life, apparently,” the man says, looking down at his arm for some reason. He shakes his head and looks up at them with a bright grin. “Do you need some help, Master Jinn?”

“You still haven’t told us your name.”

“This is true,” the knight says. “That said, I’ve been told by my boss to explicitly avoid naming myself while on this mission for a variety of reasons.”

“Your... boss,” du Crion drawls. “Not the Council, then.”

“Current supervisor,” the stranger offers as correction, completely unconcerned. “It’s a complicated situation, don’t worry about it.”

“I don’t worry about nonentities.”

The man purses his lips like he’s trying very, very hard not to laugh again. It’s very mocking. “Sure, kid.”

Xanatos has had his lightsaber out ever since Obi-Wan and Master Jinn entered the room, but he does one of those fancy, meant-to-be-intimidating one-handed saber twirls as he turns to face the Knight.

The man’s smirk widens. “You do realize you’re going to lose, right? C’mon, kid--”

“I’m older than you!”

“I did like zero research on you as a person, just your many and varied crimes; how old are you?”

Du Crion’s face goes pinched. “I’m twenty-five.”

“Ah, yeah, no, I’m older,” the knight says. “Only a few years, but I’m also a delightfully obnoxious little bastard who ages real slow for, uh, reasons--”

Obi-Wan is fascinated. This man is very strange. And very pretty.

Obi-Wan may be light-headed. Is he bleeding? Blood loss would explain this.

Obi-Wan isn’t bleeding. Damn.

“--anyway, I’m sure I’ve got a more interesting life with more mature experiences than you,” the knight says. “So even if I wasn’t older in body, I’d be older in spirit.”

The knight’s entire sense of being carries such an air of banthashit that Obi-Wan can barely believe it. It’s almost impressive. Obi-Wan wonders how often this man just opens his mouth and immediately gets punched in the face.

“You talk a lot for a man in someone else’s domain.”

“Hey, look on the bright side,” the knight says. “At least I’m not flirting with you. That’s what my master did with almost every darksider we met except his grandmaster.”

Du Crion pauses.

Obi-Wan has the distinct feeling that he and Master Jinn have lost any control they might have, at any point, had over this situation. They hadn’t had much control in the first place, but anything they did have is squarely in the stranger’s court right now. The silver lining to that is that du Crion is thoroughly distracted and has also lost some control of the situation.

“Besides,” the man continues, completely ignoring the very red lightsaber that is being very obviously readied for his death. “This is not that big of an advantage for you. I mean, hey, the fancy central console that can only be reached by skinny walkways with no railings are a nice touch, all chromed metal and minimal lighting, very dramatic, but there’s no lava. I’m not, like, chained to a rock in the middle of an arena for a public execution at the hands of starving animals the size of a fighter ship. You’re threatening to kill me personally instead of standing in the most expensive box of the theater, sipping your wine and congratulating yourself on step one of a plan that has another fifty-thousand steps and no end in sight. You--”

“Is there a point to this?”

“I’m just saying, I’ve been in worse situations by better darksiders than you. This is sad. You’re sad. Try harder.”

Obi-Wan makes a little noise in the back of his throat. Nobody seems to notice, but Master Jinn does put a hand on his shoulder. That’s nice.

“I don’t have any interest in setting up a public execution.”

“What kind of a Sith wannabe are you?” the knight asks, tilting his head. Obi-Wan distantly notes that his hair is longer than initially assumed; it’s just held back and curled. “Public executions are a whole thing. It’s like you’re not even trying. Tell me you’ve at least got vague plans to hand me off to a pirates instead of killing me so you can make some comment about me not even being worth the effort.”

“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” du Crion asks, his voice the kind of forced casual level nonsense that shows he’s actually very, very frustrated. Obi-Wan could almost believe that du Crion is as uninterested as he’s pretending to be.

“If I was trying to get myself killed, I’d... pick a fight with the Trade Federation, maybe? I mean, I survived that when I was nine but they’d probably take me more seriously this time.” The knight taps at his chin. “I don’t even know where the actual Sith is, but--”

“There are no more Sith,” du Crion scoffs.

Oh, the knight looks pitying now. Obi-Wan likes that much more than he should. It just really suits the man’s face.

Quin’s going to make so much fun of him later.

“I have fought multiple Sith,” the man says, slowly and clearly, as though explaining something to a child. “My master fought more than that. I lost my arm to a Sith when I was nineteen. You can say they’re gone, but I don’t trust like that.”

“It’s not a matter of trust,” du Crion says, rolling his eyes. “It has been a thousand years since the Sith were wiped out. Much as I’d like them to still be around, I’m not going to--”

“Oh!” the knight exclaims. “You’re lying! You do think they’re back, this whole mess is you auditioning.”

Du Crion stares at the man as though he’s lost what few marbles he had. “Excuse me?”

“You want to be the next Sith Apprentice,” the man says, cheerfully unconcerned by the mounting tension in the air. “That’s adorable. Well, no, actually, it’s very bad, both for you and for everyone else, and now it means I can’t just kill you in battle like I was planning because the Jedi are going to need you for information. Blast.”

Du Crion’s eyes widen. It is not in fear, but in incredulity. Obi-Wan thinks that it’s all in the eyebrows and the tight, befuddled smile. “You were planning to kill me, Jedi?”

“I mean... yeah, kinda,” the knight says, shrugging. “Quick and clean option, that.”

This time, Master Jinn is the one that makes a disbelieving noise that both of the bitchy twenty-somethings ignore.

“You’re a Jedi,” du Crion points out, entirely pleasant.

“...yes,” the man says, not meeting anyone’s eyes. “Technically.”

Du Crion is very much distracted by this. “Technically?”

The man wiggles a hand. “Arguments can be made. I certainly was trained as a Jedi and consider myself to be one. My knighting was according to protocol, and at the Temple. Technically.”

“...but?” Master Jinn prompts.

The knight smiles like he’s got something very spicy in his mouth and is unwilling to admit it’s too much for him. “But nothing! Don’t worry about it. There’s a fight to be had with a Sith wannabe who doesn’t realize he’s not going to measure up.”

“Arrogant,” du Crion accuses.

“No,” the knight immediately says. “You just don’t fight a galactic war without learning which opponents are actually going to kill you.”

Obi-Wan leans into Master Jinn’s side, his legs feeling a little too much like jelly. He whispers, “I have so many questions.”

“As do I, Padawan,” Master Jinn mutters back, and something in Obi-Wan’s heart twists. He’s a padawan! Master Jinn’s actually going to go through with it!

The fight does actually happen, at that point. The knight lights his saber and leaps forward, flashing through Djem So movements without a moment’s hesitation. For all the trash talk and boasting, the fight isn’t actually over very quickly. Du Crion is good, even without having had a chance to spar against a real person since he left the Order. Power flows around him, dark and heavy and sharp in ways that the Force usually isn’t, and the red saber snaps through the air with a speed Obi-Wan can barely track. Xanatos du Crion is, without question, danger incarnate in this moment.

The unknown knight is better.

There are attempts at banter, mostly by the stranger. Du Crion is too focused on the fight to bother responding. Obi-Wan just clings to Master Jinn, trying to stay awake and aware. It’s difficult, given the past few days, and even with help from the Force, he’s flagging.

The way the knight moves is... captivating, though.

(Quinlan’s going to laugh at the top of his lungs, later. Obi-Wan’s going to blush and stutter and bury his face in a pillow, and Bant’s going to pat his back like the amazing friend she is, and Quin’s just going to laugh, like an asshole.)

The fight doesn’t end cleanly. The knight cuts du Crion’s saber in half and, in the same movement, cuts the man’s hand off.

Obi-Wan’s seen too much blood in the last few days for it to shock him, but the smell is... unpleasant.

“I don’t suppose either of you carries Force-nullifying cuffs?” the knight asks, holding his saber to du Crion’s neck with an expression that is amused and satisfied in equal measure.

“No,” Master Jinn says. He seems... very bothered. Well, du Crion was his student once. Obi-Wan can’t imagine he’d be very calm if he had a student that went dark and started killing children. “Was cutting off his hand really necessary?”

“I feel like half my fights end with either someone dying or someone losing a limb,” the knight muses. “Sometimes that limb is my own, even!”

Obi-Wan isn’t sure if the man is manic or just trying to throw them off their rhythm. It probably doesn’t matter.

“Okay, I have Force-nullifying cuffs of my own,” the man says. “But these things are expensive as hell, and they weren’t paid for by the Order, so just giving them to you isn’t really on the table. That said... my ship kind of got shot down on the way here. If you could give me a ride off-planet--”

“Our ship was also shot down.”

The knight blinks at him, and then kicks du Crion in the hamstring. It’s not a very hard kick, but du Crion shoots him a look of offense that’s probably justified. Getting kicked when one is already down is never a great feeling.

“Stop shooting people,” the knight scolds.

Obi-Wan feels vaguely like he’s having a fever dream.

“Okay, new plan,” the man says. “What kind of ship did you come in?”

“KYL-3400 small transport,” Master Jinn says, with not a little hesitation. “Why?”

The knight grins. “I’m going to cannibalize it for parts.”

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

Jango has known Anakin Skywalker for six years. Many of those years have been spent being yanked into babysitting for the man. For reasons Jango doesn’t feel like examining, this will likely continue.

“You’re late,” he says, as the man in question stumbles out of a battered ship that looks only barely like the one that left three months ago. “I thought you said Bandomeer was a quick fix.”

“Ship got shot down, had to help some Jedi, ran into fucking Onaka on the way back,” Skywalker grouses. “I feel like shit. Where are my kids?”

“Buir says you have to go to medical.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever. My kids, Jango.”

“They can visit you in medical.”

“And, what, Mereel’s gonna go there for a debrief?”

“Your debrief is going through me,” Jango says, and doesn’t let himself flinch when Skywalker makes a face. “He’ll check in later.”

“Yeah, no,” Skywalker says, taking a step forward and then swaying with a curse. “Listen, this actually does need to go to Mand’alor direct, not just the Alor-in-training--”

“Please don’t do that with my language,” Jango immediately says. “That’s not--no. ‘Alor-in-training’ isn’t a thing. Don’t do that.”

Skywalker turns on his heel with a frustrated snarl, and Jango’s eyes widen as the stupid tunics the man wears flare out.

“Is that a blaster wound?”

“No.”

“Yes it--for fuck’s sake, Skywalker!” Jango growls and just goes over to grab the taller man by the shoulders and march him to medical. “I’m calling your sister.”

“Don’t tell Shmi, she’s got enough to--”

“I’m calling your sister,” Jango snaps. “And you’re going to deal with it. Ka’ra, do you even think? Is there a brain in that head of yours?”

“I’ve been told my braincell is lonely.”

“I’m going to shove you in a trash compactor, dikut’la jetii,” Jango mutters. “Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“If I say yes, will you let me go deal with it on my own?”

Jango strangles his own scream and shoves Skywalker into the nearest examination room. “Fix him!”

The medic looks up, raises a brow, and turns to Skywalker. “What did you do?”

“What didn’t I do?” Skywalker shoots back, grinning like they’re sharing battle stories over a drink in a cantina.

The medic--Mirka’lu, he thinks--crosses her arms. “General.”

Oh man, the medics must be angry with him already if they’re already jumping titles like that.

“I’m just a knight--”

“General Skywalker.”

The man in question grimaces. “I maybe got shot during an altercation with some pirates.”

“Uh-huh.”

“And... I maybe--maybe--picked a fight with some Hutt enforcers.”

Jango’s going to wring his neck.

Right after he calls Shmi.

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

Komari does her level best to not shift nervously under the judgmental eyes of the man they’re pretty sure is the Mand’alor. Her master’s got the situation under control. She’s just there to observe. They’ve got an entire team--

“Is that your way of telling me that your Order did minimal research on the situation before coming to intervene, and the only reason you bothered to reach out is because one of my men, weeks ago, let you know that Death Watch is setting traps for both my people and yours?”

Komari feels the flare of annoyance from Master Dooku. She doesn’t react, but she can hear the tension when her Master speaks.

“I assure we would not have attacked on Galidraan unless attacked first, or if we’d found solid evidence of the actions we were informed of,” Master Dooku says, quiet and even. “All your messenger did was save us all a little time.”

Mereel smiles thinly. “Saved us all some lives, more like it.”

“Perhaps.”

“Ah, jetiise aren’t the only ones with Force-Sensitives,” the Mand’alor says. “I’ve more than a few under my command. Visions aren’t foolproof, I’m aware, but I’ll be damned if such a warning goes completely ignored.”

Master Dooku makes a low humming noise. “Be that as it may, I’m unsure of what it is that you’re expecting out of our... presence. We are not here to help you claim your presumed throne. We are only here to stop the killings we were told about.”

“I don’t need your help to reunite my people.” Mereel waves a hand, batting the mere suggestion away. “But I’d appreciate the help with taking out the terrorist group that’s actually going out and murdering the helpless, this planet’s farmers and doctors and children. Kyr’tsad isn’t just a thorn in my side, Master Jedi.”

“And what proof do I have that you aren’t just the same kind of monster as you claim they are?” Master Dooku challenges.

It’s a little brazen, considering how dicey these negotiations are. For all that Komari herself doesn’t wince, someone behind her outright hisses in dismay. She agrees with the sentiment.

Mereel just laughs at them. He catches the eye of one of the armored individuals along the wall, human or close to it, and nods to himself.

“Right,” the man says. “Well, we have our own Jedi. Would you like to meet him?”

Master Dooku is immobile, as if carved from stone. The rest of the group is... not.

“I suppose that would be acceptable,” Master Dooku says, and Komari feels the tension in him wind further through the training bond. There are a million questions to be had here. None of them can be answered without the supposed Jedi.

“Great,” the Mand’alor says. He leans back in his seat and turns to the door. With the press of a button, the door slides open. “Ben!”

A child darts into the room, stops, and bounces on their feet. Probably male, Komari thinks, and very anxious. The child’s eyes dart about the room, taking in every single Jedi in sight. When that gaze lands on Master Dooku, there’s a flash of recognition and... not hate, but distaste. Confused and distant dismay, maybe. The child turns back to Mereel.

“Mand’alor,” the child greets, still bouncing. “Am I needed?”

“Thought I told you this meeting was for grown-ups,” the Mand’alor says.

Ben shrugs. “I wanted to listen in.”

“That door is soundproofed and you know it.”

“So?”

The Mand’alor grins. “Do me a favor and go fetch your dad.”

“Buir’s still sleeping,” Ben says, grave as dirt. It’s a strange expression for such a small child. He can’t be older than eight, and Komari’s pretty sure even that’s a stretch. “Shmi’s gonna be mad if he has to wake up before the bacta’s done.”

“I just need him for negotiations,” Mereel assures the child.

“Aggressive negotiations with a lightsaber?” Ben asks, and Komari nearly chokes.

“No, just regular ones.”

Ben nods sharply, and then turns and runs out.

“That boy...” Mereel mutters, but it’s fond. “Anywa--”

“BUIR!” Ben’s voice echoes from the hall, faint but audible, along with some very loud banging on what is presumably a door. “DAD! WAKE UP, THE COUNT IS HERE!”

The Count? Komari wonders. Even Master Dooku seems surprised.

The question is clearly on more minds than just her own. Mereel raises a brow at Master Dooku and gestures vaguely. “Didn’t know any of you were nobility. You a Count, Master Jedi?”

“No,” Master Dooku says, and before the Mand’alor can press further, he adds, “but if I were to retire from the Order, the title would be mine to inherit. As I have no intentions of retiring, I am not and will not be a Count, but I assume that is what the child is referring to.”

“Ben,” the Mand’alor corrects. He seems pleased with the reasonable answer. “Ylliben Skywalker. I suggest you refer to him by name.”

“You have a fondness for him,” Master Dooku notes.

Mereel shrugs. “No more than any other child, objectively, but his father is one of my more effective allies, and he gets antsy about things. Saying ‘your child’ won’t be a problem, but ‘the child’ is... well.”

The smirk is a challenge that Komari doesn’t feel ready to meet. She’s glad it’s not hers to handle.

“Why do you ‘have’ a Jedi?” Master Dooku asks, pushing the conversation back to the point Komari’s sure he was initially aiming for.

“Found him in a snowstorm, brought him inside,” Mereel says, grinning. “And then he refused to leave, the shabuir. Troublesome man, like you wouldn’t believe, but useful.”

“Like a feral tooka,” someone behind Komari mutters. She feels a part of her soul die.

You can’t just say that in front of the Mand’alor! she screeches in the depths of her mind, despairing.

“Exactly,” Mereel agrees with a laugh. “Skywalker’s a feral tooka.”

Komari dies a little more.

“Talkin’ shit about me, Mereel?”

...oh no.

This one’s pretty.

The man is tall, dressed almost entirely in black, and looks like shit.

“You look like you got run over by a herd of bantha,” the Mand’alor notes.

“I got back less than a day ago,” Skywalker growls out. He leans against the wall behind the Mand’alor’s desk. He folds his arms. He glowers around the room. “The kriff is Count Dooku doing here?”

“Master Dooku,” the man in question says, a little pained. “As I informed Mand’alor Mereel, I may technically have claim to that title, but I am a Jedi. So long as I remain a Jedi, the title isn’t actually mine.”

Skywalker makes a face, and then shakes his head. “Fine. Whatever. Jaster, what the hell do you need from me?”

“Well, some manners would be nice.”

“I got shot and am putting myself in a position to get yelled at by baar’ur Mirka’lu for coming here when I’m supposed to be on bed rest,” Skywalker growls out. He kicks Mereel’s chair, glaring at the back of the man’s head. “You’re lucky I put on pants.”

Mereel seems unbothered by this statement or treatment.

Komari thinks her eyes may currently be the size of dinner plates.

“You’re the one from Bandomeer.”

Skywalker’s head snaps up to focus his gaze on Master Dooku. “Say what?”

“You’re the one my former Padawan encountered on Bandomeer,” Master Dooku says, something satisfied in his tone. “He said you refused to give a name, but the physical description does match.”

“Oh, lovely, Jinn’s been gossiping,” Skywalker mutters. “That’s just--”

“General Skywalker,” Mereel says, voice finally slipping to something more stern than amused. “If you could please focus.”

Skywalker rolls his eyes and mutters something about painkillers.

“Buir?”

Skywalker’s head tilts to the side, and he holds one arm out to the side. The kid from before--Ben--darts in to cling to the man’s side. A slightly taller Togruta follows in and ducks in under his other arm. Both children keep a wary gaze fixed on the same person, and their adult...

Every look from this man is a new challenge to Master Dooku.

“They’re yours?”

That is the exact question Komari was hoping her master wouldn’t ask.

“We’re in Mandalorian territory,” Skywalker says. “They’re Force-Sensitive orphans with an incredible amount of potential. If I didn’t claim them, someone else would have.”

It’s not an airtight justification--the man could have just sent them to the Temple--but the air around him is roiling with aggression. This man does not like Master Dooku, and is more than a shade protective of these--his--children. Komari shifts her weight and worries as the pregnant silence grows heavier.

“As you say,” Master Dooku allows, and some of the bowstring-tight tension in the room loosens, drains away like foul bathwater. “If I may... I was unaware you were a General, nor that Mandalore had a standing army large enough for such a position.”

“He’s not,” Mereel says. “Used to be, won’t tell me where. It’s not my business, or yours. Title’s a holdover from whatever war he was fighting before we got him.”

Komari is not the only person whose heart drops as Master Dooku says, “Qui-Gon claimed that the rogue knight he’d met on Bandomeer mentioned a galactic war against the Sith.”

Mereel blinks, and then turns his seat around to look at Skywalker. The other Mandalorians look at Skywalker. Every single Jedi also looks at Skywalker.

The Togruta child sticks her tongue out at Master Dooku.

“I did say that,” Skywalker says. “What of it?”

“You know, when I said I didn’t care what fight you were running that turned you into a soldier, I kind of assumed it was something on the level of, say, a system-wide civil war,” Mereel drawls. “Not galactic Force nonsense.”

Skywalker shrugs. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.”

“Because you’ll lie?”

“No, I’m just going to be really annoying about it,” Skywalker tells him. The Togruta giggles and shoves her face into his side. “Or, hell, I’ll let Ben do it. We both know he can talk circles around basically everyone in this room.”

“Skywalker.”

“Mereel.”

The two hold gazes for a moment that lasts just a little too long, and then Mereel breaks it off. “We’re talking about this later.”

“Of course, Mand’alor,” Skywalker says, with a grim sort of smile. “Wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise.”

Mereel doesn’t seem particularly impressed by that.

Komari wonders if anyone else remembers that Skywalker was supposed to be here to make negotiations easier.

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

Yan Dooku is having a Day.

He’s not entirely sure whom to blame for this mess. Perhaps Yoda, for suggesting he handle this mission. Perhaps the governor of Galidraan, who decided collaborating with terrorists for his own gain was a good idea. Perhaps Jaster Mereel, whose influence and power is enough that Yan needs to tread carefully. Perhaps Qui-Gon, for giving him just enough information about Skywalker to cause some drama.

Perhaps Skywalker for being a recalcitrant, ornery bastard who delights in Yan’s suffering.

(One of the Mandalorians calls him that to his face, and Skywalker informs the man that “my mother always told me I didn’t have a father,” and stares until the Mando stammers out an apology and turns on his heel.)

(The smirk on Skywalker’s face is certainly informative.)

“Hi.”

Yan looks up from the datapad he’s been using to try and punch out a report, for all that he can’t find the words he needs, and sees the Togruta youngling from Skywalker’s side hanging upside-down from a ventilation grate.

He blinks evenly at her. “Good afternoon. Is that your normal manner of traversing the building?”

“Yeah, when Jan-Jan isn’t yelling at me about it,” she says, and drops from the ceiling. Seemingly without paying attention, she directs the grate itself back into place with the Force, screws reattaching themselves with only the slightest whisper. She’s done this many, many times.

“I’m afraid I don’t know who that is.”

“Jango Fett,” she clarifies. “Ad be Mand’alor.”

Child of the king.

He does remember that much from the briefing.

“I see,” Yan says, rather than try to tackle whatever the usage of such a nickname implies. “I’m afraid nobody’s seen fit to introduce you, youngling.”

“I’m Sokanth Skywalker, but most people call me Soka,” she says, with a bouncing, shallow bow. Full of energy, this one. “I’m eight.”

“The General is your father, then?”

“Mm-hm! He adopted me when I was almost two,” she says, and climbs up onto the bench. She wraps her arms around her knees and beams up. “Ben was still a baby, and we didn’t go get Shmi until a few months later when Skyguy could afford it.”

“Skyguy?” Yan prompts.

“My dad,” she explains, head tilting a little as she studies his reaction. “I... I’ve always called him Skyguy. He took care of me before he adopted me, for at least a year. He says I called him Skyguy when I first started talking, back then, and then he didn’t make me stop when he adopted me.”

“I see,” Yan says. “Does your father know you’re speaking with me?”

“Probably.”

“And would he approve?” Yan hints as heavily as he can. “He doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

“That’s because we’ve all seen what you could be,” she says. “But you’re not the Count yet, so it’s okay.”

Information. “Ah. Visions, then. That would explain some things.”

“Ben gets them the most,” she keeps talking. “But it’s not just that. It’s like... patterns. The Sith are going to target you, because they’re going to think you’re worth corrupting.”

“And you’ve seen enough Sith to know that?”

“Yeah.”

“Visions are not foolproof,” he says, trying to keep his tone gentle. He’s not used to interacting with children of this age, and this one comes with a father in the Mand’alor’s confidence, someone he can’t afford to irritate by making a daughter cry. “I have a friend who is very prone to visions, and some come true, some don’t, and others--”

“Are self-fulfilling,” Sokanth finishes for him. “I know that. But my dad’s actually fought Sith, y’know. The guy who cut off my dad’s arm used to be a Jedi Master, like you, and he was all fancy-schmancy and a history nerd for Sith stuff, and didn’t like the Council or their decisions very much. Like you.”

That’s... very personal.

“A surface-level similarity is not enough to make the claim that I am to become a Sith,” he says.

She blinks at him, eyes too large for a face that’s so near to human in bone-structure. It’s unnerving. “Whether or not you Fall is your choice, Count. All I can tell you is that you are the kind of person they look to groom... if only as a pawn.”

The words are too old for a girl her size.

“You speak as if you’ve faced the Sith yourself,” Yan says, well aware now that he needs to tread carefully, but... “You’re too young to go out into the field. I can’t imagine your father would allow a child like yourself to go up against someone that dangerous.”

She blinks those too large eyes, and tilts her head in the other direction, and then smiles. “You care. That’s good. Keep that compassion, Count.”

He raises an eyebrow. “I feel like you’re evading the question.”

Sokanth giggles. “Maybe. Buir doesn’t like us talking about it much. It makes him sad, ‘cuz he can’t help us not hurt, and a lot of it is really scary. It’s like... my memories are too big for my head. I don’t get a lot of visions, but I get a lot of dreams of things that happened that I’m not alive for. And buir does remember those things happening, so it’s true, and it happened, but I only... sort of remember it, and when I think about it too hard, it hurts my head. Or I get nightmares about it, and I don’t like those. Ben’s got it worse, though. He has more to fight.”

It’s a lot of information.

It’s confusing information.

It’s... possibly information that the General has asked her to feed him for reasons he can’t even begin to guess at.

“In this war your father fought,” Yan asks, “were you a soldier as well?”

“Commander,” she corrects, voice soft. “That’s what the dreams call me, before they start screaming.”

“How old are you really?” He asks, before he can quite stop himself.

She laughs, suddenly bright again. “I’m as old as I look. I’m eight. Just because the Force gives me memories I shouldn’t have doesn’t mean that my brain isn’t a kid. Sometimes Ben tries to act older than he is ‘cuz of the memories, y’know. Buir gets sad whenever he does that, ‘cuz he thinks we deserve to be kids before the galaxy goes to hell again.”

“He’s sure of such a thing?”

“It always does,” she says, with the air of someone who isn’t sure how their conversation partner could be quite that dense. Her voice takes on a sing-song cadence, like she’s telling a fable instead of a philosophy. “War always comes eventually. Not every sentient is selfish, but enough are, and they tend to be the ones that claw their way to the top. The rich and powerful will take and take and take, and then, when there’s nothing left, they will use their living stepping stones to tear each other apart. All we can do is be ready to end it as quickly as possible once it comes.”

Yan lets the claim sit for a long, quiet minute. “Did your father tell you that?”

“No,” she says. “Ben did.”

The six-year-old.

“He has a way with words,” Yan manages.

“Sometimes he uses his stuffed animals to host courtroom dramas,” she says. “He makes me look up the right laws so it can be procedurally accurate, ‘cuz he’s a nerd but so am I, and it makes Skyguy happy when he sees us playing like that instead of just doing saber forms and stuff.”

Yan has... no idea what to do with that. “I wouldn’t normally call courtroom dramas a normal children’s activity.”

“Yeah, but Ben’s a nerd,” she says, as if that’s all that needs to be said. Maybe, for her, it is. “And there’s only so much time I’m allowed to spend hunting.”

Right. Togruta.

“And what was your father doing at that age?”

“I’m not allowed to talk about that,” she says immediately. “Because it’s very private and he and Shmi get upset if we bring it up, ‘cuz of trauma and stuff.”

Shmi. The... sister, he thinks. People seem to be unclear on that. He’s heard a few refer to the teenager as just “one of Skywalker’s,” so that’s something to consider. She’s near-perfectly halfway between the children and the General, in terms of age, so it’s a little ambiguous where she fits.

That said, he’s been in a lot of places in his time as a Jedi Master. It’s taken him a little longer than it should have to realize, but he thinks he’s got at least part of the puzzle.

Skywalker’s a slave name. Tatooine, specifically.

It’s not confirmation, really, but...

Well. He thinks it’s better he doesn’t dig, on that subject.

“Hey,” Sokanth says, tugging at his sleeve. “Can I ask ya something?”

“I cannot promise an answer, but you may ask.”

“Can you spar with Skyguy? I wanna see who wins.”

[dhwty-writes]

The Terribly Sad and Tragic Affair that Is the Fake Funeral of Shadowhand Essek Thelyss

Apparently, I am not only drawing for the Critical Role fandom, but writing for it, too. After months of nearly no progress I just vomited out 3k words this Tuesday and it only went downhill from there.

This fic is based on this post by @anne-o-nyme, I really hope I managed to capture the energy of it.

Have fun!

Summary: There were eight strangers in the foyer of his dead brother's towers and Verin Thelyss was slowly losing his patience.

After the sudden "death" of Shadowhand Essek Thelyss, it is his brother Verin's job to empty out his towers. The Mighty Nein show up to help (and maybe steal a few things).

OR: Verin is grieving, Essek just wants his stuff back, and the Mighty Nein are the Mighty Nein.

Warnings: I didn't tag this with MCD, because Essek is technically alive and kicking. Since Verin doesn't know that though, and this fic is written from his POV, this is dealing with grief and includes depictions of depressive thoughts as well as anxiety attacks. For more explicit warnings, please mind the tags on AO3. Take care of yourselves, and let me know if I forgot anything.

Read on AO3

There were eight strangers in the foyer of his dead brother's towers and Verin Thelyss was slowly losing his patience. "Listen," he said with what little calm he had left, "I know that by returning one of our beacons you became heroes of the Dynasty and were placed under Es— My bro— his stewardship. But this here—" he gestured vaguely at the interior of Essek's towers that had always been too cold, too empty, but not like now, never like now— "This is a very difficult situation for me, so if you could please leave, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Yes, yes, it's very sad that Essek died," the blue tiefling said—Jester, her name was Jester; she had given him that already as she had offered him her condolences with a hug—and Verin could barely contain his anger. After the funeral he had quite enough of lying dignitaries, nobles, and heroes currying favours with him. That had always been Essek's thing, he would know what to do, how to make them regret even daring to speak up; Verin had never been any good at it.

"But we're his friends!" He grit his teeth at Jester's blatant falsehood. Perhaps his anger showed on his face, since the tiefling faltered. "And, uh— Fjord?"

"It's true," the half-orc with too-smooth words and too-smooth voice lied, too. "We spent quite some time with your, er— your brother here. Made some good memories. We thought we might take this as our chance to say goodbye, too."

"We are here to help as well. We wouldn't want to infringe upon your grief, though," the tall firbolg added. "So, if you'd prefer us to return at a later point, we'd be happy to."

Verin was still trying to process everything—from these strangers showing up unannounced to their overwhelming presence to the fact that his brother was dead—while simultaneously trying to keep an eye on the halfling who looked like she might have sticky fingers. So, he latched onto the word that stood out the most to him: "Help?"

"Right," Fjord said, looking slightly embarrassed, "we probably should have led with that..."

"We should have called ahead, too," the scary-looking human in blue—they didn't even wear white for the funeral—added. "We always forget to call ahead."

"But Beau, how should we have called ahead?" Jester complained. "We didn't know Verin yet."

"Well, Essek—" the human was interrupted by the even scarier-looking woman next to her stepping on her foot unsubtly. She at least had the decency to act embarrassed. "Right. Sorry 'bout that."

Awkward silence fell across the room, the Mighty Nein looking anywhere but him. It took him a few moments to realise they were waiting for him to speak up. "Help how?" Verin could have kicked himself. By the Light, he could do better than that. He had to do better than that.

A beat of silence followed, then everyone seemed to talk at once. Verin wanted to weep. How was he supposed to deal with this? How had his brother dealt with this? 'He probably hasn't,' he thought. 'They're probably all liars, probably—'

Someone cleared their throat and all eyes turned to the other human who hadn't said anything so far and who looked properly miserable. Immediately, the Mighty Nein fell silent. "Word has reached us that Den Thelyss ordered these premises to be vacated as early as possible," he said quietly with an accent Verin has been taught that belonged to the enemy. "And while some of us may not look like much, I can assure you, we are quite capable."

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "I supposed such menial tasks are beneath the heroes of the dynasty. There are servants—"

"Well, sure," the halfling with the probably sticky fingers interrupted, "but we know him. Knew him, I mean; sorry, force of habit."

"Besides, there's a lot of stuff," the lavender tiefling, who Verin was pretty sure was a known pirate, piped up. "Looks like you could use the help."

"If you want to, of course," the sad Empire human added.

Verin only wanted to scream, to give room to the torrent of thoughts raging in his head. 'My brother just died. My brother just died and he wasn't consecuted, so he's gone for good. He's gone for good and I didn't even know him; I didn't even know about these supposed friends he had because he didn't allow me near him in decades. I was a horrible brother and so was he, but I can't even be mad at him because he's dead.

'And now these liars show up and talk about friendship and knowing him, but those are all lies, horrible ones, because Essek had no friends. Essek was cold and cruel and lonely and do you even know how horrible that is? Dying alone with no-one who mourns you, just the favours you still owe them? Do you? I don't even know, and I'm his brother.'

Were he a weaker man, a less disciplined one, he might have said so. But he was Taskhand Verin of Den Thelyss and he had learned discipline before he had learned to talk. So, he said: "Your help would be greatly appreciated, thank you. I'll have the servants bring up some tea. There are, uh—" He straightened his back, summoning the composure that was befitting a Taskhand, even one with a dead brother. "There are boxes up there, they've been brought to the rooms already. Anything of value will be sold; the rest will be given to charity. The things— Well, if you find anything that might have sentimental value, something in his handwriting, perhaps, I think I should like to keep that, please."

The firbolg nodded sagely. "Of course. We will be careful with our selection."

With that, Verin turned around and— froze. Where was he even supposed to start? The towers had always seemed to huge for just Essek and he knew that there were very few personal belongings in them. Still, they would have to be scoured clean within the fortnight.

A large hand on his shoulder made him jump, although he'd never admit it. "Sometimes, when a task seems too large, you should start with the smallest part," the firbolg said. "If I were you, I'd start with the smallest room."

"Thank you, that, uh— that seems like good advice," Verin replied, still a bit startled and confused. "I, er— I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."

"Caduceus Clay. I live in a graveyard, so I'm used to this," Clay said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

Verin furrowed his brows slightly. A graveyard? It seemed highly unlikely to him that one of the heroes of the Dynasty would live in a graveyard of all places. Perhaps they were not only liars, but impostors too? But they had the symbols of the Bright Queen, so there wasn't much that he could say.

"Right," he mumbled. "I believe the smallest room would be the closet. Although it might be tied with the bathroom..." He trailed off again. He had never seen Essek's bedroom in his towers. Judging by how many times he had even seen the inside of the building; he could count himself lucky if he even found the way there.

"Why don't we split up?" Clay suggested. "One group takes the closet, one the bathroom and one the bedroom. We'd get done sooner that way."

"That is a great idea, Caduceus," Jester said excitedly. "I'll take the bathroom; I promised— er, I'm curious if I can find more of that hair oil, I got for Fjord that one time!"

"Ohhh, are you saying this is... an investigation?!" the halfling joined in.

"That's exactly what I'm saying, Veth!"

"Seems like a case for Wildemount's best detectives!"

"Bye, Verin!" Jester called and he blinked and they were gone. Fjord joined them as well, muttering something about having to supervise them.

The purple pirate-tiefling shrugged, heading off in the same direction. "Well, I wouldn't mind rifling through some drawers. I'll have a look at that bedroom."

"Yeah, I don't need to see Essek's underwear, so I'll pass on the closet," Beau added tactfully—Verin was getting the sneaking suspicion that manners were not really her strong suit. She linked hands with the large woman at her side, pulling her along. "Come on, Yash."

"I'll go handle the tea," Clay said. "Don't worry about it." He vanished in the direction of the kitchen, his steps accompanied by the constant tap tap tap of his staff.

When Verin looked around, he realised that only the sad Empire human was left with him in the hallway. "If you wouldn't mind," he said, pointedly avoiding eye-contact, "I would love to have a look at the closet. I always, ah— appreciated your brother's sense of fashion."

Verin blinked at him a few times, then shrugged. "Sure." He began heading up the stairs.

"My condolences," the human continued. "I realise I didn't speak up earlier, but— I am sorry for your loss."

"Thank you," he said, letting the same numb feeling wash over him again that he had embraced since the news of Essek's death had reached him.

"I know that we seem like a bunch of, ah— forgive my language, but assholes, but we're really here to help. I will tell the others to tone it down a bit."

"Thank you," he repeated.

"If you'd prefer that we start in, ah— less personal rooms, we can do that also."

"If I'm perfectly honest, I don't even know what I should be doing there."

"Neither am I." The human laughed nervously. "I have dealt with grief before, but I've never had the, ah— how do you call it? Hang on." He pulled out a copper wire and whispered: "Beau, how do you say zweifelhafte Ehre in Common? You can reply to this message." A moment later he straightened. "Right. I never had the dubious honour of emptying out a deceased person's house before."

"Neither did I," Verin admitted. 'Usually, the deceased person comes back,' he didn't say. Instead, he opted for: "You're, er— What's the word in Common? You're weird? I'm sorry if that's insulting, I just— waele xanalressen [stupid languages]."

"I don't understand your words, but I think I understand the sentiment." The man grimaced. "And I've heard that one before. I hope we're not too much of a... too much."

"It's alright," he lied and opened the door to Essek's bedroom. 

It wasn't alright; Verin wanted to weep again.

The door to the bathroom stood ajar, as did several drawers and cabinets, although he couldn't glance inside. Considering that he heard glass shatter and a quiet "oops" followed by a hushed "Jester!" he was rather glad about that. Besides, what he saw was already quite enough to handle. Beau was currently rifling through Essek's nightstand, the tall woman tossing unread books on the bed carelessly, while the lavender tiefling seemed to make his way through his brother's collections of make-up and jewellery alike.

They froze when they spotted him and the sad human in the door. "Heeey, Verin," Beau drawled.

"These were all still closed, I swear," the lavender tiefling said immediately, gesturing at the jars in front of them.

Verin just sighed in defeat. "I don't wear any make-up, I don't care; you can have it. Put the jewellery in the box to be sold; the books are for charity if he hasn't read them. Just leave the earrings in front of the mirror, please. Those were his favourites."

Without another glance at them, Verin headed straight to Essek's closet, desperate to get some quiet. He took a few moments to collect himself, before closing the door and leaning his head against it with a heavy thunk.

He stayed like that for a minute or maybe two until he heard someone clear their throat. "I have been debating for the past fifty-five seconds, if I should just Dimension Door out," the sad human said and Verin very nearly jumped out of his skin, "but that would be loud and I didn't want to startle you. Not that I didn't startle you like this but—"

"Vithin shu," Verin cursed.

"Vithin shu ke," the sad human agreed, his accent in Undercommon even heavier than normally.

For a moment, they both stared at each other, equally startled by the course of events. Then, the human looked away again. "I, ah— have started learning Undercommon before, um— well, before." Verin tried very hard to focus on the way the human was scratching at his forearms; that way he had something else to focus on besides his nearing breakdown.

"This is a bit embarrassing, but, ah— I believe I forgot to introduce myself," the human continued. "I'm Caleb Widogast. Essek and I were... friends, yes, and ah— colleagues, of some sort. It's... complicated."

He scratched at his arms again before turning towards the shelves and pulling out a stack of tunics. He unfolded one, looked at it, then carefully folded it again, cast a cantrip to smooth out the wrinkles, and put it in the charity box. Then he repeated the procedure with the next. And the next. And the next.

Verin frowned, thinking for a moment about his words. There was something about them that seemed painfully familiar, although he couldn't quite remember. Then: "The transmutation specialist."

Widogast looked up in surprise. "Yes."

"Essek told me of you," Verin admitted.

The last time they had seen each other had been here, in these towers, just a few months ago. He had found his brother in his office, pouring over notes for a new spell, alive and healthy as ever. As always, he had entered without knocking. As always, he had pretended to read the notes. Not as always, he had noticed something wrong. "Whose handwriting is that?" he had asked.

"What?" Essek had snapped, his head whipping up. Then, however, his expression had softened. "Oh. A friend's. A colleague, of sorts. He's helping me out, a bit."

"With the spell?" Verin had asked incredulously.

"Yes. He's a transmutation specialist; you know that's not my forte. Now give it back, will you?"

"A colleague, huh?" He had grinned and held the paper out of Essek's reach. "Are you sure that's all?"

Perhaps Essek had been sick after all, for the strangest thing had happened: instead of using his floating cantrip to snatch the notes back, he had gotten a dreamy, far-off look in his eyes. He had even smiled with an expression Verin might have called dopey, if it weren't his brother they were talking about. After a few moments, he had snapped out of it, sighed, and said: "It's complicated."

"Did he?" Widogast asked tentatively. "Did he, ah— did he say anything else about me?"

Verin pinned him down with a glare, sizing him up. In hindsight, he should have noticed the thick spellbook at his hip earlier; judging by his slim frame alone, he should have known the man was a wizard. He supposed Widogast was handsome enough, although his brother had never cared much for that, with his copper hair and his striking blue eyes. Blue eyes around which crows' feet were gathering, as he noticed to his dismay. 'He's human,' Verin reminded himself. He might have a few decades left, maybe, whereas Essek had centuries ahead of him. The thought why his brother might condemn himself to more loneliness crossed his mind, though it hardly mattered. His brother had been the first to die, after all.

"Verin?" Widogast inquired quietly.

"I'm sorry," he answered with a thick voice. "I got lost in my thoughts there. He, uhh— he said that he trusted you." That didn't even begin to cover it, but these Mighty Nein had been lying to him since the moment they got here, so what was a little lie by omission? Besides, there were some memories that he wanted to keep just to himself.

"Essek," he had teased, still waving the sheet of paper out his reach. "Come on! Aren't we brothers?"

Essek had crossed his arms and pouted. He hadn't done that since they were both little. "Unfortunately. You are a menace. And a child."

"If you tell me about him, I'll give it back. Is he handsome? Is he a drow? Where's he from? How did you meet? When will I meet him? Can I promise to kill him if he hurts you?"

"Verin!" Essek had groaned and hid his face in his hands.

"What do you do when you meet? I bet you stay up all night, talking about 'arcane research' or something."

"We do, in fact. Are you done now?"

"Oh, is that what young people call it these days?" He had cackled at his own joke.

"Evidently not," Essek had muttered. "Might I remind you that you're younger than me?"

"Might I remind you that you're a buzzkill?" Verin had shot back and placed the note down. He had gotten bored of his own game.

Essek had taken the sheet of paper almost reverently and thanked him. "I would have hated it to rewrite that page." He had smoothed it down, stored it safely away in a folder, silent for a long time. Then, he had said: "Caleb."

"Excuse me?"

"That's his name," Essek had said. "Caleb Widogast."

Verin had frowned. "Hey, Essek?"

"Hm?"

"You must trust him a lot, to share a spell with him."

His brother had taken a shuddering breath and closed his eyes. Verin hadn't expected him to answer, yet he'd said: "I do, actually. It's not the first spell we've created together and I would be honoured to create a thousand more with him. I'd trust him with my life, my death, and beyond. I think—" He'd huffed. "I think I trust him almost as much as I trust you."

Verin watched Widogast as he was looking through his brother's tunics, placing most of them in the charity box, and he wondered. Wondered if the trust Essek had obviously put in Widogast had been misplaced. Wondered if it had extended to his friends, as well. Wondered if ultimately trust had been his downfall, as he'd always feared.

Then again, if Essek had trusted him... perhaps that trust had been mutual. Perhaps they had been friends. Perhaps there was another person mourning his brother after all.

"Do I have something on my face?" Verin had given up on counting how many times Widogast had now startled him out of his thoughts.

"No, no I—," Verin stammered. "I'm sorry."

He tilted his head to the side. "For staring?"

"No, er— For your loss." Liar or no liar, it only seemed appropriate.

"Oh." Widogast turned back to the tunics. Verin probably should get started, too, shouldn't he? "Thank you. Though I'd wager your loss weighs heavier than mine."

"Probably," he agreed and turned to the task at hand. At this point, Widogast had moved on from the simple tunics to Essek's court regalia. After a short moment of consideration, Verin decided to look through the pants; he also had no interest in sorting through his dead brother's underwear.

Out of the corner of his eye he kept watching the wizard, pulling out one cloak after the other. At a few he wrinkled his nose, at others he just stared before putting them with the tunics. After a while one made him pause; an elaborate, beautiful robe in deep purple. "This is what he was wearing when we first met him," he said.

'He hated that one,' Verin thought. Not that he could say that out loud. Instead, he cocked his head and asked: "Are you sure? He has a lot of those. Had, I mean. Had a lot of those."

"Yeah, I'm sure." He tapped his temple with a faint smile. "I have a good memory."

"As does Essek," he snapped, suddenly feeling very defensive about his brother's capabilities. "I suppose most wizards do."

Infuriatingly, Widogast only nodded. "Indeed. Or they're not very good ones."

Silently, Verin turned back to the trousers. The sooner he got done, the sooner he got these people out of his brother's towers, the better. He didn't know for how long they worked in silence, Verin reminiscing about the times he had seen Essek wear the clothes and wondering about those he didn't know. Eventually, he folded the last of them and forced himself to return to the present. "I think we're done here," he announced. "Do you have a preference for a next room?"

"Perhaps the library?" Widogast offered a tentative smile. "I think I might be of more use there than folding clothes."

"More use than I will be, surely."

"I take it the wizardry doesn't run in the family, then?"

Verin only scoffed and opened the door to the bedroom again.

He immediately spotted Beau leafing through one of the books Essek had never read, while the tiefling was chatting amiably with the aasimar while braiding her hair. He also noted the boxes neatly stacked in the middle of the room. Besides that, he noticed with a heavy heart, the room looked much the same. If anything, it looked less orderly and empty than before. Except for—

"Where are Essek's earrings?" Verin demanded to know.

"What earrings?" the lavender tiefling replied with a too-wide grin the same moment Beau said: "Dude, there's tons of them, why don't—"

"No," he said decisively. "Essek's favourite earrings; they're always up here. I told you about them. Where are they?" His hands curled into fists, his neatly manicured fingernails pressing almost painfully into his skin.

"Perhaps you should look in one of the boxes," the aasimar woman suggested "I'm sure they're—"

"You're lying," Verin interrupted her, barely containing his anger. "Why are you lying? If they're in one of the boxes, then only because you put them there. So: where are they?"

Widogast only now stepped out of the closet, wearing an amber necklace he hadn't noticed before. "Verin—" he said tentatively, but he'd had enough.

"Shut up!" He startled himself with how loud his voice was. But he was beyond caring. "I know they're not in there, because the only ones to put them in there would have been you. So, either you're lying about having them put in there, or you're lying about stealing them, I don't care. Just— please. Please give them back."

The four of them passed a guilty glance. "We can't," Beau replied finally.

"The fuck you can't," Verin spat. "Give them back!"

"Verin, love, we would really love to," the tiefling added, "but we can't."

"I don't understand; is it precious things you want? Here, have some!" He strode over to the boxes and ripped the first open, tossing the lid towards the bathroom door Jester was peeking out of. He reached in to grab a necklace—an ugly one, he had always thought, with a stylised beacon—and threw it in their direction.

Beau caught it. Of course.

"Have a whole box, actually, if you like them so damn much." He reached inside and pulled out a jewellery box, tears prickling in his eyes. He threw one of those, too, just for good measure. It gave him some satisfaction that Widogast had to dodge it. "Just give me back the bloody earrings that my brother wore at my fucking consecution!" He was properly crying now and could only imagine the mess he looked like, but he had reached his limit. And, in his opinion, he was allowed to with all that was going on.

At least they looked a little bit guilty. "Fuck man, we didn't know," Beau mumbled.

"It's just one pair, Beau," Jester called over from the bathroom. "I'm sure it will be alright."

"Yes, there's no need for this to escalate," Fjord agreed and strode over to them, his hands raised innocently.

"I don't even know you people," Verin muttered, looking at the people crowding into his brother's bedroom. "Why did I even let you inside?"

"Do you want the earrings back?" the aasimar woman asked, reaching into a bag at her hip. Had she been carrying a greatsword for the whole time? Verin suddenly noticed how overpowered he was, were he to face all of them. "You can have them back if you want. Here, you can have them back."

"For a moment," Widogast added, slowly drawing closer to him and taking the earrings from the aasimar. He held them out on his flat hand, almost like he had seen soldiers offer treats to horses. His whole demeanour reminded him of someone trying to calm a spooked animal. For some reason, that seemed hilarious to him and he couldn't help the hysterical giggle that escaped his throat.

"Verin, I need you to calm down," he continued. "I know that's easier said than done, but you need your head."

"I think we should all calm down," Clay said from the doorway. And despite being surprised again, he did. It didn't make any sense, but few things these days did.

"Did it work?" the halfling asked. Verin wasn't really sure what she was talking about.

"It did," Clay confirmed.

"Gut," Widogast said and pressed the earrings that had seemed so important a moment ago into Verin's hands. "I think we should maybe go somewhere else, ja? Will you come with me?"

Inadvisable as it might be, if Essek had trusted that man, he should, too. And out of all of the Nein, he seemed to be the most normal one. The one he could see Essek with most. So, he nodded.

"I'll get us back to the kitchen, quickly." Caleb held out his hand and Verin closed his eyes, steeling himself. 'I hate Dimension Door,' was the last thing that crossed his mind before the teleportation spell ripped him away, together with: 'We haven't been to the kitchen, yet.'

Evidently, there went something wrong with the spell. Verin didn't know much about magic, but he knew Dimension Door couldn't transport more than two people. So, when he heard Beau groan and say "Fuck, dude, warn us next time," he knew that something wasn't right.

"You knew about the plan, Beauregard," Widogast replied.

"It doesn't matter," Fjord decided. "Caduceus, do you think you could make tea again? I think the Calm Emotions is about to wear off."

Cautiously, Verin opened one eye, then the other. They were, in fact, standing in a kitchen, as far as he could tell. All of the Mighty Nein were surrounding him. The furniture seemed to have been made for people taller than them; Essek probably would need to float in order to avoid awkwardly climbing onto the chair. The firbolg, however, who was fussing with a teapot, seemed to fit right in. All in all, the interior was very rustic. And very much not in Essek's towers, not that he had ever seen that room, of course.

The panic hit him once more. Verin whirled around to the wizard, instinctively grasping for his sword. "Where the fuck—" he faltered, finding his hip bare. Of course, he hadn't brought it for the funeral. Instead, he opted for just grasping Widogast by the lapels and lifting him up a bit. It was supposed to be menacing, which surely would be more effective, were humans not so annoyingly tall. "Where the fuck are we?!" he spat out.

A lot of things seemed to happen at once—he heard a "Fuck, man, what-" from Beau, a "Well, Mister Thelyss" from the pirate, several hands trying to tug him away from the weak wizard—but he didn't pay them any mind. He just shook Widogast, who looked entirely too calm for his liking, and demanded: "Answer me!"

"Leave him," was all Widogast said. "He has every right to be angry."

Indeed, the people grasping at him retreated, still on guard and surrounding him. There was a creak outside the door and Verin desperately wished for his sword once more. Then, a voice cut through the tense silence that had descended over the kitchen: "Caleb, is that you? You're back early."

"Yeah, there were some complications. Best come and look yourself, Schatz."

There was a sigh that was entirely too familiar for Verin's liking. Then, the door opened with a creak and in walked a dead man. "Complications," Essek Thelyss said with a fond smile. "I was just a Sending away, what did you come here fo— oh."

The person wearing his brother's face stopped in their tracks as they saw him. A couple of complicated emotions passed over his face—confusion, surprise, regret, guilt. If he hadn't known before, Verin was certain now that they were impostors, all of them. His brother would never tolerate such a display of weakness. Still, the impostor said: "Hello, brother."

Verin whipped his head back around to the wizard in his grasp. "What the fuck are you playing at?" he hissed.

"I- what- Verin!" the Essek-impostor sputtered. "What are you doing; put him down!"

"I would appreciate that, yes," Widogast added.

"Not before you don't tell me what's going on."

"Going on?" The impostor sneered and shook his head in a perfect imitation of his brother. "Nothing is going on, Verin."

"You died," he accused him.

"Evidently not," Essek scoffed.

Verin narrowed his eyes, looking from the man claiming to be his brother over the other too calm wizard to the rest of the Nein, seemingly perfectly happy to let this play out. "Prove it," he demanded. "Tell me something only my brother would know."

"You've become paranoid," he noted and Verin couldn't decide if it sounded proud or disappointed. "Alright. When you and I were in our early thirties, you once got in trouble for scaling the outside of mother's mansion. Rightfully, I should have gotten in trouble, too, but I was hiding on the attic. And the reason you never told anyone, is because then you'd have had to explain that I, the wizard, had somehow outpaced you, the fighter, in a climbing competition."

Verin wrinkled his nose at that. "Well, my brother cheated."

"I did not cheat, thank you very much!" He huffed indignantly and crossed his arms. "You didn't say 'no magic' before we started."

He stared at Essek for a few moments. "It's you," he whispered.

"Obviously."

Verin dropped the wizard on the ground and looked over at his brother; really looked. The man looked nothing like the one he had known for most of his life. His hair was longer than it had ever been since he'd cut it off and his bare feet were touching the ground. His clothes were casual, a simple tunic and trousers. After this day, Verin knew for a fact that not even Essek's trancing clothes were that informal, and yet his brother looked more comfortable in them in another's house than he had in decades. On top of that, he kept glancing over to Widogast. And smiling. Essek was smiling.

No, this man looked nothing like the one Verin had known for nearly a century. But he looked a lot like his brother.

"You're alive," he said stupidly.

"Yes, of course I am," Essek said, as if Verin hadn't just attended his funeral.

It felt only right to tell him so: "Why are you alive? I was at your funeral."

"That's a long story," he sighed and floated onto one of the chairs that were slightly too tall for him. He accepted a cup of tea from Clay with thanks and turned back to Verin. "Why are you here?"

"Well, that's a pretty long story, too," Jester spoke up. "He kind of started freaking out about your earrings, I think? And he was crying and looking pretty awful and everything, right Caleb?"

"I, ah— didn't think he'd believe us if we told him about you," Caleb said. "So, we had agreed beforehand to bring him here, in case of an emergency."

"He thought we were lying," Clay added.

"I suppose it is my story to tell," Essek said. "Earrings, Verin?"

"They're your favourite," Verin said stupidly and held them out to him.

His face grew soft. "Oh," he said as he took them gingerly, "I didn't know that you kne—"

Before he could overthink and do something stupid like stop himself, he surged forward and enveloped his brother in a tight hug. After a moment Essek closed his arms around him, too.

It seemed so unreal, to be able to hold him after mourning him for what felt like years. All the worries, all the grief and anger that had crushed him in the past few weeks and for what? For the bastard to still be alive after all. It wasn't fair. Why had he had to go through all of that? And why did he feel the pressing urge to start crying again? He should be happy, shouldn't he, that his brother wasn't dead. So why did it make him feel so awful?

"I think this is our cue to leave," Fjord said. Verin felt his brother nod and heard the Mighty Nein shuffle out of the kitchen, the door closing behind them with a creak. 

Only then, Essek spoke up. "Verin," he asked quietly, "are you crying?"

"Shut up," he mumbled through the thick fog of tears and snot, definitely not crying. "I hate you, Essek. Do you know what I went through?" 

"Meeting the Mighty Nein? Yes, I can imagine."

"They're horrible," he complained. "They're loud and they're rude and they had absolutely no respect for any of your belongings! I thought I was going mad."

"They are. They also are my friends, you know."

"How?" he asked agonised.

"I know they don't look like it, but they are surprisingly capable. And I am sure that you've noticed most of them to be annoyingly charming. But I think their absolute worst traits are their infinite stubbornness and perseverance. They quite literally did not leave me alone until they had befriended me."

Verin glanced up at him questioningly. "And were half in love with the wizard?" he guessed.

Essek scowled darkly, a faint blush colouring his cheeks. "Perhaps."

He snorted and disentangled himself from their embrace. Very calmly he said: "You're a liar." 

Essek looked genuinely startled at that. "What?"

"You said, you trusted me more than him. Why then, did he know and I didn't?"

"It's... complicated," he said.

"You wizards say that a lot."

"Verin." Essek closed his eyes. "I trust you. Implicitly. And I care about you. Which is why I chose not to burden you with the knowledge of my misdeeds. I didn't— I didn't want to put you in an impossible situation to choose between me and our queen."

He laughed nervously. "What on earth are you talking about? I mean, you didn't commit treason or anything."

Essek didn't answer, avoiding eye-contact instead.

"Right?"

Still, Essek kept stubbornly quiet.

"Oh," Verin breathed. He took a moment trying to reconcile what he knew about his brother with the fact that he was apparently a traitor. It all fit together ridiculously easy. "The beacons."

Essek looked up at him in shock and he knew he had hit the mark. "What?"

"You stole the beacons." Now that he thought about it, it made perfect sense. Essek had been studying them at the time, one of the only people with frequent access to them. He had always been fascinated by them, yet his theories had been rejected for their heretic nature. As Shadowhand, he had also regular contact with counterparts from the Empire, albeit not officially. Then, a few years after Essek’s research had been denied, they had vanished. How had he never seen this before?

"Oh Essek...," he said softly.

"No, please— I don’t—Please don’t—” He seemed to deflate, curling in on himself. “I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you, I—”

"I don't care,” Verin interrupted his frantic ramblings.

"What?" Essek looked up at him, looking just as shocked as Verin felt.

“I don’t care,” he repeated, realising that it was true the moment the words left his mouth. For how could he care about something as trivial as treason when Essek was sitting right in front of him, alive and well. "You're my brother, I don't care. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe in a year. Maybe in ten. Right now, I only care that you're alive."

“I—What—I don’t—” Essek stuttered, lifting and then lowering his hands a few times. “I don’t know how— If I can—Fuck.”

There was a joke on the tip of his tongue, but even he knew that this wasn’t the right time for it. Essek was obviously trying to tell him something and it took him a minute to decipher that strange behaviour. “Are you asking for a hug?” he hazarded a guess.

An agonised expression passed over his face and for a moment Verin thought there were tears gathering in his brother’s eyes. Surely not. “I don’t know if I may. I don’t mean to overstep—”

Without further ado, Verin stepped forward and gathered a yelping Essek up and squeezed him tightly. “Of course you may!” he assured him, awkwardly patting his shaking shoulders. “I love you, Essek. I am very glad that you’re alive.”

“I’m very glad to see you, too,” Essek answered and squeezed him a little tighter.

[goingmorry]

Hello! Can you write monster trio reaction to someone flirting with their crush? Please ☀💛

[One Piece Headcanons] Monster Trio -> when someone flirts with their crush

Characters: Luffy, Zoro, Sanji Tags: female reader, jealous boys Author's Note: Thank you for the request! I love me some jealous boys. There's something about it that just hits right with me. 💖

MONKEY D. LUFFY

One clueless boi.

Figures out that he has a crush on you when he explains how he feels about you to Usopp.

Doesn't quite know how to express his feelings for you in a way that you'll understand.

Interrupts the other person from flirting with you.

"Hey, I found you!"

Barging in from god knows where, Luffy interrupts the man's playful antics by sandwiching himself in the tight space between you and the stranger.

Caught off-guard, the flirtatious man begins to shove the pirate captain away from his face, resulting in Luffy's muscular torso squeezing against your much softer one. The feel of his solid body against yours is enough to cause you to blush, prompting you to create some distance by pushing him away to the side.

"Listen, pal—" the man begins, about to give the straw hat pirate a piece of his mind for violating your personal space, but not before getting rudely interrupted again.

"Who's this guy?"

"An acquaintance," you pipe up instantly in response to your captain's inquiry, omitting the piece of information where this stranger spent the last twenty minutes hitting on you.

Apologizing for your captain's childish behavior, you give him a brief rundown of who precisely the straw hat-wearing pirate is.

"I'll call him porcupine from now on," Luffy says, pleased with the nickname given to the man sitting across from you, "Since he has spiky brown hair that reminds me of a porcupine!"

"I appreciate you taking the time to ask me out," you address the stranger, grabbing hold of Luffy's stretchy arm in the process, "But I don't think this is gonna work."

Pleased with the way events were unfolding, Luffy flashes you a toothy grin to which you cock an eyebrow in response.

"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"I-I don't know what you mean," he says, puckering his lips to the side. A telltale sign of an obvious lie.

You can't help but feel ridiculous for having a crush on the most insufferable pirate captain in all of existence, hoping that he, too, feels the same way as you do.

RORONOA ZORO

Only recently comes to terms with his feelings for you.

Hasn't figured out how he'll confess.

After all, romantic love is uncharted territory for him.

Won't really do anything unless he feels that you're in danger.

Pretends to be preoccupied with something else; ends up eavesdropping on your conversation with the flirtatious individual.

Inwardly though, he's more bothered than he lets on.

"Hey, I was wondering if you'd like to grab a coffee with me? I'd love to show you around town," the man says to you earnestly.

The sound of steel clashing against metal echoes loudly enough to startle people, their heads swiveling toward the origin of the noise.

In the corner of the room, the one-eyed swordsman sits upright, body tense in concentration while meticulously polishing Wado Ichimonji, one of his three signature blades.

Zoro ignores the curious looks thrown his way, focused instead on your interaction with the man in front of you.

The stranger's proposal was genuine enough. Objectively, he was undoubtedly an attractive man. Friendly and polite too from your conversations with him throughout the night.

He just... wasn't your type.

You were more interested in rougher-looking men. Someone who was strong but would never abuse their strength to harm the weak. Someone who was stoic but also had a heart of gold. Someone like—

Zoro glances in your direction, seeing the hesitation on your face in accepting the man's offer.

"Sorry, I don't think I can make it. I promised to do something with a friend," you explain, settling with a half-assed excuse for fear of confrontation.

It wasn't exactly a lie, not really. You did have plans to retrieve some supplies with a certain green-haired swordsman, though they weren't until much later in the day. But this man didn't need to know that.

Zoro wouldn't mind if you used him as an excuse.

The Pirate Hunter's shoulders relax considerably at your statement, switching his attention from you back to his current task.

Face expressing his disappointment at your rejection, the man's posture visibly deflates. "Maybe the next day then?" he adds as an afterthought.

Biting your lip guiltily, you shake your head, stray hair falling across your forehead. "Sorry, I can't. Our crew is leaving tomorrow night."

"Damn," the man says, scratching the back of his head in awkwardness before adopting a fake smile — one you choose to let slide. "I'm gonna miss you. After all, it's not every day that I get to meet such a fine young lady with the guts to traverse the terrors of the Grand Line. You take care of yourself, all right?"

"You flatter me," you giggle, cheeks tinged pink at the man's sincere compliment, "And likewise."

At the sound of your unrestrained laughter, Zoro pauses, deeply craving for the moment that he, too, becomes the recipient of your happiness.

SANJI

The person who flirts with you, his precious lady, better prepare for some ass-whooping.

Technically, Sanji can't call you his — not yet — though he has been thinking of the perfect way to confess to you.

Still, even though you're not officially together, he'll never not be feral when you're involved.

Deliberating for a few seconds before gesturing toward you, the stranger places his order with the barkeep and says, "And anything the pretty lady desires."

Pointer finger circling the rim of your shot glass in consideration, you smile at the stranger in gratitude. "In that case, I'll take another round then."

Exchanging a round of pleasantries and small talk, you and the stranger become reasonably familiar with one another.

Familiar enough to know that this man would rather whisk you away to a more private setting than converse with you under the public's watchful eye.

"I know of a better way we can spend the night together," he murmurs suggestively, low enough for you to hear despite the idle chatter in the background.

"Do you now?"

You weren't returning his flirtatious words, but you weren't exactly declining them either until you spot a tuft of blond hair in the corner of your vision, striding toward you with purpose.

When Sanji arrives, he's gushing praise and amorous advances, all for you. Ignored and uncomfortable with watching another man proclaim his underlying love and devotion to you, your newfound drinking buddy clears his throat to get your attention, earning a scornful glare from the cook.

"Who's this shitty and rude bastard?"

Unsurprising to you, Sanji doesn't even try to act civil. Your drinking buddy, however, is astonished by the cook's open hostility, holding up his hands in mock surrender.

Sanji doesn't buy the man's innocent charade, one eye squinting in distrust as he presses on, "I asked you a question."

Leaving out his invitation to you for more lewd nightly activities, your drinking buddy settles for a half-truth, "Just a guy she met at the bar."

Amused with the blond's jealous streak, you decide to cut in before things escalate beyond your control, "Any particular reason you're here, Sanji?"

At the sweet lull of your voice calling his name, the cook resumes his lovestruck behavior with a hint of seriousness when he whispers the sobering news to you, "Marines were recently spotted in town. We're leaving, my dear."

Seizing the opportunity, Sanji offers his hand, palm up, for you to take, and the significance of his action is not lost to you.

You recall his strict policy for only using his hands for cooking — how, as a child, Sanji found solace from abuse by preparing meals for his sickly mother, sparking his lifelong interest in the culinary arts.

Touched, you place your hand in his, a picture-perfect rendition of a prince charming whisking away his lovely bride-to-be. You tell him exactly that, and he graces you with an amused chuckle and a soft smile.

If only people knew the real reason you and him were fleeing the scene.

"Let me be your Mr. Prince then."

Your delicate hand dwarfs in comparison to his larger one, but that doesn't stop you from interlocking your fingers together like two intimate lovers.

Neither one of you says anything else, coming to the same silent conclusion that your growing feelings for each other would have to be addressed sometime soon.