#thing across all of them. so eventually she would gain far more and be able to do it

[be-good-to-bugs]

im normal about my fav little guys

[violetasteracademic]

A Court of Twisted Fate: Multi Chapter Elriel Fic

Summary:

After nearly losing both her sisters once again, Elain Archeron decides to take the growth of her powers into her own hands. Things may not be going as she would have hoped, but when the Crown is stolen, it is finally time for Elain to serve her court and show her family what she can do. The search for the Crown winds up being a job for the seer and the shadowsinger, the male she has fallen for but barely spoken to after an unrequited wish for a kiss. Azriel has been careful to stay away from Elain, trying his best to follow his High Lord's orders. But as they are forced to work together to protect their court, his resolve begins fading more quickly than he can manage. As they search for the Crown, they become trapped in a castle of treachery, vengeance, and twisted fates. If they cannot find their way out of it, they risk becoming lost there forever, or killed. And if they can't keep their hands off each other, they might finally have to face the mountain of obstacles standing in their way at the home that awaits them.

Warnings: Eventual smut and spice

Chapter One Preview: 2,006 words

Elain

Elain Archeron gritted her teeth as silken shafts of sunlight broke through the heavy veil of twilight. She could not tell if it was morning mist or sweat that clung to her lashes as she panted, suddenly overwhelmed with urgency as the light warmed her skin.

No one questioned her on the mornings she departed the river house hours before dawn, claiming she had to start on her work earlier and earlier as the roster of Velaris citizens whose gardens she tended to grew longer and longer.

It was all true enough. She had grown close to her ever-increasing number of gardening clients. Many would often stop to chat and let her know how the blooms were faring as she strode arm in arm with her sisters, Nyx cradled on one of their hips, through the streets of Velaris. This made her story quite believable and easily accounted for.

What she lied about was exactly when she started her workday. And what she was doing in the early hours of the morning. So early the blooms still slept soundly, not yet ready to stretch awake in the sun and be tended to.

Once the first light broke across the horizon every morning, anxiety gnawed at the edges of her mind. She was always a little bit terrified that someone might decide to come check on the townhouse garden one morning and find her there, eyes closed and waving her hands along the ground like a madwoman.

Focus, Elain, she chided herself. Focus.

She listened. She watched. She felt.

The worm she narrowed her sight on came closer and closer to the surface, and Elain readied her small garden shovel.

Velarian earthworms were fully regenerative. She knew that getting it wrong, that being off in her timing and accidentally slicing the poor creature in half would not kill it. But still, it poked little holes in her heart to do such harm. That, and it was another sign of her failure.

Elain’s vision had always worked in peculiar, specific ways. One being that it worked at a distance. Whether it be the distance of time or location, Elain had never been able to see what was right under her nose. Another was that she was not able to control what visions came to her. She had no say in what she saw and when. She could often easily find information when asked but… everything else came in fits and starts, with no rhyme or reason to it.

There were so many things she should have been able to prevent since gaining her sight.

Her father’s death. Briallyn infiltrating the Blood Rite, nearly killing Cassian and Nesta. Nyx, Feyre, and Rhys and their brush with death. Azriel…

No. She would not think about Azriel. There were far greater risks that she needed to be able to detect other than her own bruised heart. She had survived such a thing before, and she would survive it again.

The safety of her court and her family was what mattered most.

So many threats… she wondered if they would ever stop.

And so, she practiced with the earthworms. She tried to cast her sight into the ground and watched as they wriggled their way up.

Time continued to be the issue. If she tracked a worm, and dug her shovel to find nothing there, she had no way of knowing if it was because that worm had not even been born yet and was hundreds of years into the future, or if it was a smaller, slighter miscalculation. For all she knew, she wasn’t seeing anything with her power at all. She may have spent every morning staring at the ground, imagining worms that were merely a product of her desperate mind and in no way an indication of her power.

There was no one to teach her. No one to help her. No other seers that could offer guidance or help her understand.

The answers she had found in the library at the House of Wind yielded disappointing results. Seers where historically kept in the employ of kings and queens and High Lords, treated as oracles. Kept hidden from the world and doomed to a life of predicting the future for anyone who dared ask. Seers, it seemed, lived solely for others. The stories and legends never once seemed to focus on the life of the seers beyond their servitude.

Did they have wants and wishes? Did they dream? Did they… fall in love?

Or had they lived nothing more than a shell of a life? A ghost, a vessel. Watching so many lives and futures unfold over and over again in their minds until they entirely lost sight of the fact that they once were someone. That they, too, had a heart that beat.

Elain heard so many heartbeats. How long until she could no longer determine the cadence of her own among the chorus?

And while she could not confirm it in her research, there didn’t appear to be any indication seers predicted or tried to affect their own future. They simply answered what they were asked. Elain had found that to be true of her own power so far. When Feyre asked her to look for the Suriel, or when Azriel asked deeper questions about Vassa and Koschei, she was able to find the information they asked for without any prior knowledge of how to do so. It was intuitive to find what others needed.

And yet she had questions of her own that needed answers.

She wanted to protect everyone she had ever loved from harm. She wanted a life of her own. A choice in where her life would lead.

And somehow, when she tried to guide herself in the solitude of this garden, she always drew up empty.

She stared at the ground. She tried to feel the worm move as she touched the earth.

Please, she begged silently. Please work today.

She dug her shovel deep into the earth, her eyes pinched closed.

She crumbled the soil in her hand, her lungs stilled in her chest.

Elain slowly peeled her eyes open, her heart hammering and thudding.

Please.

The soil broke down into smaller and smaller sediment, until it all fell from her hands.

Empty.

She bit back a sob as tears began to prick her eyes.

Elain gripped her small shovel and began digging furiously in the soil, desperate for any sign she was close. That she was getting somewhere.

“Please,” she cried aloud this time. Her cheeks heated as she tried to swallow her anguish. She tossed the shovel aside, digging with her bare hands into the earth. She dug and dug until her fingers grew raw and aching. She could not stop the torrent of tears that had broken free from her eyes.

Empty. All of the dirt- completely empty.

She pressed her lips into the crook of her elbow to muffle a heart-piercing scream.

Her hair suddenly began to lift from her face and shoulders, blown this way and that as a cedar and night chilled mist scented wind rushed in. She stiffened, quickly reaching to brush the wet tears from her face. But she halted just in time, realizing her hands and dress sleeves were so thoroughly coated with mud and soil that trying to clear the wet trails staining her cheeks would only serve to make matters worse.

Elain tried to slow her breathing as Azriel appeared before her, eyes boring into her own.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. She was too shocked to see him.

She had to stop herself from falling into that old habit of trying to read him. To see and feel all the words he kept hidden behind that stone cold demeanor. The thoughts tried to rush forward and flood her mind regardless of her attempt to squash them. The slight dilation of his pupils. The tightening of his jaw. A quick, near imperceptible flare of his cobalt siphons.

She shoved the thoughts away. Tried to bury them in the earth beneath her hands, then straightened her back and lifted her chin indignantly.

“What are you doing here?” She couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting to his mouth as his lips pursed.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he replied coolly.

An ice-cold chill sluiced through her stomach, and her skin paled. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone about the work she had been doing in an attempt to master her powers.

She could have sworn a flicker of guilt flashed across Azriel’s eyes before he said, “I��m here for you.”

The words washed over Elain and the tips of her ears nearly caught fire. Her heart thrashed against her ribcage so violently she was certain Azriel could hear it.

Breathe, she commanded herself. Breathe.

She hadn’t been alone with Azriel in months. Her breath halted as he stepped closer, his eyes darting across her face and down to her hands. To the holes she was digging before she broke apart.

I’m here for you. Was he…

“You are needed at the river house immediately,” he clarified.

“Oh.” The icy water sloshing around Elain’s stomach turned solid, and she dipped her head to hide her mortified flush.

He wasn’t here for her. Not in the way she had hoped. Not in the way she needed.

He was here to retrieve her. That was all.

Foolish. Foolish. Foolish.

“Alright,” she said, brushing the muddy soil caking her hands on her skirts.

Azriel extended a scarred hand to help her up, and she briefly considered not taking it. The last time their skin touched she had nearly gone out of her mind with desire. She had pushed him. Like a woman possessed, she wanted… she needed him to keep touching her. And he…

Well, he hadn’t wanted to.

And he stayed far away from her ever since.

She stared and stared at his hand. Despite her deep embarrassment and shame over how terribly she had wrecked her friendship with Azriel, she could not wave him away.

She knew what it meant to him. She knew how it hurt him when others turned away from his hands. She would not let her own insecurities damage him. She took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders, and placed her palm in his.

For a moment, there was a warm familiar spark that had Elain’s skin briefly humming. But Azriel tensed, tightening his grip on her so tightly that she winced and pulled away.

“Sorry,” he murmured, not meeting her gaze. He briefly rubbed his neck, unable to hide a slight grimace.

“It’s fine,” she replied, rubbing her palm and trying not to show her utter devastation. “I can get up on my own. I…” her voice caught in her throat. “I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable around me.”

She began to push herself off the ground, dusting her dress as well as she could as she moved.

“Elain, that isn’t…”

“It’s fine,” she said again as she waved her hand. “Just give me a moment to clean up.”

Azriel nodded tightly. Elain tried not to let her heart sink right into the ground as she began to smooth over the unsightly holes in the ground with the toe of her slipper. Anxiety sank its claws into her mind as Azriel stood stiff muscled behind her.

She hated herself for making him so on edge.

Although she had clearly misinterpreted the meaning of it, she knew that what she and Azriel had shared together was special. The peace and comfort they used to find in each other… that was not imagined. It was real. And maybe… maybe with time they could have it again someday. As friends.

Once she stopped loving him.

Once he could stand being alone without fear she would try to cross another line.

Time. It just needed time. Her garden, her powers, her friendship with Azriel… time would improve it all.

Click here to read the rest of chapter one on AO3!

[dork-a-doodle]

Cringe is dead and I’m redesigning my old UT/DR OC/Self-Insert: Echo (she/they)

Info dump about them below the cut!

So I originally made them in the wake of Deltarune’s release, when the whole “we, the players, are possessing Kris 😱” thing was very fresh and the whole Undertale Multiverse was still going strong. So naturally they started out as basically a self insert, the version of me that played Undertale and later Deltarune.

So a quick rundown of their lore (btw I make no apologies for the Mary Sue aspects of this):

They originally controlled Frisk, doing several different Runs, endlessly curious about the world

At the end of their most recent True Pacifist they find their way back in the True Lab and into a part of it they hadn’t seen before

While exploring they accidentally activated a machine from before Alphys’s time and get Gastered

…kind of

Instead of being fully “shattered across space and time” they’re just… slightly fractured across space and time

Tbh I like to think of it like they got hurled full force at the 4th wall and got stuck in it like jello

Not really breaking the 4th wall so much as jiggling it aggressively and gaining an new kind of perspective

This had some interesting consequences, including (but not limited to):

separating from Frisk (who runs out of the Lab in fear) and gaining a physical form of their own

the ability to slip into different universes at a whim

the inability to talk normally, now effectively “speaking” in text box noises (lmao get Animal Crossing-ed idiot) and thus can’t be understood by most people (with a few exceptions)

the ability to posses objects and other people (which they do feel the need to sometimes as their true form is off putting to most, though they try not to possess people if they can help it)

others probably? haven’t quite figured that out yet

Which these newfound abilities, they decide to explore the multiverse and see all the interesting things it has to offer

But first, they decide they want a traveling companion, so they don’t get lonely

And they know the perfect candidate, someone who understands what it’s like to have unfathomable power and the want to explore all possibilities with that power for your own entertainment and curiosity’s sake

Someone who really doesn’t have anything left to seek in this world

And damn it if Flowey isn’t very interested in that offer

This arrangement is a strangely balanced symbiosis

For Flowey:

traveling the multiverse gives him a kind of clean slate he could never achieve on his own, especially with the loss of his reset powers

the multiverse is also very interesting and fun to explore

they know what he’s been through and what kind of a person that’s made him better than anyone else. they understand it, and they know to judge him for it would be hypocritical

For Echo:

so long as Flowey is attached to them in some capacity he can understand their strange “speech” and frequently acts as a translator (they are also learning sign language to ease that burden)

he’s far more experienced in battle and frequently acts as protection in more aggressive universes

re: the point about mutual understanding

Flowey is also unable to absorb their soul, which means his power over them is limited and if he crosses a line they’re fully able to ditch is ass in any universe they want

It’s notable that while Echo’s curiosity can occasionally override their morality, they’re still more inclined to chose the kinder option

I consider them to be chaotic neutral, leaning towards chaotic good

(I also personally see Flowey as somewhere between true neutral and chaotic neutral, occasionally slipping into chaotic evil. What can I say, he’s a nuanced guy)

Anyway, they travel the multiverse together, experiencing new things, seeing interesting sights, causing chaos

Eventually they find themselves in the Deltarune side of the multiverse

The universe they end up in is one where the entity possessing Kris is an incredibly malevolent one

Or I should say, the entity that was supposed to be possessing Kris

As Echo senses the Bad Vibes approaching this random human child, they say “absolutely the fuck not” and possess Kris themself to block the entity

This does mean they have to drop Flowey to do this, so he’s just kinda in the background for the time being

From there it’s basically just Chapter 1 until the point when Kris rips out the soul and goes to eat some pie

While they’re distracted, Flowey climbs in and breaks open the cage so Echo can unpossess the soul and leave now that the malicious entity is gone

They do decide to stick around and check out these Dark Worlds

Luckily for them, while they were busy dealing with the classroom Dark World, Flowey took the time to explore the town and found this perfectly good empty vessel that someone seems to have discarded

Deciding not to question it, they possess the vessel and wait for a new Dark World to open so they can explore it together

And that’s the basics of their story (or as much of it as I have ironed out lol). Hopefully this hyperfixation stays with me cuz I’d love to explore their character a lot more 😁

[absolutely-normal-about-x]

Can you tell me about this fabled Zelda/Megaman crossover? I am very curious because there's not a lot out there

Ah hahahah that Au, funny enough I was working on that a while back never really showed it to anyone cause of idk. But I maybe I can dump a bit about it haha. :)

So it obviously set BOTW universe cause it’s basically where I have the most freedom/flexibility with it *Looks at the Shekath tech and the Zonai*

It’s meant to be a loose adaptation of the story of BOTW but with X characters living in that world and what their Races would be so *Whips out le list*

An important note I tried to keep their origins from their main canon close but with my own personal flare into it (you can piece things together lmao)

X- “Hylian” (Cause he ain’t really a Hylian lmao) has a unique connection to the Zonai. Was found by Cain, an archaeologist that studies ancient Sheikah tech and the history of Hyrule. While he was researching the lost ruins. But discovers a shrine (Basically proto Shrine of resurrection). Accidentally awakens him from his unknown slumber with no memories of his past, but only a letter of his old name. Is taken in as his adopted grandson, both of them live in Hateno Village.

Hes still a pacifistic sweetheart, that has a great passion for science and history (Becoming Purah’s apprentice), but also an impressive mechanic as he was able to reverse engineer sheikah technology (and by extension eventually Zonai) to create his gadgets, he wanted to protect innocent people from threats okay-. The buster was very much in its prototype phase (that becomes completed into the Zonai Buster in TOTK) as he works on it throughout his journey across hyrule.

He’s also shown to be somewhat abnormal for a Hylian, despite his smaller chubby size he is shown to be and have strange dark blue-ish spots around skin, and horns slightly protruding out from his head and a strange symbol on his forehead

Zero: A half Gerudo, half Dweller (Basically a chimera created by a Wily) a powerful swords man. That roams the gerudo dessert after being discovered/Awakened by the Yiga Clan (and if you know how Zero first acted in prior joining the hunters you know you know). Roamed the Gerudo dessert for god knows long and being pacified/watched over by the Gerudo tribe. Who’s trying to find someone important to him from the vivid memories that he holds on.

“Something completely unnatural and yet…natural the embodiment of destruction that choose to be a hero”

Are you may know X and Zero were the proto Zelda and Link from 10,000 years ago (After the sealing way their backstories are be eh entwined ur honor) so the basic g

Axl: Korok (LET ME COOK LET ME COOK OKAY?!) we know that Korok’s used to be low key shapeshifters and such. He rediscovers that lost ability so he can interact with Hylians and leave Deku Forest to learn more of the world. So I want o lean into that as a bonus he tries to recover the masks (ya know the ones Majoras Mask :3). It’s also like funnier to see a smoll Korok being capable of kicking butt and still being a deadly sharpshooter.

Marty- Zora (she’s from a different Zora’s Domain like Yoma, she’s a shark Zora) coming from a far off Sea, she ended up on Hyrule during her travels accidentally gets tangled up in the mess but goes along with it for the thrills. But also to help out the people the hyrule (she’s the first companion that X gains)

Marino- Sheikah, left her village to pursue as a thief, def has beef with the Yiga. Basically stealing what the they stole from her people. Low key

Massimo- Goron, THE BIGGEST SOFTIE, but also the soft spoken and timid (Yunboo’s big brother maybe??)

Cinnamon- Rito a Dove cause she has that vibe yo- but still she’ll be the cutest Dove man. Also probably the first Rito to gain healing magic called Gentle Winds.

So basically the plot

“X and his grandfather were living peacefully in their village of Hateno, working in his grandfather’s workshop and small library. But not all things are well as X is haunted by nightmares of a forgotten past and calls for help from an unknown girl calling out to someone to defeat “The calamity” (Hi Zelda). The increase onslaught of monsters were starting to be a concern him as he goes off to a journey, along the way he meets friends and goes alike and soon discovers buried secrets that lay deep in the Ruins of Hyrule”

Link’s there too since the story takes place roughly around the first BOTW. But Events are separate from one another since Zonai stuff and the Depths is sorta of a bigger focus!

That’s what I can say for now it’s kinda some brain storming stuff but it’s fun ya know-

[ashcoveredtraveler]

My AU and fic designs for Pale King and White Lady (Along with backstory under the cut)

Let us start off with the White Lady. While she doesn't remember it, but has some recollection and knowledge of it, she started off as some sort of fluffy seed. A seed that can float in the wind and go far and wide. She landed in a canyon near a stream where she grew.

The canyon didn't get any sort of sun but that didn't matter to the White Lady as her species wasn't made to absorb the sun. She is pale and lacks chlorophyll. However, she needed a lot more nutrients in the ground, and even though there was a stream and soil it was only enough for her to grow enough to realize that she couldn't stay in that spot forever, so she unrooted herself and made the argus journey to somewhere safe.

Luckily for her, she metabolized way slower, that's why she's thick. But she moved so slowly. She came across some pockets of life, but it wasn't sustainable for her and left before she used up all of the nutrients so the pockets could recover for others. By the time she reached maturity, she made it to the Howling Cliffs. She made it to livable lands that could sustain her and others.

She was able to make her way to a pocket of greenery, but there was one issue. She was going to another god's lands. She would be stronger than Unn but she was so weak from her travels that she would be no match for the slug. She dredged her way to the very south of Unns land and tried to gain her strength there.

Many bugs didn't give her kindness in the area. She was in Unns land, and everyone there was worshipers of Unn. There would be no reason for another god to be on their god's land. She kept herself isolated as she slowly gained strength. His roots grew throughout and felt the land around her.

Eventually her roots picked up something strange on the other side of this livable land. She only saw paths of this creature created among her journey here and she knew it was a Wyrm. Out of curiosity she unroots herself and goes to the edge of the land.

The Pale King was born in the wastelands with his litter. He was raised by his father along with his siblings while the mother went off to find more mates, as there is a sex ratio of 1:10 making more males than females. Some one needs to train and take care of the young so that wyrms could actually live.

Once they were old enough to travel far, they left the nest and went on to see the wastes together. One day after a hunting session with his father, they came across a tiny kingdom. His father taught him that lesser and smaller bugs would only be useful to put in their thralls if there was a massive amount of them for them to accomplish massive tasks which the wyrms could find useful. However since they came across a small kingdom that isn't enough to eat or to put under their thrall, so they left.

This even sparked PK's interest in lesser insects. Not bugs that he could eat or make into slaves, but bugs that can be his servant and do things he is unable to do.

Once all of the siblings reached maturity, PK went the complete opposite direction of any wyrm trail and away from everything. He wanted to see more bugs, more kingdoms. Maybe even make his Kingdom?

He wandered and saw many livable lands, but they were either too small or didn't have what he was looking for. He eventually came across a steep cliff side. The sun rarely shined here and it occasionally snowed. But on the opposite side of the cliff he could feel life. He could feel potential.

He then started crafting his new body within him. He knew that it would be nearly impossible to rule with a body like his, so he needed to downsize. He wandered around the edge of the land. He was losing energy, trying to make a body for himself, so he was weak. Suddenly he was ensnared in pale roots.

The WL and PK's introduction was a misunderstanding. WL thought that PK was slowing himself down to put her guard down so he could attack her. PK explained his situation and story and he ensnared WL with his words. He knew that he would be extremely weak once he was reborn, so he begged for the WL to take care of him.

She did and then this was a start of an alliance, which turns into friendship then a partnership.

[ohnowthatsfowl]

KFP 2 : Firefeather au

Because why not

I figured out Mwamei and Shen's ship name, which is Firefeather (following firework theming and both of them being birds)

Anyway, warnings ig.

OcXcannon based AU, Selfship themes, Story changes (duh), Possibly sterotypical backstory writing (since we don't get enough of it), OP hasn't watched fourth movie yet and has heard its absolute garbadge, OP is lacking lore for the first movie bear with her, OP is not trying to justify character actions, AU mostly focuses in giving shen more context than "child started making b0mbs in his room".

Click here for Mwamei (oc) lore Its only a quick skim, but it gets her point across.

Anyway, for some Firefeather!Shen lore.

Shen in this AU is born albino (since i dont think it was confirmed that he is)

As a result of being born albino, his parents decided to help him out by getting his feathers permanitly dyed with his favorite color at the time (red), dying a pattern of his choice.

Despite the lack of attention he would get from his parents doing their diplomats duty, Shen didn't seem to mind (being undignosed ASPD)

Thankfully most were able to teach him in his formative age what was proper manners and morals...But that didn't mean he would follow them all the time.

Due to being born with Albinism, he wasbullied lightly and teased. though, that wasn't the worst thing.

When he was concidered a freshmen in his schooling, a fireworks festival was held, and he got to light one...Though it backfired, and took out his legs. Such prompted more bullying, causing his grades to drop.

Though he was very anti-social, he didn't actually think his parents cared enough about him...Well, since he didn't know them. He thought he had to please them, and get their attention, despite the fact the only thing in the way of their relationship was the peacock higharky being extreamly selfless to thousands

So, while they continued dealing with city issues, Shen continued watching his grades drop because of his bullying, begining a spiral,

The spiral soon lead to him begining to make bombs, though on accsident at first, he enjoys the attention he was finally getting from his parents.

Until the prophecy.

The prophecy scared him. Not just scared, him, but terrified him. He didn't know when he was going to die, where he was going to die- hell the existentialism gave him a panic attack alone.

Thinking he had nothing left to loose, he decided he would kill whatever could be made into his oponent. Pandas.

Though, he didn't do much research. So his attempt at forced extinction only ended in the pillage of a simple village. Though, it was a bloody one, and he did it without thinking.

when he arrived home, he thought his parents would recognize him for fixing his problem-

but it only gained him negative attention. so, he was banished. Though it broke his parents, he didn't know, simply because he really didn't know who his parents really were.

Now, in movie lore.

Mwamei is a notorious criminal in gongmen city, though the athorities had compleatly stopped dealing with her and jailing her. As much adressing went, they would provide anybody who was beat up with free medical and such payments.

Though, when Shen came to power, he couldn't sleep due to her noise. So, he arrested her to be tried in front of him. She was scentenced to life in prison from her multiple offenses, but it didn't last long. She attemped escape over 20 times, and was sucsessful, as she always made it to the throne.

Eventually, Shen decided the only way to teach her...well anything, was to make her his bodygard. So far, they stand as villanous (sort of) parralels to Tigris and Po. Though, it takes a little bit in the movie for Shen to realize he's getting attatched.

During the final battle sequence, Mwamei ends up passing out due to the fight, right before Shen was supposed to seal his fate. The other furious 5 and po would watch as Mwamei and Shen would have a nice moment while she wakes up after her little moment of unconciousness.

After the movie, maybe during a final scene, Mwamei ends up confessing while they have a nice moment on a balcony somewhere outside of gonghem (because Shen is still banned.)

Since i haven't watched movie 4, i do want to rewrite it as a sort of half-redemption ark to Shen, where the best he can do is try to apologize to po and the furious 5 by trying to help beat the other villans. (and possibly a past version of himself.)

I may update this, but i'll tag it <3

Splitter source: cafe kitsune

[monty-glasses-roxy]

Ah fuck it whatever

There's something I love about the new Consequences AU and how it compares to the AUs and music it's come from.

Where things like Roxy's old kingdom being destroyed and her being almost drowned as a baby are metaphorical, there's a lot of things that strangely aren't. Roxy specifically denying the gods and the powers that be is something she does in most of my interpretations of her. The gods in most situations, isn't a spooky green rabbit, it's the people in the Fazbear boardroom making the world's worst decisions ever. To the animatronics, they are the gods. There's no higher authority than them, and they can have them destroyed without ever having met them, at just a moment's notice, for seemingly no reason.

Bonnie once believing in the gods and turning against them works like it does for most of the animatronics too. Even just questioning Fazbear isn't something many of them have been able to do, but all of them will eventually learn to. The more they learn through Roxy, despite what they might have known before, the more they realise what kind of company they've been forced to be a part of.

And Roxy's attitude towards these gods is always the same. She won't pretend to be nice to people she knows don't care about her. She won't put any extra effort into maintaining social etiquette if there's no point, if there's nothing for her to gain from it. Fazbear CEOs and board members have hurt her so much already, she doesn't give a flying shit about them, she's not wasting her time on them unless she absolutely has to. In this universe, the same can be said about the gods. She doesn't care for them and they don't care about her, so why bother? They've told like six people to assassinate her already, why would she choose to listen to them?

Roxy's relationship with the Minis and DJ? That's the same as it is across the board with most of the AUs I have. The attempt on Roxy's life when she's barely been born is shown differently in the new AU, but is still the same concept. Some things have been shifted around, such as the specific motivations, but not by a lot. I suppose Bonnie's dad in this fills the roll of Vanessa if Vanessa was also actually Mimic? He doesn't have an exact match here in terms of scale, but the comparisons are there.

The whole kingdom being destroyed, Roxy finding out that that's where she originally came from, that she was the newborn prince with a wholeass family she's never known, all lines up so well with everything else too. The pizzeria, scrapped storage, the old attractions there before her racetrack, it's all gone and she knew nothing about it. She's once again found out the truth in possibly the worst way imagineable, and she doesn't know what to do with this information, but honestly, who would?

The biggest difference there is that in this new AU, Roxy has the choice of what to do. In what's basically canon to the game, Roxy doesn't have that choice and likely never will. Where she's had to sacrifice her Raceway and Salon, sacrifice the vast majority of her life and her purpose for the safety of everyone around her, in this universe, she can choose not to. She sacrifices certainty this time, something she can regain as time goes on but in any other universe, there is never any certainty to get back. There will always be a Mimic threat and she can't get any of her old life back until it's dead and gone. She has to pay a price to keep Mimic contained, and while the Afton/Glitchtrap gods scramble to convince her otherwise, the Roxy in this new AU does have the choice whether she pays it or not.

But she will always still have to deal with the consequences of those with power. Every single time. And every single time so far, her entire existence is the consequence for them. Her life overall has not been the result of her own choices, but rather, the choices of people that never cared about her to begin with...

At least in this new universe she has a good childhood to fall back on and a cool ass horsie. And can actually do something about this shit. She can't normally do that :(

[awakenedmaiden]

Okay I'm going to ramble slightly about my headcanons on Satori's pets now. But to start it off, I first have to establish my thoughts on animal/beast youkai, since it's obviously relevant.

Based on what canon lore there is, what folklore I know, and just what I feel works best, this is my thoughts on the creation of beast youkai. The vast majority of beast youkai start out as just regular animals. Any animal that can survive long enough begins to become a youkai but this happens in a series of stages. First they're a normal animal. Then their intelligence begins to grow. Eventually they reach a point of having human/youkai level intellect then their magical power also begins to grow. Eventually, some time after this, they gain the ability to take on a humanesque youkai form.

So, for example, Nazrin would have just been a normal mouse before she became a nezumi (I think Nezumi just means mouse but ... I'm using it as a youkai term because I make the rules. Kitsune just means fox after all). But yeah. The vast majority of animals don't live long enough to start becoming youkai and even among those that do many do not make it to full youkaihood.

I do think that when a beast youkai that's gained their human form has a child that that child is born within the stage that they are on. However I also generally think that youkai having children is an uncommon thing. Thus the majority of all beast youkai are incredibly long-lived animals.

Now you may recall within the lore that the reason Satori has so many pets is because animals flock to her. Specifically because her mind reading abilities allow her to communicate with them. I do not think that every animal within the world of Touhou has the intelligence to actually communicate through thought. Instead these animals that flock to Satori are those within that first stage of beast youkaihood. Where they have gained intelligence but do not have the magical ability to communicate with other youkai or humans.

Due to the fact that they have intelligence, the pets are able to free roam around the palace and surrounding area without fear of harm. Satori is fairly accepting of pets of all shapes and sizes but an unwillingness to harm one another is one of the core requirements, which she can sense with her mindreading. She'll still aid a predator unwilling to put behind its nature in finding a place it belongs but it won't be around the other pets. Maybe at the side of an animal loving oni instead.

As far as her pets go, Satori has an entire menagerie. A significant majority of the population are Kasha and Hell Crows because they are the native animal population of Old Hell. Still, the name Satori Komeiji is known across Gensokyo and other places where animals dwell, thus burgeoning beast youkai of all forms make the pilgrimage to her home. All traditional pets can be found within her palace. As can the occasional rare wild animal such as tigers, bears, boars, and elephants. The least common are actually farm animals, given most do not live remarkably long lifespans.

The majority who achieve full youkaihood do not remain at the palace of the earth spirits. Instead setting off to make their own place in the world now that they are capable of taking their full form. Satori expects this, though appreciates those few who do stick around. To support with this Satori has constructed a small hamlet not too far from Chireiden which acts as a home for many beast youkai. Some permanently settle their, others just use it as a transient space until they find a lair of their own. Some, particularly more ferocious beasts, wind up crewing with the oni of the Old Capitol.

Satori does not require her pets to work. Just like Orin and Okuu, however, many desire to do so in order to pay her back. For this reason a vast majority of the work within Chireiden is divided up between the many pets. At certain times of day it's common to see an alligator waddling along with a laundry basket or a snake handing out food. Long in the past Satori did nearly all the work in the manor but now she's mostly left to administrate.

There is a great benefit to this. The palace was made to house vengeful spirits. Something that is dangerous to both humans and youkai. The animals that work in Chireiden, however, prove to be an exception. As they are partway to becoming youkai they have natural magic defenses against spirit possession just as youkai do. Yet, as they are still long-lived animals that have not become youkai yet, they cannot have their life drained from them by a spirit the way that a youkai could. Kasha are particularly resistant, even upon becoming full youkai, for this reason they work the most directly with the spirits.

Satori knows the name of every pet but at least for the vast majority she does not name them herself. Because almost all of them are animals who lived a long life prior to becoming partial youkai, most come with their own names. Satori respects their autonomy too much to attempt to change them. Though, in regards to Hell Crows and Kasha that are born around the palace, Satori has been occasionally asked to name them. One example is Fuwa, who Satori gave her name.

As a final little detail. I think that, once they both left their isolation and began to interact with Gensokyo (maybe even some time in the past before), Satori and Kasen found common ground in which to get along. They both have pet youkai animals, which I think serves as a bonding point for them. Furthermore I write my Satori as a Taoist and Kasen is a hermit. I'm not sure that they would interact regularly but I imagine they direct pets that they believe the other could better care for to each other. Maybe have some form of playdates too.

As a second final little detail. Unless someone else would also like to use this relationship, this only applies to my Satori and the Yamame I write on my multimuse but: Yamame is an example of one of Satori's pets that moved out after achieving their youkai form.

[rennsdeaddoves]

*slams hands down on the table and slides you a dollar* Tell me more of your hellsing ocs!

YES YES YES YES YES

I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO ASK IVE WANTED TO TALK ABOUT THESE BITCHES FOR EVER

Okokokokok so I got two of em. Aireth and Addadon (or Seraph depending on the time frame)

Alright so before I address my lil shits I should mention that in my fic most mythic beings are real; angels, fae, demons, sirens, any and all extensions of these beings are also real. (Can’t say more than that without going into detail for events that happen in the fic and then we’d be there all day)

So without further ado

Aireth

Aireth is a being known as Fae-born. She was born a human, taken in by the fae and born again into one of them (aka made basically immortal). A coming of age ceremony for the fae is they send out the new adults into the human world to get some “experience with humans” Aireth had always been looking forward to this, always curious about human kind and why they were the way they were.

When she was finally able to set of on her own in the human world she wandered for a long time, until she came across a boy who was hiding in the bushes. She helped him, got him some bread, and cleaned him up before leaving him with some parting words.

“You will do great things”

She continues her wandering and begins to see what her elders and the rulers meant about humanity. Aireth, because she was fae-born could tap into dark magics and not suffer the same consequences as typical fae and over the next 15 year she gained a name

The crimson witch of the moon

The black magic had changed her. Corrupted her flesh and burrowed itself into her bones.

It was at this time that she heard of a king. He had started many a war and was proving to be a bloody warrior. Wanting to see what it was about she ventured to find him. Only to see that it was the boy she helped so long ago, but now he had a name; Vladimir Tempest.

Aireth would then go on to work with him, making a blood oath and eventually, when he was killed, she resurrected him. but something went wrong, and he bacame this half dead thing... the first Vampire.

they then separated. Aireth knew no good would come from staying with him, at his side so she went far, to Scottland, where she meat a blond haired boy. slowly this boy grew into a man, and he helped her undo what the dark magic had done to her.

as a man Aireth saw new beauty in him, and she fell in love.

this man was named Alexander Anderson.

they got married, and it wouldn't be till the end of world war 2 that Aireth became pregnant. though at this point Alex had been a regenerator for the church for almost 80 years, and he was off fighting in the war (though he came home so the kid is his) but he left again before Aireth could tell him.

now being Fae-born came to kick Aireth in the ass. to ensure that Fae-born don't run off with the fae's secrets they are cursed to only be able to give birth in the fae wilds, as it is a part of human nature to reproduce.

Aireth waited till she couldn't wait anymore and had to go to the fae wilds where three days after the birth of her daughter she got dragged into the war.

and then Alucard found her again... and she couldn't return to Alexander... and her daughter was ripped from her...

Abbadon (Seraph)

abbadon is Aireth and Alexanders Daughter, when she was but three days old the fae wilds in which she was being safe guarded were burned to the ground by the Major who was looking for her mother but settled on her instead.

taking her away, the Major and Dok raised her, but not as a human being- no, as an experiment.

she was the dok's prized possession even if her alterations caused her to rot from the inside out, he would just up her regeneration. though he had a plan to stop the rot before it started and that involved dumping the 10 year old into a vat of sulphic acid and many other chemicals....

Seraph wouldn't escape this cage until she was 16.

when she did she was found by the captian, and project Niphilm was concived (but thats spoliers so i can't really talk about it yet!). over te years she would grow (and because again. spoliers) and the captian and her would fall in love (super slow burn my guy, wolfman is dense and emotinally constipated)

[konoa-t]

Did it for Mort, now ig I’ll do Dawn :3

A lot of the info here has been already established in the past, but I’ll write about it anyway in case if any new visitors to my blog are curious about this OC (or if anyone just wants to read about her again :D)

[TW: Death, Violence]

Okay so, I don’t have too much info for Dawn, but I’ll still go on and expand on each of these points. I’ll also be discussing the things I mentioned in my last ask post about her:

As some may already know, Dawn is a defector from the Dark Essence (DE) Witch coven (Yet another thing I’ll have to create a cooler name for ^_^;;;). She ran away with Jamie and the other knights; Dawn had volunteered information about the witches and, in exchange, the colony helped her gain her freedom. On her way out, she had to kill a couple of her coven sisters, as they were trying to prevent her from leaving. Her magic was much weaker than theirs at the time, so she ended up having to use a mixture of dark magic and physical strength. Her sisters also tried to bring her back at some point… it was met with violent resistance, and one of her older sisters ended up becoming gravely injured. (Now all of her sisters want revenge on her so :OOO)

This is also something that might be common knowledge by now, but Jamie (an elite knight working in the colony of warriors) is canonically in a relationship with Dawn. They met when Jamie infiltrated a camp that her coven had set up. She was very grateful to Jamie for helping her escape, and eventually grew to have feelings for her as she got to know her more.

As helpful as the knights were to Dawn, there still is a bit of tension between all of them, especially since the witches and knights have a history of being in conflict with DE beings. The only member she has managed to form a close relationship with is Jamie, as she is the only one who didn’t act all apprehensive around her.

Desipte the strained relationships, she still tries to help the knights whenever she can and always tries to mind her manners. The knights appreciate her kindness, but still remain vigilant of her.

Because of how badly her coven and higher-ups treated her, Dawn strongly dislikes most other DE witches (and DE creatures in general). If she stumbles across another DE Witch, she will often either avoid them or start trying to attack them.

Dawn, being made from dark essence, naturally knows and wields dark magic. She is able to handle even the darkest spells with ease (and somehow manages to avoid corruption). on top of this, she is also practicing psychic magic! She’s making slow and steady progress, though she’s a bit clumsy with telekinesis. Her strongest area within this field of magic seems to be things related to telepathy and hypnosis. She wanted to learn how to use Lux Essence, but due to the all-consuming properties of this highly purified form of light magic (and Dawn being made from dark magic herself), it would be too dangerous.

To elaborate further on the above point: Lux Essence is the name I came up with for the light magic that the knights use (I also decided on it cuz it sounds like a makeup brand lmao). It’s sole job is to purify any and all darkness or corruption it comes across. Dawn is physically unable to handle Lux Essence because she would be fully consumed (and killed) by it within minutes.

She’s got a little chub! :D Dawn is very self-conscious about her body, but Jamie always helps her by telling her she’s beautiful the way she is. Please note that when I said “overweight,” I was mostly referring to the unhealthy kind of overweight. It’s perfectly natural to be a few pounds over the average.

While mostly docile, Dawn does have a tendency to lash out and become highly dangerous when pushed too far. Though she wasn’t the strongest of her kind, she still holds incredible power, especially when using her dark magic.

[giovanniiricci]

chi cerca, trova;

LOCATION: Office in his villa outside Florence, Italy MENTIONED: @sawyerdecker @shepdecker @colemonroe TRIGGERS: Human trafficking, cancer, murder, poisoning, general dickish behavior

Giovanni Ricci rarely lost his temper.

That was one of the more chilling things about the man; it was nearly impossible to know when one had crossed him because he would simply smile in their face while the mental gears started turning on the machine that would manufacture their downfall. So, when he hung up after his phone call with ADA Parker on New Years Day, his maid was shocked by the crashing of glass behind his office door.

Shooting down the hall, she opened the door, taking in the scene in front of her. Giovanni stood across the room, chest heaving with the force of his rage. His phone lay amongst the wreck of the wall-length mirror on the other side with its screen shattered, and it took a few moments of hesitation before the woman spoke. "Signor Ricci, va tutto bene…?"

"Tutto bene," he replied with a sigh, adjusting his tie as he regained his composure and offering a tight lipped smile. "Mi dispiace."

Her gaze flickered between him and the mess of glass upon the floor, clear disbelief written across her face, causing Giovanni's jaw to tighten in irritation.

“Potete andare, signorina.”

Another moment of hesitation passed over the woman’s face before she bowed her head and closed the door behind her.

"One job," Giovanni uttered harshly beneath his breath, sinking down into his office chair and facing the Florentine skyline in the distance. Giovanni had taken his wife to their villa in Tuscany to ring in the new year together, celebrating yet another successful year in business only for the next to start off on the wrong foot. "He had one job, and he couldn’t even manage to do that."

Dante Parker had been a thorn in the CEO's side for the past two years, which was why he’d sent the man to Tonopah Valley to begin with despite his objections. At first, he'd seen a lot of himself within the promising young lawyer, eager to please if it meant he’d gain footing within his own career, but that was the problem with two individuals who resembled one another: eventually, egos would clash, and there could only be one.

Many faces had come and gone from the board of The Enterprise over the years, and all have done so by Giovanni's design. It was his universe, a creation of his own, molded by his hand with the help of Jacque Riley, but it was his all the same. People were only there because he allowed it. Jeffrey Decker had also gotten too big for his britches, his human trafficking ring interfering with Giovanni's vision and threatening the existence of everything he had built. That was why he had to go, too.

Jeffrey's diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer worked in Giovanni's favor. It was easy enough: hiring a home chef and a nurse came across as a show of good faith, to help ease the family’s burden in the midst of their hardships. In reality, it gave him the chance to put someone into the man’s home to monitor him and to enact his own plan of getting rid of the board member for good. He'd learned over the years that everyone had a price, and it wasn’t long before he'd found two individuals who were willing to take on the risk. It was amazing how similarly the symptoms of lung cancer and arsenic poisoning overlapped. His days were numbered when Jeffrey's bastard son took him out instead. Giovanni didn't mind, though; one less thing to tie back to him, and one more secret he could tuck away inside of his ledger.

The Decker children had promise, but Jeffrey had never managed to ingratiate himself to them enough for them to follow in his footsteps. One of them even became a detective, for God’s sake! Talk about the apple falling far from the tree. The lawyer, though… Defense attorneys were always a little easier to bend in the direction of corruption, so there was still a chance he might be able to work with her, but the detective was getting too close to the truth.

Dante was supposed to get rid of him, but all he’d managed to do was to put him into a coma. Sending someone to infiltrate the hospital and kill the acting Chief of Police now would be too obvious and make it clear someone had put a hit on him, so Giovanni would have to pivot. He hated when his carefully laid plans went to shit due to no fault of his own.

Then a thought came to him. He could use this.

After all, he'd been wanting to get rid of Dante for a while now, and attempted murder of a police officer… Now that was the ticket.

One man's incompetence was another man's treasure.

Picking up the stationary phone from its cradle on his desk, he dialed a number and brought it to his ear, facing the city sprawled out before him once more as it rang.

"Happy New Year, Mr. Ricci! How is your trip?" His secretary's voice filtered through the grated speaker. She was far too perky considering the hour.

"Find me a realtor in Tonopah Valley," he replied, ignoring her question altogether.

"Right away, sir. Would this be for commercial real estate?"

"Residential. I’ll be temporarily relocating."

"Yes, sir, I'll get right on that. Anything else I can do for you?"

"That'll be all." Without a goodbye, he set the phone back onto its base to end the call.

If he wanted something done right, he was going to have to do it himself.

[konraddams]

Older drawings of my main dnd character, Korvo Ardor.

Long backstory stuff incoming...

Born the only child to the King Izura and Queen Kara of Invernos, Korvo had to prepare himself to one day take over. Unfortunately he was never able to get the hang of his classes, mostly they just couldn’t hold his attention, the only things he enjoyed were the violin and blacksmithing, as different as they are, he hated being forced to study as he’d rather be out in the world fighting monsters and saving maidens like in the stories he was told; but the stories never had his kind in them, at least not as the heroes. He was always told his people had one of the most important jobs, holding back the horrors from beyond, but no songs were sung of them, no one knew it was even happening they were so far in the North. “Tiefling are the only ones that can survive the harsh conditions, that’s why we’re so important to the world.” His father would remind him, but no matter what was said to him, Korvo just couldn’t accept that, until one day when an old friend of Izura came to visit. Vaako Blackfeather, feared captain of The Raven’s Beak (one of the more well-known pirate ships of the time) was an albino kenku that was like an uncle to Korvo. On this particular visit when Korvo was about 10, he packed a bag and hid in the cargo hold of The Raven’s Beak not coming out until a few days out at sea, just to be sure. When he did finally emerge his "uncle" was almost as amused as he was furious, and after talking it over with Korvo decided that he could stay aboard the ship as long as his parents allowed. Using the power of their family ring, Izura appeared onboard the ship and after a long discussion with Vaako and Korvo, begrudgingly conceded, thinking maybe if he had some experience in the world it would hopefully help him learn how to rule one day.

For the first time in his life Korvo was absorbing every bit of information thrown at him, every knot to tie, every star in the sky, all of it he understood, and the combat training from Vaako was definitely his favorite part, he even learned to control his budding magical abilities. Then one day when he was about 16, they came across a merchant ship ripe for plundering. During the ensuing battle Korvo found himself squaring off with a pale elf, dual wielding strange swords coated in lightning. She charged straight at him almost faster than he could react, they locked blades and began having an intense dual with fire and lighting tracing around every swing. During one of their clashes Korvo had blocked one of her blades with his flintlock, unfortunately the lightning sparked the powder causing an explosion that took his left hand, the bullet flying from the destroyed gun and taking her left eye. They both collapsed from the encounter and blacked out. Hours later they awoke and found themselves bandaged up in the crew's quarters. Vaako was there waiting and explained to them both that the ship they were attacking turned out to be a slaver's vessel, a shock to the elf. She introduced herself as Revas and explained that she was a shadar-kai who had recently escaped the Shadowfell and the cult-like people that had raised her, she merely wanted a life of freedom. Vaako offered her a place on their ship as in his eyes nothing is freer than a pirate at sea, an idea she latched onto wholeheartedly. Revas helped him through the loss of his arm explaining that where she was from their people didn't care what happened to their bodies as it was all part of the cycle of life and you should not mourn what was lost.

A few years passed and they quickly formed a strong bond with each other through their battles. Eventually Vaako Blackfeather began to grow old and tired, so he decided to pass his ship and the sword that commanded it onto Korvo who renamed the ship The Burning Dawn. Another year goes by and the Dread Pirate of the Dawn quickly gains a reputation. Fog rolls in as a thundercrack roars across the waters, before you can react the Dawn is upon you. Korvo and Revas even started developing feelings for each other, but before either could confess them, King Izura appeared on the deck, telling Korvo that they had arranged a marriage for him with a princess of the other tiefling kingdom to the east, Mythral. He didn't even get to voice his protests before being teleported back to Invernos with his father, leaving Revas behind with the sword and command of the ship. She picked the scimitar off the deck and quietly returned to the captain's quarters where she found a package from Korvo. Inside was a silver ball and a note saying it was the bullet that took her eye. He had it plated in silver and was going to give it to her as a gift to show how far they had come since their first meeting.

Back in Invernos for the first time since his youth he was greeted by a gathering of his family, his mother, aunt and uncle were all standing around excited to see him again. His mother seemed disappointed at him for losing his arm in battle more so than concerned. His uncle Lorian, however, had a knack for acquiring strange people and items, so it was almost no surprise that shortly after his arrival Korvo was introduced to a strange man with a bag of mysterious tools. The man took measurements of his arm and rushed off to get to work. While the stranger was off, King Izura began to explain the details of the marriage arrangement he had worked out. Korvo's bride was named Annarhis Azar, her father's kingdom was small but had a very valued resource, they had an extremely rare dragon egg that had laid dormant for centuries. The Ardor family line had always had good relations with the dragons so Izura believed he would be able to awaken the beast within. King Farin Azar thought nothing of trading his daughter and dragon egg for a chance to be in good standing with a proper kingdom.

About 2 years passed after the wedding, Annarhis gave birth to twins, Izen and Izara, but shortly after disappeared. She never wanted this life and returned to her father's kingdom in a rage. That was the last Korvo heard from her until he got word of an attack on their hold with no survivors making it out. Korvo couldn't take the pressure off having to raise the children on top of learning to rule a whole kingdom and left the castle, leaving the children in the care of his parents.

It took him no time to hunt down rumors of Captain Revas of the Phantom Tempest, she had docked his old ship at Morde Isles the pirate haven, and bought her own with her own crew, she still kept his in good condition, just in case he returned. Revas was at a tavern in a local port to the south, restocking her ship when he found her again. She still had that strong presence. You almost felt cold being around her or looking at her too long, but to him, it felt like home. When he approached her, he saw that she had taken his final gift of the silvered shot and implanted it into her missing eye. Upon inspection, one could see his family crest carved into it. They immediately threw themselves into everything that happened the past years. The night turned long, and they were still in the tavern, not eager to leave each other's side. By the next morning, they had decided to adventure out together for a little while and learn more about the mainland, leaving their ships in the care of her first mate. It was that morning that Avari, King Izura's 4 eyed raven familiar came to Korvo, he had a package from his father containing the family ring and a letter about needing to be sure he was protected, so Avari was to be his companion from here out. With that, the 3 of them set off to see what adventures came their way and, hopefully, never have to leave each other again.

[veiledfox]

The God who Vanished [ III ]

"Fine, Kit. Sit, relax, and I shall tell you a tale."

The Drake's voice rumbles the cave again, though unlike before the vibrations it caused were softer. It's volume lower, as the vast being relaxed to settle in for retelling the past to their visitor. A Kitsune, who's tail spreads into nine and moves to form supports as she eases back. A makeshift seat of sorts.

"Nine tails. Respect where it's due, Kit."

"Thank you." Kyuushi bows her head, accepting his words without hesitation or contradiction. While she didn't know other Kitsune in her own Realm, she knew thanks to information from other Mythos that it was rare for a Kitsune to earn all nine tails in the modern age. It wasn't surprising that Brant knew such a thing as well, considering they seemed to be among the most knowledgeable of the many Mythos species.

"Now, we must look back. Before the Crimson Terror declared war against the Gods. Amid their seeking of power. None truly knew what they were up to at the time, even other Kitsune thought they were spewing nonsense peaking of going against the Deities. All they knew was that they would vanish for long periods of time, before eventually returning, changed in some way or another. It baffled their Kin each time, but bit by bit they grew to believe that perhaps the Grand Kitsune could, in fact, oppose the Gods themselves."

Brant begins their tale, to which Kyuushi's ears immediately perk up to pay close attention to and take in every detail. Not all of what had been said so far was new to her, already having known that her Ancestor had been gaining power that changed their very being. Though to learn of the outside point of view from he Kitsune of the time was rather interesting.

"Now, to be more exact, this tale of which you seek occurs in the earlier days. While the Grand Kitsue was still only barely learning of the power they could gain with the methods available to them. The Gods, of course, were aware that they were planning something. However, the very nature of the Gods and that of Mythos like us directly oppose each other. Thus there is an innate interference between our kind when attempting to observe one another. It can be bypassed by some methods, of course, but likewise it can be strengthened by others."

This information was something Kyuushi was not aware of. It did always strike her a little oddly that the Gods needed Kitsunes to make themselves known on a larger scale to be targeted by them. A part of her thought it was simply a thing of them just being too egotistical to care to watch for her Kin at all times. Perhaps them feeling there be no need to, as her Ancestor was the one and only of her kind to even draw close to their power. None since had gotten even remotely close.

"At this time, however, one God was keenly aware of what your Ancestor had been learning of. One God knew of their plan, and the exponential growth they were beginning to experience. None other than Inari, Kami of Foxes, who since her arrival alongside the other Gods had grown to take an interest in the Mythos. As such, she learned of the Kitsune, and with her domain being over your Feral Kin she grew fond of the Kitsune. Thus she would descend to the Earthly plane in secret, under a Vulpine disguise, to interact with those both Feral and Mythos."

Inari, a Deity, bothered herself with their kind? Such a revelation had the Kitsune's brows rising and eyes widening as she took in and processed such. To think back on everything she had heard of the Gods, of how little they ever seemed to bother themselves with Mythos as a whole if not for harmful purposes, it was hard to believe that one actually grew fond of them. Though with her interest peaked, she shifts forward and leans ver her knees while resting her arms across them.

"Inari would then become somewhat close to a select few Kitsune, gaining their trust, and requesting their assistance to be able to keep and eye on the Grand Kitsune. As much as was possible, at least. Those Kitsune who Inari befrended saw the Goddess as one of their own. As much Kin as any other Kitsune, or the Feral Foxes were. She became family to them, and she grew to understand the gripe the Mythos held toward her own Kin.

Of course, as her Kin, the other Gods were able to keep watch of Inari more easily than they could the Kitsune she was spending time with. Thus were they aware of her shifting ideals and allegiances, especially as she began to spend more and more time with them than her own kind. Some of the Gods began to wonder about the Mythos, to consider that perhaps it would be better for them to seek co-habitation and cooperation. Others thought the idea silly, and a waste of their time."

Such was more akin to the knowledge she and other Mythos had of the Gods these days. Beings who felt themselves better than the Mythos who inhabited the world prior, and kept to their Divine Plane. Simply allowing their creation, Humanity, to run rampant across the world while occationally intervening for one reason or another. Otherwise only ever granting small, mostly insignificant, blessings to those who prayed to and worshipped them.

"Inari was able to sense the growing tension, not only between her kind, but that which was beginning to stew surrounding your Ancestor. Their distaste for the Gods, their anger for what had begun to happen to the world because of them introducing Humanity to the mis, their bloodlust. Inari attempted to get contact with the Grand Kitsune via her connections with others of your Species at the time. To gain an audience to speak with and potentially talk them out of their course.

However, her attempts would be turned down time and time again. The Grand Kitsune too absorbed with their plan, their spite, to entertain another path for even a second. Even their mate was unable to sway them during their brief times together between their near constant travels for more and more power. Even when time came that they had to pause their activities, as they had concieved a single child. An unfortunate rarity at the time, to only bear a single offspring unlike the litters that were more common at the time. Though they took such unfortunate circumstance in stride, knowing their lust for power and the changes it caused were likely the reason."

Despite already being aware the Grand Kitsune would've had to have offspring of some kind to eventually lead to her own existence, it was still a little weird. To hear that a being who, supposedly, was so absurdly hostile and monstrous, had a softer side and a private, romantic, life. Especially considering what was known of their actions at the time, to think they were going through so many changes and still they sought to bear a child? Who knew what kind of effect such changes could've had on them.

"In light of the inability to contact and meet with the Crimson, the Kami would instead turn to her Kin. Aiming to try and convince those who believed themselves the Mythos' betters that, instead, they should try to get to know them. To treat them as their equals. When her words would fall on deaf ears, she would attempt reaching out to the others her shared her newfound fondness for our kind. However, where she expected sympathy and agreement to lead to assistance, she would instead be met with hesitation and rejection.

The others, while they had grown to appreciate and enjoy the company of some of the Mythos like Inari herself, did not feel as strongly as she. They did not wish to act against their Kin who had no such affection, as they were not only outnumbered, but underpowered by comparisson. If civil war were to occur, they knew they would not be victorious. Such cowardice, such hypocrisy, upset Inari and pushed her to distance herself from her Kin. She would leave the Divine Plane entirely, remain on our Earthly Plane among Kitsune and Foxes."

There it was, that trademark Godly bullshit that Kyuushi had come to be aware of in modern times. She knew it was all in the past, but even still, as she listened to therest of the tale she could feel her own anger rising. It was causing her hair and fur to stand on end, even. Though it would be a narrowing of Brants eyes, as they even take notice, that leads her to catch herself and take a breath.

"It wasn't long after that your Ancestor would make their intentions clear. Gathering other Kitsune and preaching to them of how the world was prior to the Gods. Announcing to them of her intent to wage war, to slaughter every last one and free the Earth from their influence. Urging those who heard their words to spread them far and wide, seeking out all other Kitsune they could and informing the rest of the Mythos of their intentions. Partly to just get the news out, but also to warm the rest of our kind to not interfere in the Kitsune's actions.

When the word spread, becoming known across the world among the Mythos, it became an inevitability. The Gods would take note, ackowledging the intentions of the Crimson, regardless of whether they felt it silly or not. Thus would they send one of their own, one of the mighty Deities of War, intent on stamping out such foolishness. Being of their Kin, Inari would quickly become aware of such, and sought to warn the Grand Kitsune. Utilizing her few connections among the Kitsune to pass the warning on, which would lead to the first strike against the Divine.

A single exchange, entirely one sided, where your Ancestor lashed out at the God and struck true. The injury was serious, nearly grevious even. Yet, as it was Ares himself whom had set out to squash the Kitsune's rising force, not only would he survive, he would strike back with force. It would be in this exchange that the claw which became the ring you now wear would be torn from your Ancestor."

Brant's information on the ring itself wasn't anything new to her, having already known of the stories that surrounded it. It was fairly commonly known of among Mythos communities, after all. One of very few things that was so well known concerning the Grand Kitsune. Though such knowledge always came with the belief that it housed their spirit, and would some day be a catalyst for their return. Still, she would nod her understanding as the claw is withdrawn.

"It would be Inari who found the claw after the retaliation launched it. She who would keep it hidden, until able to find a method to return it to the Grand Kitsune. In light of the clash, and how damaged Ares had been by the Crimson, she knew it would be impossible to divert either side's ire and stop the war from occuring. Understanding it would only be a matter of time before your Ancestor was ready to face the Deities again.

After having sent the claw on it's way, she would withdraw from everything and cease responding to those who prayed to her. Deciding instead that, if she could not stop the coming extermination, she could at least work behind the scenes to try and ensure the Kitsune would survive. For a time, she would continue to remain in contact with a select few Kitusne. During such time she would seek knowledge of where the Crimson's home was. However, after some time, she would cease to reveal herself to others.

Inari had found her way to your home. Found and met your Ancestor's Mate while they were elsewhere. Spoke with him, became acquainted, and protected both him and your home whenever the Crimson was away. She had taken precautions to hide herself from the other Deities before hand, mind you, so the location of your home is safe from their watch."

It made the Kitsune almost reel at hearing that one of the Gods was aware of her home. The thought of such a being as those who had sworn to exterminate her kind ever since the war knew of where she was supposed to be safest. However, with what Brant had told of Inari so far prior to such reveal... she was conflicted to say the least.

"There she would remain, under the protective barrier that your Ancestor had constructed, but away from the homestead itself. Right up to the war itself, where she would feel the death of oner of her own at the Grand Kitsune's hand. Then the death of the Crimson themselves, and the vast eradication of their Kin by the hands of her fellow Deities.

She would forsake her divinity, after such attrocities. Casting it off and using it as sacrifice to utilize powerful Magic and change reality itself. Even if the method of which could only be minor. Inari would will two changes to take hold.

The first, erase the names of the Grand Kitsune and their Mate from all who live beyond the barrier. An extra precaution, which would provide a layer of mystery to the titles of Grand Kitsune or Crimson Terror, preventing any who may seek information on them from knowing just who exactly they were. At such point, they could have been any of the countless who were killed by the Divine.

The Second, a strengthening to the haze that naturally existed between the Gods and the Kitsune. Making it even harder for any God to peer in on your kind. Outright preventing the Gods from directly attempting to view your Kin through any form of scrying Magic, and making it even harder for them to be preceived by Divinity in general. Hoping it would provide the Kitsune a chance to live without the constant fear of being discovered by the Gods without outside influence.

With what remained of Inari's power, she would remain with your Ancestor's Mate. Aid in keeping their home safe, and in raising the Kit. She would be the one who set out to retrieve the Crimson's corpse and return it to where it belonged. The one to craft the catacomb beneath, entombing the Grand Kitsune at it's deepest level. The one who crafted the shrine on the surface, as a place for all of Vulpine nature to respect their dead lost to the Gods, despite the location itself being kept secret.

Without their Divinity, Inari had become Mortal, thus would her days begin to near their end as years passed. Before such a time as she could succumb to illness or age, however, she would use the last of her strength and power to sacrifice herself and become an eternal defender. One which I assume you have seen from time to time by now. Removing any who enter the barrier around your home with hostile intent."

[exaltatuss]

"I don't care how fast you are, as long as I'm here, you're nothing but second place."

Naturally, Blanca is already immensely fast, herself, due to the fact that she can already manipulate inertia, friction, speed, and velocity as part of her entire arsenal of abilities. However, what happens if she were to go even faster?

Thus, enter The Redline.

Originally found in the Zeroth Universe, but is now also found in the known universes outside of it due to Blanca being a user of it, The Redline is the concept of absolute motion, and thus not only it grants powers to those who manage to tap into it, it would also further amplify the capabilities of those who had tapped into it who already have speed based abilities beforehand, along woth additional bonuses, differing from one indovidual to the next.

At its core, The Redline is also one of the fundamental blocks of the Zeroth Universe, and thus, is also the reason why said Universe has a vastly different concept, grasp, and flow of time, compared to the known universes outside of the Zeroth Universe. Not only is it a force of absolute momentum, it also is the very driving force of the Zeroth Universe's perception of time.

So far, Blanca seems to be the first who was able to connect with The Redline again, as the last individuals who were able to do so was way back, in the last in-Zeroth Universe quintillion years' time.

What does it mean for Blanca if she does tap into The Redline?

Not only would her speed related abilities be amplified by leaps and bounds, it also grants her immunity to time-based abilities. She can move within stopped time, she can move forward proper even as time is reversed, is unaffected by time erasure, and can easily keep up with time acceleration.

Additionally, The Redline allows her the ability to cross different points in time, and across one timeline to another. As such, Blanca makes sure to not do anything significant that would cause a domino effect in the temporal scale of things.

Having tapped into The Redline, Blanca is now able to have her mind process things as fast as she moves, the improved thinking process allowing her to learn things rapidly, assess multiple outcomes and situations, and predict several possible outcomes. Naturally, the improved thinking process had also given Blanca an improved reflex and reaction time.

When tapping into The Redline, Blanca's energy color would shift from blue to red, and if she starts moving at immense speeds, a trail of red energy would follow her in her wake.

She also gains access to multiple bonus abilities as well, such as, but not limited to:

Illusion Liner: using the power of The Redline, Blanca can create a split image of herself, who moves and acts independently from her, has access to her powers and abilities, and is just as strong as her, up until both herself and said split image were to rejoin. As of late, the maximum amount of split images Blanca can create are two.

Paradox Assault: Blanca uses her connection to The Redline in order to have several attacks of hers travel through time in order to eventually hit her intended target in that specific time point. Simply put, its as if new variables were 'edited in' the film that is time.

Nixie Divergence: Tapping into The Redline, Blanca can connect with her past and future selves, allowing for them to join in on the attack in the present.

Parallel Convergence: Allows for Blanca to store up kinetic momentum as she travels through different points in time, before returning to the present, and thus unleashing all the stored up energy through her blows.

Redline Ray: An ability in which Blanca is able to directly use the raw energy of The Redline against her targets. Not only it is able to bypass resistances, it is also known to steal a portion of their speed and transpose it over to Blanca for a period of time.

Furthermore, as Blanca's connection with The Redline deepens in time, the more benefits she would gain from it, and the faster she would further become from how fast she already is.

Trivia:

-Due to how immensely vast the Zeroth Universe is from one point to another, it can be theorized that usage of The Redline was available to some lucky few aeons ago in order to travel from one edge of the Zeroth Universe to the other.

-It is also theorized by Ashen Empire researchers that The Redline also had direct involvement on the Zeroth Universe's immense expansion and growth, so much so that the Zeroth Universe had an unofficial title called the 'Mutant Universe', especially since its growth, flow of time, and fundamental laws are vastly different compared to the universes outside of it.

-Her connection to The Redline also had further increased Blanca's metabolism as a side effect of her connection to it, requiring her to consume even larger amounts of food in a single day, larger than what she already was eating due to her already natural immense speed.

[peakyblindersxx]

May I request a john smut in which, despite being the cocky beast that he usually is, he manages to get all gentle and intense when, after years of mutual pining, he finally makes love to ada's best friend who's younger and totally inexperienced. Idk I just need this to be fucking intense, like John suffocating his desire for ages and now finally indulging in his worst temptation and showing her what lust is... please i'll burn in hellll

a/n: first of all let me say: this killed me. like, it’s literally all i can think about. god help me. but thank you so fucking much for requesting this bc i liked it sooo much that i decided to make a mini series out of it with the help of my babe @stxdyblr-2k who was sweet enough to offer to ghostwrite on the series 🥰 and to all my other angels who requested fics, don’t worry i will get them done! just wanna give you guys the best quality work i can. my 1st priority are some tommy requests i got, as well as some michael ones after :)

love, abi xxx

whiskey business - john shelby x reader (1 of ?)

warnings: nsfw! eventual smut, slow burn, john being sexy as all hell but also soft

John couldn’t tear his eyes off of you. From the moment you walked into the Garrison, arm loosely linked with Ada’s, clad in a black lace dress that hugged you just right, he couldn’t stop staring. Even Tommy and Arthur had noticed, cracking some joke about him being pussy whipped. The words floated right over his head, his mind on one thing only. The last time he had seen you, you were barely eighteen, cheeks pink as you waved goodbye out the train window to Ada as she sobbed. Ada had always had a flair for the dramatic, but the two of you had practically been attached at the hip your entire lives. So, he consoled her, reminding her that university wasn’t forever, that you would be back soon enough. And back, you were, red-stained lips sipping at a glass of something that Ada had practically shoved in your face. You weren’t a girl anymore, black heels crossed at the ankle as you sat across the room in a booth, laughing as Ada waved her arms, telling some sort of story.

“Just fuckin’ talk to ‘er, John-boy,” Arthur’s voice cut through John’s train of thought like a sharp knife, and he focused his eyes on his two brothers sitting at the booth across from him, clouds of smoke from Tommy’s incessant smoking heavy in the air around them.

“Fuck off,” John returned as he stood, earning a chuckle from Tommy.

“That’s right,” Arthur shouted as John made his way towards the bar, rolling his eyes at his older brothers. “Make sure you show her a real good time, eh?” Arthur’s voice was soon drowned out by the crowd around John, as they parted to let him walk through. He didn’t even see them, his eyes trained on your smile. Fuck, you were pretty.

***

“So, then I fucking kicked him in the balls.” Ada’s eyes sparkled triumphantly as she recalled the time she’d incited a riot, managing to cause great injury to a certain part of a policeman’s body. She did so casually, like it was no big deal. You couldn’t control your laughter as Ada grinned, pleased that she’d been able to make you laugh. “Fuckin’ missed you, Y/N,” she professed, shooting the rest of her gin and gesturing at the bartender to “leave the fuckin’ bottle, already.”

“Missed you too,” you smiled back at her, happy to be back in Birmingham in the company of an old friend. London was beautiful, but lonely. There was something inside you that missed the dirty streets, the crowded pubs bursting with familiar faces.

“Had to come over here myself to make sure it was you,” A deep voice interrupted your reverie and you looked up to see none other than Ada’s older brother John, looking even handsomer than the last time you’d seen him, in a grey-three piece suit, a cigar hanging from his lips. You’d had the hugest crush on him growing up, and the butterflies swimming around in your stomach seemed to confirm that you still found the tallest Shelby brother irresistible.

“Hi, John,” You offered him a shy smile and scooched over as he slid into the booth next to you, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to your cheek. You couldn’t help but drink in the smell of his cologne, the various drinks that Ada had encouraged you to down making you press yourself closer to him.

“M’kay, if you’re going to fuck, at least wait until I’m gone.” Ada’s voice snapped you out of it and you looked away, a pink blush staining your cheeks.

“Says the one who managed to fuck three of my best mates before you left school,” John retorted, causing Ada to roll her eyes, shooting her whiskey and pouring the three of you another glass each.

“I feel like getting drunk, and I’m not doing it alone,” Ada announced, causing both you and John to crack a smile at her forcefulness.

“Good thing we took a cab here,” you returned, before shooting your whiskey. If you were going to have to stare at John all night, you thought, you might as well be drunk doing it. Wasn’t like he was going to be staring back.

***

Ada was shitfaced, dancing in the middle of the pub. Luckily, Isaiah had stepped in as her partner, making sure her stumbling didn’t cause her to trip and fall. Unluckily for you, this left a tipsy you and John alone tucked into a booth in the corner of the room, out of view. The conversation was friendly, and you were trying your best to keep your mind off the way you could see John’s forearms practically bulging out of his suit. It wasn’t fair, you thought to yourself, for him to walk around looking like that. Especially when you knew that he was probably fucking the latest movie star, or something. It was almost impossible for you to keep your head straight, yet you managed to keep it civil. However, you couldn’t help your gaze from drifting to his lips. God, they were so pink and looked so soft, it was unfair. You couldn’t stop yourself from imagining how they’d feel on your mouth, let alone other parts of your body. Jesus, you were fucked.

A third of a bottle of whiskey later, you couldn’t help but let yourself slide closer to him, heart beating fast in your chest as you sat tucked into his side, his arm around you as you laughed at a joke he’d made, something about the stick up Tommy’s ass. Your eyes shone as they met his blue ones, his arm sliding down until his fingers were brushing against your waist, radiating heat into your skin.

“Y’know, I’d tell you how fuckin’ pretty you look tonight, but I think you already know that,” John rumbled into your ear, lips just barely brushing against your neck. Your breath hitched, and he noticed, a small grin spreading across his lips.

“You’re something else, you know that?” You shot back, a small smile threatening to take over your lips.

“M’not just sayin’ that. Couldn’t take my eyes off ‘ya, since you walked in.” John wasn’t kidding. For a second you didn’t know how to reply, staring up at him with a slight look of disbelief. The whiskey, however, had other plans, and had decided to respond for you.

“Can't keep your hands off me now." You smirked, waiting for him to escalate the moment, anticipation and liquor silencing the blaring alarm in your mind. God, you shouldn't want him as badly as you do.

"Can you blame me?" He muttered, dragging his fingers across the lace of your dress, tracing the pattern's loops absentmindedly, watching your jaw tense and lips part to take a gasping breath, your jacket having long vanished into the chaos of the pub. Your arms wound themselves around his neck, fingers twisting into his short hair. "Fucking come 'ere lass."

His strong arms lifted you onto his knee, gripping a thigh to help you balance, the friction of his rough hand against the stiff fabric pushing your dress up slightly. The need for more and the desire to know him completely intoxicated you far more than anything from a bottle; you'd never felt as though you were on fire from your drunk hookups. His fingers found the zip of your dress, tugging it down desperately, gripping the flesh of your exposed shoulder blades. A small groan erupted from your lips as you felt him chuckle below you, pressing a thumb to your lips to quieten you.

"John," you whined, pouting playfully against his thumb.

"I'll sort you out, I swear," He muttered, slipping his thumb between your lips. Instinctively, you sucked, locking eyes with him, his hand straying from your back to roughly grab your jaw, holding your gaze. "But if you're going to scream your 'ead off, we'll get caught."

"You wish you could make me scream, John-lad."

"Come off it, I could ruin you, Y/N." He stated, lifting your jaw, as though memorising the construction of your face, tone brimming with a cocky confidence only John could make attractive. "You want that?"

"More than anything." The words tumbled out of your mouth thoughtlessly, watching how his jaw tightened in response as you attempted to read his expression. He studied you for what must've only been a few seconds, but the moment passed so slowly, you could barely remember what it felt like to not be examined by his dominating blue eyed stare.

His grip guided your face to his, fingers tilting your chin so John's lips could brush against yours, before pulling you into a heated almost aggressive kiss, the straps of your dress barely grazing your shoulders, the hem of your dress bunching around your waist as he reached down your back to grab your bum in a firm squeeze. Your mouth gaped open in a gasp of pleasure, John taking the moment to run his tongue against your lips, gaining access and deepening the kiss. You were so caught up in the thrill of John's seduction that you hadn't noticed his hand suddenly pull away after moving your skimpy underwear to one side. You had instinctively ground your hips against him, he'd broken the kiss to let out a string of curses, complimenting you through his quickening breaths (“Fuckin’ wet for me already, aye?”), gripping your thigh. But as soon as he had pulled the thin silk from your thighs, the atmosphere shifted, his lip curling in frustration as his hands left your skin as though your flesh was suddenly scalding.

"John?" You prompted, resting a hand on his shoulder, noticing the dark shadows under his eyes for the first time.

"It's getting late."

"What?" Your voice sounded high and whiny, you mentally scolded yourself for sounding so needy. It was embarrassing to be rejected by the man you've admired for many years, but even worse to be openly vulnerable and so pathetic in front of your best friend's brother.

Ada.

Oh fuck.

Realisation hit you, it was either that or the unholy quantity of alcohol you'd downed which turned your stomach. You had gone too far this time. It was one thing to flirt with John and desire him from a distance, it was an absolute betrayal to have sex with him, knowing Ada's insecurity about being used to get close to her gangster brothers- sex, power and politics. You had sworn during those tearful walks around the canal that you'd never hurt her. You couldn't do that to her.

Your sudden panic must've been obvious, you tried to stand up from John's lap, stumbling slightly, only regaining balance due to a sudden arm across your back, anchoring you upright.

"No one has to know. It's our secret yeah?" He muttered into your ear, his words comforting.

You nodded silently, the reality of the situation settling in. Your hands are shaking by your sides, John catches them, locking his fingers with yours.

"It's fine, now. Nothing happened yeah?" He stood up in front of you, his muscular physique looming before you, the creases across his torso reminding you that just a few minutes ago his body was under yours, he was breathless, needing your skin against his, desperate and vulnerable. "I'll zip you up. Turn around."

His hands dropped from yours to fumble clumsily with your zip, struggling in the gloom and fog of intoxication, he eventually succeeded, the lace clinging to the curve of your hips, waist, back and chest again. You wished it was him instead that was skimming your figure but you pushed the thought away with a simple, "Thanks."

"I'll walk you home yeah?" He offered, as he straightens your skirt and his tie, allowing you to fix his crumpled shirt collar and the row of shining buttons below his throat which you'd ripped open as he whispered dirty nonsense in your ear, smirking at how you arched your back and swore back at him through your moans.

"Isaiah already said he would, it'd be better for us both that way. You know how people around here talk." You replied, glancing at the mirror on the wall of the booth to quickly smooth your tousled hair. Despite only recently returning to Small Heath, you'd already encountered the rife gossiping and quickly realised your neighbour was incapable of minding his own business. "Nobody has to know, right?"

John nodded, disappointed but appreciating your rationale and quick thinking despite your state, "Right."

"Good night, John," You said politely, ignoring the tension in his tone and the sudden soft sadness of his eyes, turning your back and walking to the door. Back to the sticky dance floor, back to Ada, Isaiah, Finn, Tokyo, back to spilling drinks, ashing cigarettes, back to noise, safety and far from the man who made your morals vanish with the same lines he uses on probably every single one of his conquests. Fuck it. You were going to enjoy it, you sped up your pace in your heels, trying to ignore your shaking legs. You tried to ignore the guilty twang in your gut when Ada screamed your name across the pub and stumbled over, dragging some lad on her arm, pressing drunken kisses to your forehead and cheeks.

You couldn't help but look back to see his shadow sloping away into the darkness of the booths closer to the dance floor, being bullied mercilessly by his brothers you assumed. You watched him fake a smirk, take the knuckles to his brow from Arthur, snap an insult back to Thomas and settle into his rightful seat. You only shifted your gaze to Ada for a moment but when you looked back up, he was staring at you, jaw tense, icy stare burning into yours, arms folded on the table, the gold chains of his sleeve garters barely glinting in the dim light. He looked away but you could see his cheeks were flushed with blood even in the glow of the oil lamps.

Pretending nothing happened was going to be impossible.

***

to be continued!

[blackkatmagic]

How about 75 for Padme/Arla

When Arla wakes up, she’s somewhere very different from the battlefield she last remembers. Her wounds are wrapped, her armor is off, and she’s sprawled out on an obscenely soft bed, the whisper of windchimes in the distance. A warm breeze is carrying through the wide balcony doors overlooking a lake she doesn’t remember ever seeing before, and the sun is high.

There's also an incredibly lovely woman leaning against the balcony railing, watching her thoughtfully.

Just about the last thing Arla expected was to wake up in queen’s bed.

“I’ll have you know my armor is beskar and I’d like it back,” she says, sitting up carefully. The blanket pools around her waist, but—if Queen Amidala objects to seeing her almost naked, she can give Arla back her clothes, and then they’ll both be happier.

“I sent it for cleaning,” Padmé says, and she pushes away from the railing, crossing the wide balcony and stepping into the room. Arla can't see any handmaidens or security, and that seems like an oversight. Or maybe like Padmé wants something.

Cocking a brow, Arla leans forward, drawing a knee up and bracing a forearm against it. “Does that mean I’ll get it back?” she asks, and smirks when Padmé’s eyes very definitely flicker across the fall of her hair, the curve of her breasts in her bra. She really wants something, then.

“Eventually,” Padmé says, and takes a seat on the edge of the bed, smoothing her skirts like that will cover the flash of a thin knife, the shape of a dainty little blaster in an able holster. “I must admit, I'm rather interested in how the Mand'alor came to intervene in an attempt on my life, Lady Arla.”

Arla gives her a cocky smirk through a tangle of blonde hair, not moving. “Personal interest,” she says, and when Padmé just raises a brow, Arla lets her smile go lazy and predatory. “I'm a Mando, little queen. Nothing’s free. Pay me for the info and it’s yours.”

 For an instant she thinks Padmé is going to scowl at her, show frustration, give in. Instead, Padmé tips her head, considers—

Lunges.

It’s the very last thing Arla is expecting, and she can't dodge in time, can't do anything. Padmé pins her to the bed, and there's no weapon in her hand but there could be, and they both know it. When she leans in, the heavy coils of her hair sliding over her shoulders, it’s a dare, and Arla can see the dark sort of certainty in her eyes, the weight.

She’s been a queen for years. For as many terms as her planet allows, and her people even tried to change that, to give her more time in office. The whole galaxy has been lawless for far too long, but—Naboo is one of the planets that’s still standing. Naboo and its queen, and even the Sith Empire hasn’t gained a foothold here.

“That was your brother,” Padmé says, and one delicate, steel-strong hand is on Arla's chest, pinning her to the soft bed. “In the blue armor. That was Jango Fett. I thought you deposed him.”

“I did,” Arla says, and bares her teeth. “And he’s not my brother anymore.”

Padmé considers that, then tips her head, allowing the correction. “Why would Jango want me dead?” she asks.

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Arla says grimly, because they're Mandalorian. Even if Jango is all tangled up with the Sith, he should know better than to actually work for them. They're the reason Jaster vanished, after all. She dragged him off his throne for listening to the wrong people, for trying to get them involved in Sith infighting, and she’d have thought that Jango would have learned by now, but—

“And what,” Arla asks, “are you going to pay me for that information, my queen?”

Padmé smiles, perfect and lovely and far too intriguing. “You fainted,” she say. “Right into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention, Mand'alor, you didn’t have to go to such extremes.”

Arla laughs, tilting her head back, and she slides her hands up, curls them around Padmé’s waist. “So now I'm just returning the favor?” she asks. “Paying you back for your gentle care? I got that wound saving your shebs, you know.”

“You got it picking a fight with your brother,” Padmé corrects, and she leans down, close enough to kiss. The weight of her astride Arla's hips is almost enough to steal Arla's breath entirely. “If we’re trading favors, Mand'alor, I think the advantage is mine.”

Arla hums, tips her head. Padmé is watching her, careful dark eyes and red lips, and she’s the last bastion of an ancient Republic holding firm against the Sith. The Mandalorians could do worse, as far as allies go. “And what do you want in return, Padmé?” she asks, deliberately familiar, a dare of her own.

Padmé smiles, quick and bright, and leans down, veiling them in brown hair and the smell of Naboo’s roses. “Guess, Arla,” she returns, and then she’s gone, a bright whirl of cloth vanishing through the wide doors in a sweep of silk and hidden weapons.

Arla lies where she is, trying to catch her breath, and then laughs.