#those kids tried to overthrow each other that’s different

[visenyaism]

i mean aegon unworthy’s kids did try to overthrow them. i get your point but that is very much a thing that happened

theygon unworthy? innovative. fresh. exciting. tell me more

[siolixz]

~Veils Of Crimson~

Chapter 5: part 1

Pairings: oz cobb x reader (Carmine Falcone's daughter)

<chapter 1> <chapter 2> <chapter 3><chapter 5: part 2>

Oz got what he wanted. As he always does. Reader slowly begins peeling back the veil around her- the truth will come to light soon.

I decided to split this chapter in 2 parts because in part 2 there is a scene in which something not that nice happens and that's all I'm gonna say.

I took my inspo from Driving Miss Falcone by (https://www.tumblr.com/genevievedarcygranger here on tumblr), check out the story if you can.

Enjoy, give feeback if u want ily xoxo.

Warnings: mature language, Oz is a manipulative bastard, smexy stuff happening at the end.

Apparently Sofia and Oz have got themselves a partnership. One based on mutual suspicion and distrust, you thought. When you guys left that night, you were in the backseat, Sofia and Oz in the front-with Oz driving. “Just like old times” she said, like old times my ass- you guys didn’t talk to each other at all during the drive, except Oz glancing at you in the back every so often-everything was quiet. 

You finally saw what your brother and sister were up to, it was…different, to say the least.

If they wanted to get their product on the market and somehow overthrow the Falcone operation, they needed manpower and connections, lots and lots of connections.

 Sofia was really going forward with this mad plan. She knew virtually nothing about how this world works and yet she found herself a kingpin. Great. 

Talking to the second in command of the triads wasn't easy but Oz’s smooth talking pulled them through- as he told you.

You talked to Sofia as well, that night, she stopped the car outside and you had the chance to talk to your sister, that didn’t go as smoothly:

“I heard you two are gonna sell ‘Bliss’ tomorrow- at Oz’s club. I wanna be there too, ya know? Not be put on the side lines like today at the meeting.”

“That can’t happen.” Sofia lit herself up a cigarette while she had that poker face she always carried since coming back from Arkham- her words were cold.

“Why is that?” you asked

She took a deep breath and continued “I thought about it and I think the best course of action is if you stay put- at Oz’s place if you like, until we come back. We don’t know how Zao will react.”

There was a prolonged silence as you tried to process what she just told you. The street light that was illuminating your sister's face only further accentuated the harshness in her eyes.

“Stay put- like a dog, ok, got it.” you looked around, looking for anyone who might've been walking by and hearing.

“That is not what I wanted to say, If it makes you feel better- Viti told me to leave as well.” 

“Ok so why don’t you?” you shot back- angry at her orders.

Sofia took a step closer, the scent of smoke and expensive perfume infiltrated your nostrils while she looked at you like you just cussed her out “Are you fucking kidding me? Not you too” She probably felt betrayed- but in that moment you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

“Sofia, this shit you got in your head, about taking over- this ain’t our game to play. We don’t even know the rules.” Your voice almost broke in desperation. Desperation that your sister might still listen to reason- might still turn back from this crazy plan that might get her killed. How could she know anything about being a kingpin?

“No. This is my birthright and I am taking it, this shit you’re talking about- all those snakes back at home, they said the same as you-” The memory of the people you knew very well from back home ignited her need for revenge even more you were well aware of that.

“This path you’re going down on, it’s dark and littered with blood and death, after escaping from that hellhole, I thought you had enough.”Your voice broke at the last word.

That place already took so much from her, why is she so stubborn?

For a moment, something flickered in her eyes—a shadow of doubt, perhaps—but it was gone as quickly as it came.

Her jaw clenched, and she shook her head. “No, it seems I haven’t.” The finality of her words made your heart clench. You knew the pain inside of her was way greater than any need for power, you knew it ate her alive every day.

“Alright-”

Sofia took another drag of her cigarette “Seems like you already got yourself nice and comfy next to another murderer and schemer,”she said, her voice sharp and cutting, each word a deliberate slice.

A smirk played at the corner of her lips, taunting. "Or perhaps 'under him' would be more accurate."

Your jaw clenched, a hot flash of anger surging up your neck. You balled your fists by your sides, nails digging into your palms. “Oh, shut up, Sofia!” The words came out more forcefully than you intended, vibrating with the pent-up frustration that had been simmering inside, both of you bound by the unspoken truth of who you were and what you had become.

You took a shaky breath, feeling your chest tighten as the rush of emotions threatened to spill over. “You’ve been cold and distant ever since I saw you again,” you said, your voice wavering between anger and hurt. “What did you want me to do?” Your eyes searched hers, hoping to find some flicker of the sister you once knew.

“I lost my dad and my brother in the span of one week,” you continued, your throat constricting. The memory sent a sharp ache through your chest, but you pressed on, keeping your chin up despite the burning behind your eyes. “And it seems like my sister has forgotten my entire existence.”

You swallowed hard, shifting your weight as the vulnerability made you feel exposed. “I am—we are—women in this world,” you said, the words quivering with the raw truth of it. “All we have been taught is that we need to be protected and that we need to be subservient.” Your gaze hardened, eyes narrowing slightly as you looked at her. “I am sorry I can’t change the game. I would love to, but I can’t—and neither can you.”

She looked at the ground before lifting her head and responding, her eyes didn’t look remorseful. “I know and that is ok… I’ll make new rules.”

“Yeah, good fucking luck with that.” you turned and left after that comment. 

Whatever the fuck was she thinking? Let’s change 100 years of tradition and indoctrination because I am back from a mental asylum and need to be respected as the head of the Falcone mob.

Back at his place, after the meal- you and Oz retreated to the bedroom. He was sitting on the couch, whiskey in hand, eyes narrowing as you spoke, letting you say your piece.

“Say something” you commanded of him, Oswald barely kept his mouth shut and now he was as quiet as a mouse

“Listen, sweetheart, there’s a lot of things I can say but one is pretty darn clear” he sipped the last bit of whiskey he had left.

“your sister…she ain’t right in the head no more. I know this might seem hard to understand, but I saw it with my own eyes I mean, she shot two people point blank and ever since coming home-” you couldn’t believe what he was telling you “ she ain’t the woman you used to know.” he said softly- like that time in the restaurant when he told you about Alberto.

You looked down at your feet “I guess” He came next to you on the bed “Look at me” he said- your eyes stayed on the ground

“Look at me. Don’t go crying now.” you lifted your head from the floor and looked into his brown eyes

 “Your sister is ambitious, yes, but without me doll, she ain’t got much going for her- I mean yeah she’s the daughter of Carmine and ambitious as hell since coming back but that’s about it.”

“She also has the drug-”

“-Yes yes and that, but that’s about it. We need a bigger fish to pull these ones out of the water. Viti is gonna help us with that.” He looked at you with a small smile and a twinkle in his eyes- like before he said a joke.

“Viti doesn’t even like you guys-” you were confused, your mind racing as you watched Oz rise from the couch and walk toward one of the lockers on the wall, you couldn’t help but wonder what kind of secrets he kept hidden.

What else could he be hiding?

He opened a dossier and sat back down beside you, flipping through it like he had all the time in the world. When you saw the photos—Viti with Luca’s wife—you couldn’t hold back a surprised laugh.

Now that you didn’t expect.

Oz leaned back, smirking, his eyes cold as he glanced at you. “See, they all got secrets.”

You turned to face him, feeling that familiar knot in your stomach, but you still had to ask. “Yeah- what’s yours?”

Oz’s gaze locked on you, and for a split second, you saw something flicker—was it a warning? Maybe a little too sharp, a little too calculating.

He smiled slowly, a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “I ain’t got none.”

The club mission was a failure, clearly.

The wreckage of the car outside was enough proof of that. As Oz slammed the door open with a force that made the hinges groan, you could feel the tension in the air—the kind that felt like the world itself was about to come undone.

“Where the hell are you!?” he bellowed, his voice sharp, panic mixing with anger. When he saw you, his face twisted into something hard, something you hadn’t seen before. Without another word, he grabbed you by the arm, yanking you toward him.

“Did you talk to your sister?” 

“N-no, why?”

His words came in a rush: “Sofia—she made a deal with the Maronis. As soon as the deal was done, they tried fuckin’ kill me.”

You froze, the weight of his words crashing over you like a tidal wave.

How could she?

The question burned through your mind, but before you could respond, Oz was already on you again.

“Give me your phone. Now.”

He was forceful, more so than ever before. His hand darted into your pocket before you could even think, his fingers wrapping around your phone. There was no hesitation. No gentleness. He ripped it out and, before you could react, crushed it beneath the cold barrel of his gun, the sound of the phone shattering filling the room.

“What the hell are you doing?” The words left your mouth before you could even stop them, the confusion and disbelief clear in your voice.

Oz didn’t flinch, his eyes cold as ice. “We can't stay here. Come on, we have to go.”

When Oz came back home and told you the news, you knew who did it.

Sofia.

How could she?

Gone was the sister you once knew and loved and she was replaced with a psychopath who would stop at nothing to achieve her goals, a monster.

The police came and questioned you- they asked you where you were and you told them you wanted nothing to do with your sister, for you- she died 10 years ago. 

Things changed so much over the course of a few weeks- Oz had his own operation after stealing it from the Maronis, you thought he had what he wanted now, but no.

Sofia and Sal were after him and he was a man emboldened by the flame of ambition and power.

 His behavior changed, he started acting differently towards you- sure, he was still the same passionate man you knew but he was different- whenever he would visit you he would look at you differently, a certain gleam in his eyes. Like a guy that just won the lottery. 

You felt numb, your whole life has been destroyed and he was the last thing you had- maybe you should’ve been more careful.

Victor visited you often “to check up on you”- you would often talk to the young man about different subjects, about family and how things can change. You found a friend in Vic soon enough and you knew he felt the same towards you. 

When you guys would eat dinner together- after a hard day at work for both of them you would smile at each when you placed their food on the plates.

You would joke with BOTH of them at the table- you would share stories; you would also say ‘thank you’ and ‘please’ to BOTH of them. So why on earth did Oz send glares Vic’s way whenever you would look at him? Like he wanted to yell.

Whenever you would talk to Victor, he would always interrupt you two- with something HE had to say.

Oz acted like a spoiled brat- wanting all of your attention. 

You mostly ignored his ugly looks and snarky remarks towards the young man; he must’ve had a hard day at work.

Sometimes after dinner- he would send Victor away and as he came back to the room you shared he would turn you around on the bed and fuck you until you were sore. Your sweet Oz was gone those nights- replaced with a brute of a man. His grip so hard on you it would leave bruises. 

This ‘relationship’ you two had- it turned more into an ownership of you and he relished in that fact. He would whisper to you at night how you two couldn't leave each other- Sofia would kill you both. 

He was all you had left.

You would lie awake, longing for your old home, where butlers moved gracefully through the halls and your siblings waited to hear your stories- where you’ve been; what you bought lately and all the gossip you would share with them over dinner.

You cried at night more than once, quietly, longing for the laughter and innocence you had left behind.

There had always been hints, moments when you glimpsed the truth: Oz was always two steps ahead.

His charm was his greatest weapon, wielded with precision until he claimed everything he desired.

Now, as he kissed your forehead, a triumphant smile playing on his lips, he said, “I did it. I showed them all.” His voice brimmed with pride. “I’m the king now.”

His power outstripped even that of your father’ and his influence spread across the underworld of Gotham City like dark tendrils- nothing moved without him knowing or having a say in it, he ruled with an iron fist all the unseen acts that plagued this city.

He was richer than your father ever was; he rebuilt Crown Point- he made the people believe that someone was looking out for them and he reveled in his victories.

When he would turn to you and ask, “Are you proud of me?” you would nod, a hesitant ‘yes’ slipping from your lips—whether out of fear, habit, or the last remnants of genuine admiration, you couldn’t say.

When he told you that you would become “Mrs. Cobb,” dread took root in your chest. The proposal wasn’t accompanied by the rush of joy you once dreamed about.

Instead, it was a heavy proclamation, laced with inevitability. 

Oz’s love, though real, was cold and calculating, much like your father’s had been and his passion, though fierce, masked an unnatural need to control.

The friendly man who once drove you around and helped you with the smallest of tasks had faded, replaced by a king in his castle, imperious and unyielding, his word was law in this tower he built for you.

 “It’s all for you-all of it.” he would say

He presented the ring—a dazzling 9.7-carat oval diamond that seemed to mock your lack of freedom. He had you right where he wanted. The dutiful wife, the future mother of his children—a living doll.

You played your part, mostly.

The penthouse’s grandeur became a gilded cage, its wealth unable to fill the void left by days spent alone.

The designer clothes and generous allowances he handed you no longer brought excitement, just a hollow echo of the life you once knew.

You didn’t know what you felt for him anymore, was it love? You knew him very well and you cared for his well being, he was your husband after all.

But this love you carried for him, it twisted and turned when you would ask yourself “was this necessary?” you would’ve loved him even as a driver and as a club owner. You never asked him to do all this for you. 

The penthouse you lived in was a masterpiece of modern opulence mixed with the old grandeur of the Falcone villa.

High ceilings stretched above great windows that overlooked Gotham’s skyline, capturing the sprawling city in all its moody grandeur. Sunlight poured through the windows during the golden hours, casting long, warm shadows across the polished marble floors. Despite the luxury, an eerie silence lingered, interrupted only by the soft ticking of an antique clock and the quiet whispers of the house staff—a stark contrast to the bustle that once filled your childhood home.

Everything spoke of power: the leather-bound books you never touched, the marbled flooring and opulent pieces of furniture; the grand piano that hadn’t played a note since it was installed, and the chandelier that sparkled overhead like a captive constellation. 

One late afternoon, as the sun dipped and painted the city in hues of gold and amber, you sat in the living room scrolling through your phone, disconnected from everything around you. The soft sound of footsteps pulled you from your trance. A maid stood beside you, her hands clasped, eyes wide with nervousness.

“Ma’am, a letter arrived for you.” 

“Who is it from?” your eyes didn’t leave the phone you had in your hand.

“A woman- her name is Selina Kyle.” the maid answered

As you opened the black envelope and read the context of the letter your jaw dropped. This woman- she was your half sister, she wanted to know you- to meet you. She said she was scared to write this letter in case you didn’t want anything to do with her, but she had to get in contact with you; she had a plan to get-

“Good evening, sir.” you heard the maid that gave you the envelope greet the master of the house. 

Shit.

  His footsteps echoed on the marble floor, each one a drumbeat against your chest.

He knew every corner, every inch of this house, and you dreaded that he might have seen you hide something.

“There she is,” he exclaimed, “how are you doll?” he came over and kissed you. After the quick peck he went over to the bar he had near one of the windows to pour himself some whiskey. 

“I’m good, you?” you tried your best to not look suspicious- he was too perceptive, always watching and always knowing.

“Good, good- I met up with a bunch of congressmen tonight- bunch of ass kissers.” he chuckled in his glass and poured you some wine as well.

“Oh- I don’t want anything to drink Oz.” 

“Why? Something the matter- " he raised an eyebrow at you as he turned around" -don’t tell me you’re gonna make me the happiest man alive tonight.” he proudly announced

“No- I'm just… very tired, ya know? I was going to head to bed.” you stepped away from the couch and went towards the older man “Maybe you can join me.”

Distract him.

He smiled at you “Can never say no to you, can I?” He asked “I have to give some phone calls and I’ll join you.” 

You smiled at turned around to leave.

“Why don’t you put on one of the dresses I got you. Show them to me- just like old times.” 

Oz loved reminiscing, he loved telling you stories of the things you used to do back then- how you acted. You were kinda spoiled but oh well. You were now too. 

He would encourage you to buy whatever you wanted, whatever you needed and desired– it was yours. He was happy to see you spoiled and enjoying the sort of things this life- your life together brought you.

Sometimes after he would come home you would play dress up for him and show him all the things you got yourself as he sipped some cognac on the couch and compliment you, saying how most of the things you got for yourself reminded him of when you were younger– still the same tastes.

Oswald waited patiently until all that was left would’ve been the lingerie section- that was his favorite, after all the anticipation he was more than ready to pull you on the couch on top of him or under him. Completely not caring if one of your maids or butlers would walk past or hear.

You promised him you will and got your phone and the book from the table; climbing the steps until you got upstairs in the master bedroom you two shared.

A big and gorgeous room filled with the opulence Oswald was so keen on sharing to the world. You shoved the letter in your purse and went into the closet to change.

After dressing up, you laid on the bed and at one point you must’ve fallen asleep because the feeling of having your dress pulled up with the familiar weight of your husband's body next to you as he was grabbing your ass woke you up.

“Are you tired sweetheart?” he whispered in your ear as his hands went to your pussy, softly rubbing circles on top of your panties.

You nodded, knowing it won’t make a difference for him. He pulled your leg over his body as he laid next to you. 

You turned the upper part of your body to kiss him, he grabbed your breast as well “You look beautiful baby.” He whispered next to your ear.

 You loved this man and you hated what he had to do to get here- you loved his ambition and calculating nature; you hated that he placed your sister in a mental asylum and that he got rid of everything that reminded you of any sort of normality- he wanted you all to himself. 

What did he do to Victor? Where was he? He was your friend. 

As he grabbed your lips between his you tried to forget. You had a lead now- something you could be doing, you had to read the letter once again but you were sure now that maybe this woman could help you two. 

You had to see your sister.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's note: I already wrote part 2- I just need to edit it and add some things. The story will end here with them 2. I hope that I could showcase Oz's nature well enough.

I don't want to say a lot about the next part but it will be- something, to say the least. I wanted to really tune it up but I think AO3 might be a better place for that lol still have one story left to write with Oz, about him and his daughters, I can't wait to show you guys.

Also, If you have any sort of ideas or something about one-shots, pls tell me- give me some inspo. Thank you for reading :))))))))))))

[kitkats-and-kittens]

Spoilers for Pjo now I guess. Never thought I’d have to type that out.

I have a feral urge to write a fanfic from the perspective of Olympus while all the events of Pjo where going down.

Like what were the political standings like when it was Zeus vs Posiden and it looked like another war was about to break out?

What were the Gods relations with one another and what were their relationships like with the other nymphs and Saytrs and Minor Gods that live on that mountain?

I know Hades isn’t really close with anyone on Olympus but do Zeus and Posiden have any sort of relationship with their sisters?

What about Hephaestus and Ares. They weren’t on good terms in the myths but Aphrodites story is presented a lot differently in the books from traditional Greek hyms.

How is Ares and Zeus’ relationship. It must be pretty strong if Zeus doesn’t punish him for switching over to Kronos side just for the sake of starting a war when Apollo interacting with one of his descendants to give Octavian his blessings was punished as badly as him killing the cyclopses or killing Python, and overthrowing Zeus.

What about the girls? Do Athena and Artemis get along? They’ve both taken vows of chastity and are both adept in weapons and fighting (plus they both piss of Aphrodite, if that’s not something to bond over then what is)

Like I need to know how they all interact with each over, who they like and dislike and why?

I also would love to see how trauma affects their view of the world.

I mean Demeter, Hestia, Hera, Hades, Posiden and Zeus’ father tried to murder them when they were born so I imagine their judgment on healthy household relations is understandably skewed.

And then there’s the next generation.

Athena, Aries, Hephaestus, Artemis and Apollo.

Athena is canonically the golden child in the myths so how does that affect her?

She tried to overthrow Zeus in the myths so there’s clearly some tension there. Does she like being his favourite child or does she despise the pressure constantly placed on her to conform to an unreachable standard of perfection?

And What about Ares and Hephaestus? Hera considered them both embarrassments in different ways. Of course the infamous story of Hephaestus’ birth and how ugly he was, but then there’s Ares who is constantly in his sisters shadow despite them both being Gods of war.

It would’ve shamed Hera in those times to have a son who looses out to the bastard child of one of Zeus flings, but to have two sons both be subpar compared to the kids Zeus had with other woman?

That’s gotta create some rivalry for daddy’s favourite, and maybe a silent understanding between Ares and his brother.

And then we have the twins. Apollo who looking at all his attributes is definitely suffering from some sort of burnout as well as his father constantly punishing him with lightning probably some resentment there and maybe even some towards Artemis.

As far as we know she’s never been in trouble with Zeus despite ‘meddling in mortal affairs’ by helping Leo and Piper. Again maybe something to do with favouritism Zeus seems very partial to the woman in his family. Plus she doesn’t spend a lot of time on Olympus, maybe she’s as silently resentful as Apollo.

Though we see her worrying for him in blood of Olympus and he breaks the ancient ‘no meddling’ laws in Titans curse in order to help save her. So they’re clearly close, but I don’t think she knows about the lightning thing. I’m not sure if Zeus punishes just Apollo with it, though we hear no mention of any of the other gods experiencing physical abuse from their father.

Then we have the youngest and most recent generation (I’m splitting them into their own category cause they’re the only major gods to be birthed by humans)

Dionysus and Hermes.

We see in sea of monsters that Hermes doesn’t seem to really find joy in his position as a god anymore, maybe the stuff he did used to be fun but it’s gotten monotonous, even stressful with how much stuff he has to do and with no one to help.

Honestly maybe that’s a bonding experience? Him and Apollo silently lamenting about how exhausted they are by all their jobs?

And Dionysus. He seems to be seen as some sort of perpetual joke by Zeus, at least in the books. I mean why else give such a long winded and honestly disproportional response for such a minor action.

I mean even Apollos punishment (though being a lot worse) only lasted a couple months.

And the thing I haven’t even touched on with Hermes and Dionysus being from human descent. Do they miss their old lives?

Hermes had only been born a couple days before he was sent to Olympus, but still, it wasn’t as though he could bring his mother with him. Does he miss her? Or see her as some stranger he left behind. Did he mourn her death? Did Dionysus mourn his own mother. Was he angry with Zeus when he learnt his own father was the reason for her death? If he did what could he do about it?

And Dionysus spent years in the human realm (depending on which myths you look at) did he have friends? Lovers? How did he feel when they died and he continued to live on?

The Gods are left relatively untouched despite being such a large part of the series and it’s events, even ToA doesn’t give us a lot more than what audience already knew from myths and reading previous books.

They’re so intriguing to me because there’s something so human about their actions despite how vehemently they’d probably claim against it. In some ways they’re almost identical to people and it makes me slightly insane that we’ll never get to know everything about them all and the lives they led before the events of the series in modern New York.

[bokutosmochi]

MEMENTO MORI ♡ ZENIN MAKI

zenin maki x fem!reader

"two orders of ice cream crepe for zenin maki and anon please!"

ingredients? you and maki get sent on a mission to retrieve one of sukuna's fingers in an art gallery

what's it? angst

allergen warnings? talks about canon compliant death and mortality, reader's parents forced her to be a jujutsu sorcerer, talks of reader's parents using her

sugar level? 1.5k

regulars? @tokyometronetwork @tahonet

parlor's note? ... first wlw fic i wrote and it's about a topic like this :/

bon appetit!

"y'know when i was a kid, i always wanted to be an artist. had a knack for it too." you crossed your legs in the limousine the school provided for you -- the art gallery expected you and maki to be daughters of one of the elites, they knew you two under a different name as well.

the car passed by a green area, filled with trees and other greenery just as maki turned to you. no longer hindered by the leaves and thick branches, the sun shone on your face, covered by a thin layer of makeup, casting you in its golden light and halo. "my teachers would always compliment my drawings, and my classmates would frequently ask me to draw them. i never minded, though i think if it happened a few more times, i'd start to think it was annoying. maybe i would charge them a few yen for it too." you laughed humorlessly.

you didn't have to explain anything anymore. maki and you were close. she aware of your living situation and how it was the opposite of hers -- while she forced her family in becoming a jujutsu sorcerer, enrolling in the school against their desire, your family decided for you. they didn't ask for your opinion and signed you up to tokyo metropolitan jujutsu technical high school without your knowledge, and shipped you off to the heart of japan a week before class started. "you're blessed with such a cursed technique." they tried to excuse their filthy behavior. "it'd be a shame if you didn't utilize it."

you realized why exactly they did what they did during your phone calls after school during your first year - you cut off all connections to them during your second year - they wanted you to surpass gojo. they hated the white haired sorcerer with a passion, they yearned for the wealth and fame your sensei has for being a sorcerer of his level. both your parents wanted to overthrow him and gain the power he has, but they were unable to do so. that was the reason they got together and had you. it was not because they loved each other, not because they wanted a child of their own to take care of, but because they wanted a heir that would be powerful enough to be better than the gojo satoru.

you closed your eyes after that, basking in the warmth, the feeling of the sun kissing your skin, and the classical music ijichi had playing on the radio. neither of the three of you felt the need to fill the space with unnecessary chatter.

"remember not to spend too much time in there. retrieve sukuna's finger then leave as inconspicuously as you can." the older man reminded you when you finally reached your destination. "i'll be waiting here for the both of you, but just in case something happens, you have my number correct?"

you responded in the affirmative, before stretching your legs and leaving the car.

the art gallery was of higher class and the fact was obvious just stepping foot into the establishment. violin and piano music reverberated throughout the entire place, giving it the feel that not every art lover was welcome, they only accommodated those they look at as deserving of their time and effort. the building itself is reminiscent of statues carved from marble back in the earlier days. it in of itself was undoubtedly artwork, detailed, classy, and refined.

an usher appeared by your side as you were taking it all in, voice gentle enough to not disturb you from your admiration of his workplace. "ms. oniishi, ms. takeshita, we have been expecting you." he bowed. his voice hinted at british origins, but he looked japanese, about in his late twenties, clean shaven and was wearing a neatly ironed suit.

you and maki bowed politely to him as well. "i am aware our fathers have already informed you of our private tour?" the woman next to you conversed with him effortlessly. the way she enunciated the word private made it seem like she meant it a different way than what was usual.

"of course, right this way." he led you through pathways decorated with paintings, some you have seen and are familiar with, and some you are not. there were also a healthy amount of sculptures and plants in expensive looking pots.

"i understand you would prefer to not have a guide for today's ventures?"

"yes, that's preferable, thank you." maki nodded at him with finality ringing through her voice and with a final bow, the man left the two of you alone, "well, feel free to stay and marvel at our wonderful collection of arrworks for as long as you would like. please enjoy."

there was a mutual understanding between you and the girl you were with when the man left. you did not need to speak it out loud -- it was time to look for sukuna's finger.

thankfully, there was not a lot of people passing by the exhibits so you were free to look around as you pleased, although you kept the presence of cctv cameras in the back of your mind. the only downside was that maki could only use her vision to look for the cursed object, unlike you who could both look for it, and sense the intense cursed energy it radiated.

at first, you thought that because of that, it may take you a while to discover where the finger lay, but it was a cakewalk. you found it on the floor, discreetly pressed against the wall behind madonna of brudges. you "accidentally" dropped your lipstick, and it landed right next to what you actually needed to retrieve so you gracefully bent down to grab both items, swiftly encasing them safely inside your bag.

"good job," the sorcerer greeted you with a rare genuine smile on her face before looking around the place. "we should probably stay for longer though. we've only been here for.." she checked the dainty gold watch on her wrist "thirty minutes. and this place is huge, it'd be suspicious if we left so early."

you agreed with her and really drank in your environment. you have been experiencing artist's block for the past few months, and as they say, art inspires art. maybe this is just what you needed, and even if it doesn't work, admiring pieces of art never hurt anyone. in fact, in this case, it might be more beneficial.

you took a longer time than maki whenever gazing at the paintings. being an artist, it prompted you to think about things, factors that came into play when the masterpiece was being painted that non-artists did not think of. she understood that, so she just let you be and stood quietly behind you. every so often, she would turn around and lean against the staircase behind you, people watching. after some wordless walking around though, there was a piece of art that struck a chord in you, said chord was too loud, it bounced around your brain like the dvd symbol whenever the dvd player was empty, waiting for the disk to be placed upon it.

"you know, this painting, it really is something." you mumbled quietly, so quietly that maki didn't know whether she was supposed to hear it or if you were just talking to yourself. but then, you answered her unasked question when you turned to her with a small smile. "are you familiar with this painting?"

"can't say that i am."

"it was painted by an artist named paul cezanne back in 1901, if i remember correctly. it belongs to a genre called vanitas paintings which are.." you stopped to try and phrase the words you wanted to say correctly, unconsciously clenching your fists while you were at it. "interesting to say the least."

"they're paintings whose main theme is memento mori; the inevitably of death. just kinda hits different because of our situation as jujutsu sorcerers." you smiled bitterly, no sort of amusement or happiness behind it; appropriate for a topic so bleak.

"the painting's named a pyramid of skulls and many people have their own interpretations of what it means. all of it surrounds death though, of course." your voice trailed down to a hopeless mutter.

no jujutsu sorcerer dies without regret

"gojo-sensei always told me that although we must always work with our fellow sorcerers, we will die alone, but i hope that things don't feel as sad as that. this painting, it kind of reminds me of us." you paused. "at the end of the day, we'll always die for.. almost the same cause."

"it does feel a little depressing, huh?" she hummed to which you just nodded.

no words were needed to be said, the way she held your hand and nudged you to rest your head on her shoulder was enough.

i get: reblog

you get: a painting

[reginaldqueribundus]

Things about One Piece that crack me tf up

not one single character has worn an eyepatch in over 20 years of this 1,000+ chapter pirate manga

there's like… laser guns and cyborgs and CCTV but everyone's still using sailboats to get around (with square sails no less)

there are canonically three different kinds of furries

Luffy hangs around all day with the only person in the world who knows where the Death Star is, but he doesn't give a shit

Eiichiro Oda has spent more than half of his life so far writing and drawing One Piece. at age 22 he created his first ever manga series and it became the bestselling comic book in history and when it finally ends he can probably just retire

Oda planned One Piece would last about five years. This was in 1997

Oda just casually confirming his universe has SECRET ANCIENT MOON CIVILIZATIONS with ROBOT ARMIES and FUCKING SPACE PIRATES, and possibly ACTUAL ALIENS… in a fucking chapter cover story. And then never mentioning it again for 14 actual real-world years

eat a devil fruit. is it the one that makes you a godlike indestructible force of nature, or the one that makes you a rubber band who can't swim? welp

Sengoku is one of the most serious characters in the whole series, he runs the military, but he has a giant stupid afro and a pet goat that follows him everywhere and he can turn into a giant buddha with an even bigger afro

Chopper was just vibing as an animal and then one day he ate a weird fruit and woke up with self-awareness and hopes and dreams and anxiety and now he has a medical degree? the reindeer, he walks like a man

Dr. Hiliruk is basically one of those hippie moms who tries to cure measles with essential oils and shit but he's also one of the most heroic characters in the entire series

it's one of the goofiest wackiest manga out there but when you look closely the setting is actually a morally grey hellworld mostly run by a corrupt government built on secrets and lies which only exists to support cartoonishly evil aristocrats who live on a mountain beating slaves all day, and the rest is either lawless wastelands or controlled by 10 foot tall invincible psychopaths who could easily take over the rest of the world if they didn't all hate each other

the Celestial Dragons commit horrific atrocities every 0.001 seconds but they all dress like fucking idiots and have Dr. Seuss haircuts

there's a guy named Dragon who has dedicated his life to destroying them

Luffy meets people and goes "you're my friend now" and they have like no choice in the matter

Luffy: I'm not a hero! also Luffy: I will not rest until I crush this cruel tyrant who is taking food away from little kids

his grandpa is a world-famous war hero and his dad is trying to overthrow the entire government but Luffy doesn't even care

characters will show up and be like "I'm an 800-year-old time traveler from a lost period of history" and the story is like "that's neat. time for fifty pages of men crying"

Buggy the stupid fucking circus clown with blue hair and a flying penis, who spent his formative years with the literal greatest pirate in the entire world and yet somehow completely sucks shit, has more screen time than the main character's mentor and beloved elder brother combined. love it.

now that Jinbe has joined the crew Robin finally has another person with more than one brain cell to talk to

Brook became a global rockstar while being a skeleton and his fans just rolled with it

the Marines show up at his concert and accuse him of being a random pirate from 50 years ago and he's like "yes I am that pirate and I'm quitting the music gig to go back to being a pirate, also I work for the guy at the top of your shit list!"

[gamerbearmira]

Red Queen AU

(This is an AU based on one of my favorite book series. Feel free to ignore this, I know it's long and confusing.)

In this AU the Madrigals are people who have silver blood, this type of blood allows them to have powers and abilities, and this allows them to be considered nobility.

Mirabel is not a silver, instead, she is a New Blood, someone who has red blood but has stronger and better versions of the powers and abilities Silvers have.

The Madrigals still live in the Encanto but it’s more of a kingdom now, where they’re the only silvers there and married Red, ordinary people.

Alma is Silver who has the ability of telekinesis, I tried to keep her as normal as possible, she’s still the matriarch and leader of the Encanto, Basically regular Alma. Pedro however was a New Blood but didn’t have an outgoing and Strong ability and tried to keep it hidden. After his death, Alma thought her kids’ Silver abilities would keep them safe so she fixated on those.

There are other silvers in this AU but they work under the Madrigals and work for them. No one is as strong as the family as no one tries to overthrow them. Compared to the Madrigals, they’re all weak and aren’t considered to have powers, but they are still considered nobility, but the Madrigals are ROYALTY and are the bosses of everything, well Alma is.

Julieta: A skin Healer, someone who has the ability to heal others but not themselves. Skin-to-skin contact is needed.

Pepa: A storm. Someone who can manipulate weather, but like in Encanto it’s directly tied to her emotions, however, with enough training, she can fully control the weather whoever she pleases.

Bruno: He still has the ability to see into the future, this is called Eyes, the ability to see into the future. Bruno is still seen as Bad Luck Bruno and doesn’t use his abilities as much.

The triplets are incredibly close, seeing each other as each others rocks.

Julieta does marry Agustin and Papa does marry Felix, two ordinary Reds, much to Alma’s dismay, but was actually pleased with the result.

Isabella: A Green Warden, or a Greeny. She still has control over plant life and nature. She is still Señorita Perfecta the face of the kingdom. Everything is Pink and roses, she’s Alma’s favorite. Much like canon Isa, she doesn’t want to be perfect and wants to explore her powers but she’s afraid of the disappointment of her Abuela. 

Delores: Deciding her ability was kind of hard of to find out, but ultimately I decided that she’s silk. They are agile, quick, and quite almost catlike. Swifts are considered formidable warriors and spies. That’s mainly what she uses her abilities for. Her powers basically enhance her senses and increase their stamina and reflexes. She knows everything about everyone.

Luisa: Same old Luisa, sweet, kind, but believes she’s useless unless she’s Super strong, can create shockwaves just by clapping her hands and mini earthquakes simply by stomping her feet, she can also

jump incredibly high. She’s pretty much the same as canon Luisa, she overworks herself and doesn’t know how to say no, but loves her family more than anything.

Camilo: He’s a shifter, same as canon Camilo, carefree, funny, a trickster, a theater kid. He’s exactly the same our Camilo, the only difference is that he’s jealous of Mirabel, well, they’ll are.

And now to the star. Mirabel is New Blood. New Bloods are special, they have red blood, leading people to believe they’re powerless and normal until their powers manifest, and next thing you a large bolt of lightning cracks down on a group of bullies, then they all start floating and she suddenly vanishes.

Mirabel was born early and weak, everyone hopes that when her powers kicked up. Julieta used as much of her power to keep her daughter healthy and alive, but she could only do so much. They worried, even more, when Mirabel turned five her powers had never kicked in. Alma turned away from her, but kept a close eye on her to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She didn’t pay much mind to Mira and fixed on the rest of the family, she did however ask Bruno for a vision to see if there was something wrong, to which he left the same night and never told anyone what he saw.

————

Mirabel, at age ten, developed her first two powers. Yeah, the first two.

She was surrounded, by six bullies, some her sister’s age, some older. None of them were silvers, but they were big and definitely wanted to do harm. Poor Mirabel was terrified, no one could hear her, and no one would care. One of the bigger ones stepped closer to her, a rope in his hands. Mirabel, in a fit of panic, raised her hands and shouted. A loud crack and bright flashes blinded them all, followed by screams of pain and fear. Mira opens her eyes, electricity cracked around her arms and in her hair.

Did-did she do that? Someone else, an adult, stormed forward, a large fresh scar traced down his arm, a wooden stick clutched in his hands. Mirabel threw her palm to, in an attempt to defend herself, only for a shield of bright golden light to separate her from the now splintered stick. By now the family and several citizens raced after the giant lightning bolt. Everyone is shocked, before breathing the kids and then jumping the literal adult who is now punching the shield trying to get to the terrified ten-year-old. Alma, furious, marched forward and yanked the man by the back of his shirt.

“How dare you, that is a child!” The man, Ricardo, looked like a feral animal trapped in a web of vines. It looked the severity of the situation had finally hit him as he erupted into excuses and pleads, from he thought she was someone else to blaming her, saying how if she had stayed out of the way like she was told she wouldn’t get into trouble.

Alma couldn’t believe her ears. This grown man, clearly drunk, would attack her granddaughter, what would have happened if they weren’t here. So many kids, some teenagers, and a few adults. It was scary. So many people were willing to hurt a harmless Red, who apparently wasn’t so harmless. “Take him and anyone over the age of 18 to the prison house, anyone young takes them home and inform them that will be paying each one a visit so make sure you get names and addresses”, she told a guard. Alma turned over to her youngest granddaughter who was being fretted over by her parents, sisters, and aunt, no doubt overwhelming the poor frightened girl.

“Everyone, let’s go back to Casita. Mirabel must be overwhelmed and frightened, we’ll get answers tomorrow.” Alma gently patted Mirabels back and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder before leading the shaking child back to their home. Two abilities? TWO?? That was unheard of, she was a red. Normal and ordinary, suddenly called a bolt of lightning down and created a shield. This was certainly something that needed to be looked into. 

What do you mean by that last sentence 🤨🤨 REGARDLESS This is still cool⁉️⁉️ I’ve never read the book or heard of it, but doesn’t remind me of some manhua I’ve read! At least they were still looking out for her, I still think it’s kind cold that they still pushed her aside but hey, at least the noticed at some point. Even if the circumstances are very convenient. And does Alma even know??? That that variation of red exist or did Pedro’s just never live king enough to tell her. Cause frankly she shouldn’t be that surprised, especially if she already know.

Also I’m in dark mode so. I spent like 3 minutes longer reading this because it’s black in black ��💀

[davekat-sucks]

Personally i wish they didn't make Stolas a nice guy and kept him an asshole like he was implied to be in the first season. Stolas x Blitzo is more saucy and entertaining as a toxic relationship. They didn't really need a reason to make Stella the bad one in the relationship. Felt like it was a build up to nothing. Hope Verosika doesn't get the same treatment.

I think it's more of they haven't touch upon Stolas' views on the class differences still being the same that he was raised. That being he is a Prince, royalty, has better privilege compared to other demons and sinners, and all the imps are commoners. It is hinted a bit that he still views imps as lower beings, mostly to the crowd during the Harvest Festival and when he looks towards Moxxie and Millie, he refers to them as "little creatures", not saying Imp around Blitz. The reason he doesn't say that on the latter is because he makes a high exception to Blitz. Sure he does bow to Blitz to see him as an equal, but Stolas doesn't see other Imps as people or friends. They are just employees to him and he thinks they are this to Blitz too for his company. Even in the pilot, Stolas uses Blitz's business as a hitman to get closer to him too.

Stolas as a kid, didn't think about why his father suddenly got Blitz. Paimon literally bought him out, but Stolas doesn't question either his father or Blitz. He was too naïve just to have a friend around. Maybe near that end of the past segment, he had respected Blitz as a friend after their bonding, but it would return to him acting as a royalty with him and his family still viewing imps are lower class.

So even if Stolas and Blitz become a thing, there's a chance Stolas will only just spoil Blitz and do not do shit towards other imps. He may make an exception to Moxxie or Millie, but that is only because they have connections with his lover, not because he genuinely likes them or worries about them.

Blitz doesn't want to continue being seen or used as a plaything for Stolas. But does it only because he knows it makes him happy, satisfies each others' lust, possible regret for having to trick Stolas as a kid, and likely because he knows Stolas will still view Imps as lower beings. If not just Imps, just Blitz himself unless he gives in those demands because of his selfish desires and title that makes him submit to the higher being. It would not feel right if Stolas tries to put him in the same rich status with him. Because it will just remind Blitz that he had to trick and use Stolas to get that pass. From stealing those treasures to him getting down with Stolas to use that Grimoire for his mercenary job. With Stolas' status still on him, Blitz will be seen by the same low class peers as just an object for the Prince, not as his own being despite the class differences.

Another difference is that Blitz enjoys the freedom. Stolas would love the freedom for being himself, but is still bounded and groomed by his duties that his father placed upon him and has only this to his person. Stolas doesn't know why, but still believes and goes through it. So even if once the horrible truth comes out (like let's say this Grimoire is trying to help the Goetia family overthrow Satan and Charlie, as other powerful demons are at a race to be the ruler of Hell) and Stolas realizes it would be impossible and bad, Stolas would have to question where would he go next. He may still have his daughter, but where would he go from there? What could he do after leaving royalty behind? How would he handle living among other imps that aren't Blitz? Working with them? Blitz is able to be himself and do things his way around his friends. But how would Stolas react outside of that comfort zone around other beings? We haven't seen much of it that isn't just Blitz.

Maybe in the future, this topic will be brought up and the series would go to destroy that class system to make all sinners, imps, and demons equal. Show Stolas being racist before slowly becoming more accepting to imps that aren't Blitz and views them as equals. Have a better communication to know Blitz as his own being, life he went through, and start over without titles or class hanging upon them. Just Stolas starting off working as a helper for the IMP and Blitz being the boss. Maybe with the knowledge about the human world, he could convince Blitz to go up more to see the world and travel around to do as they please. Blitz might like that. Even more freedom that isn't Hell. Who knows though. For a an adult show that has violence and sex, topics like racism is lightly touched upon when it comes to differences between the imps, hell hounds, demons, and the sinners in Hell. Here is hoping that side of world building is expanded.

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 1

Meet the Maidens

It is back to school baby, both for D20 and, funnily enough, myself as well (something I hope will give me more time to get the recaps out in a timely manner fingers crossed). 

As I’m sure you all know if you’re reading this, this season of D20 takes place in the world of Fantasy High but with a focus on Aguefort’s OTHER most badass adventuring party who we’ve so far only seen on the sidelines, the Seven Maidens! You’ll recall, they’re made up of the seven girls who were captured by Penelope and co. to fulfill the prophecy that would let Kalvaxus rule the world freshman year. And, in fact, we start with a flashback to freshman year so let’s just jump right in.

We find our seven soon-to-be heroines chained in the Red Waste in front of what we know and they will shortly learn in Kalvaxus’ lair--a crucial part of the prophecy that was the subject of season 1. The structure of this episode is sort of like 2 rounds of introductions--first here with the maidens meeting each other for the first time and then again at home with their families a la the first episode of Freshman Year so I’ll be glossing over certain things that we’ll get to later in their second intros.

Anyway, the first two to wake up are Danielle (aka Yelle: half-elf, druid) and Zelda (satyr, barbarian as we know). Zelda is her usual, adorably nervous self in contrast to Yelle who is no less sweet but in a super chill, granola girl, fuck the system kind of way. We actually learn that Penelope had her on board with the plan for a hot second when she thought it was just “overthrow the government” but didn’t know about the “install a just as bad if not worse evil dragon overlord” part. 

Ostentatia (dwarf, cleric) wakes up next and is, as Izzy--her player--describes her “Jersey Trash.”, all blinged up with jewelry that she secretly made herself and didn’t buy. She wakes up pissed and ready to bodyslam Aelwyn which are both extremely valid emotions as much as I love Aelwyn. By the way, all of the girls recognize each other as girls who go to their school but none of them are really friends though they very quickly start throwing the label around because that’s what you do when you wake up chained with 6 other people in front of a dragon’s lair in a place called the Red Waste. 

Katja (half-orc, fighter) wakes up and immediately cares about nothing more than the status of her beloved horse, Cinnamon and declares that if Cinnamon dies, she’ll die. This is a fantasy world so Ostentatia and Danielle are a little concerned that might literally be true via a soul bond or something but it’s more that Katja just really, really loves that horse. Danielle tries to cast a spell to locate the horse but can’t get the somatic components quite right with her hands manacled. 

They all get into a discussion about the fact that everyone for a fact knows they’re all virgins now (you know, the real issue here) and what exactly counts as “virginity” for the purposes of this prophecy (like, does second or third base count or only traditional home runs using the baseball analogy) when Penny wakes up and is, just so excited to be here gang! Penny (halfling, rogue), who is one of the girls who has been kidnapped the longest, is adorably and honestly a bit concerningly exuberant to be surrounded by all these new friends, totally disregarding  the fact that they are clearly in some deep shit. Zelda mentions that Riz, her old babysitee, knows they’re kidnapped and is trying to help and she lights up. 

Next up is Sam (water genasi, sorc/bard) who immediately starts thrashing to get out of her chains and, when she can’t get free, is devastated by the fact that her ex betrayed her (!?) Finally Antiope (human fighter/ranger) wakes up all out of sorts having started her growth spurt while in the crystal and also having needed to pee right before she went in which becomes a problem all over herself (which Sam helpfully cantrips away).

With all of them awake, the stones they’re chained to light up and some of Kalvaxus’ minions (the ones who tied them up) show up to do minion speechifying. Yelle does a horrifying Animorph style morph into a waterbear (a tardigrade if you wanna get all Bio 101) to get out of her bonds but then Sam who has a serious one track mind re: getting out of here (Correct) and has exactly zero patience for these guys casts Tidal Wave and just knocks them off the cliff. Yelle frees Ostentatia who frees everyone else with Animate Object on their chains. Hands free, Yelle also casts Locate Animal and tells a very pleased Katja that Cinnamon is doing a full Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron down the highway searching for her. 

The girls decide to explore the cave which has recently had most of its treasure moved (it’s currently in the gym for the Prompocolypse fight which is currently happening). Penny and Sam (who are in insanely different emotional places) find all these broken mirrors which Sam takes as a cue that they need to GTFO (which is what she was already doing) and Penny thinks would make a great material for friendship bracelet making which she starts doing as Sam physically pulls her away. Sam hears someone doing post-cry sniffles and is like, “Not today Satan,” still trying to leave. However, Penny sees that there is one mirror left and, inside, sees a ethereal looking human with flowing, preternatural, black hair who senses their presence and asks if Penny is someone named Anima. She asks for their names though she declines to give hers (hmm, feels very fae) and the girls give the fake names of Kelly and Cecelia which the figure says she will guard and not misuse. The figure says she is looking for her sisters (who she says when Penny asks are at Aguefort which...hmmmmm) and, all of a sudden, Sam and Penny are having a bad feeling about those mirror shards. 

They ask her a question about the mirror and she gets really aggro when it’s referred to as “her” mirror as she would very much like to be out of it. The woman really wants to get out and says she can give them lots of power if they help. Sam pulls out her compact Mirror of the Past (magic item that does basically what you’d expect--shows you info from something’s past though in a cryptic way usually) to try and get some info on this thing and just barely avoids losing her mind in the process because this thing is ancient. Like eons old. She also learns the woman’s name (or maybe title): The Ending of Things (will be calling her Ending for now).

Yikes!

Right around now the other girls come in and can see at the angle they’re looking at her at the woman in the mirror is Not Really A Person and Antiope points at her and reflexively casts a ranger sense spell to try and clock its weaknesses and stuff but Ending grabs the spell energy like a lasso and tries to drag her into the mirror. She does however find out that she’s stacked with hella resistances (total immunity to necrotic damage and non-maj weapons, resistance to most elemental damage, and more).

Sam briefly considers using Lightning Lure to pull Antiope back before deciding on a much less ouchy Counterspell. Unfortunately, it’s not strong enough and now she’s being pulled in by her spell energy too. Yelle casts Erupting Earth which has some pros and cons.

Pros: Antiope and Sam are saved! Yay!

Cons: The mirror breaks and whatever was in it is fully freed. Not yay!

Shortly after (but not before Penny gives everyone their new friendship bracelets), someone calls into the cave looking for them--it’s Fig’s mom, Sandra-Lynn (with new art)! She’s happy and impressed that everyone is OK (also, Katja and Sam both have little lines that foreshadow their ~parental issues~ for the season--Katja being very moved by the simple act of Sandra-Lynn showing up for them and Sam saying that in her experience moms can be very evil).

As they all leave the cave, they all do checks and get some info:

Ostentatia: The mirror was kinda like a palimpsest (the crystals they were trapped in) and whatever this thing is is ancient and powerful. 

Yelle: Gets the above info and the fact that when the thing left it wasn’t quite a bad vibe, just the vibe that something big and important is at play.

Penny: On an Arcana check she knows that what Danielle did 100% saved Antiope and Sam’s lives from whatever and wherever was on the either side of the mirror but the contact marked them in some way. 

Katja: With History she sees some Primordial writing which is the writing of elementals (one of the things Ending has resistances to which might be relevant; also Sam reads Primordial but doesn’t get to read what it says)

Antiope: She knows that she and Sam are connected to Ending now somehow but it’s a two way connection which means they can also use it to their advantage. 

Ostentatia casts Mending on the mirror shards which I think was to reconstruct the mirror but what it actually does is someone link their friendship bracelets. Cute!

And, with that, we cut to the present a year and a half later (which is Jr or Sr year for everyone). 

We hop from kid to kid as they get ready to head in to school and get glimpses into their homes lives! Let’s do a quick rundown for each girl:

Antiope Jones

We see that Antiope is the youngest of five in what is essentially a military family full of basically every kind of fighter (she says she basically lives in a “Crossfit box”). There’s an 8 year gap between her and her sister Corsica who is the second youngest so her parents are kind of already living like empty nesters. When she comes downstairs she is promptly handed a protein smoothie and told two pieces of info: (1) from Corsica she learns that she overheard at school --where she teaches--that Aguefort needs to talk to her for some reason but she won’t say why which annoys the crap out of Antiope and (2) her parents lined up an internship for her at the Ministry of Adventure. She and her mom verbally spar a bit about them being all up in her life and how stressed she is and how she likes what she has going now with the Seven but her mom wins ofc because she’s a Mom and also a master tactician with a deft hand for loving mom guilt. On the way to school her bros (who include a gunslinger and an eldritch knight cause they run the whole gamut of fighter classes) Facetime her like, “Yikes Ant, heard about what happened with Mom, this is why you don’t fight her lmao.”

Sam Nightingale

This is a heavy one so strap in. 

We check in with Sam who isn’t at her own family’s home but at Penelope’s family home which is off the bat eyebrow raising. It’s an upper middle class house and, on the way down, she has to pass Penelope’s bedroom which is conspicuously empty. Downstairs she’s greeted by Penelope’s human mom Rebecca who she learns is moving out soon because her elf husband is both cheating on her while away in Falinel and starting the divorce process. Sam clearly sees Penelope’s mom as a surrogate mom (for reasons we’ll learn in a second) and goes full ride or die assuring her that her ass is better than the ass of the woman he’s cheating with and offering to help burn his stuff even though drowning is more her specialty (she’s so cool). She also is a little stricken at the thought of Rebecca leaving her in the house alone but Rebecca says she can come with if she wants, she just didn’t want to disrupt her school life.

She also tells Rebecca that her bio-mom called recently which immediately sets Sam off. Through the convo we learn a couple of things:

Sam used to be an actor it seems.

And it seems like she was kicked out of the house after she transitioned or something similar which is why she lives with the Everpetals. 

Now that it’s more “fashionable” to to be trans (her mom’s words, not mine) she wants Sam to talk to her so they can get her back in the game.

Sam is having none of that and tells Rebecca to just delete her mom’s number. Then they have a cathartic session of burning her cheating husband’s shit before Sam leaves in Sebastian--her sentient, seafoam blue, self-driving car with a very hot male voice which I am extremely jealous of. She picks up Zelda on the way to school and they commiserate a little and have a heart to heart about adults and change and how much Zelda wants to body slam Sam’s mom. 

Penny Luckstone 

Penny’s house is a whirlwind of activity and her harried parents get her and her 19 young siblings ready for school (no wonder she’s such a good babysitter). We see where Penny gets her type-A ness from as her mom and dad both have this cheerful but overworked energy of “EVERYTHING IS FINE” like that Good Place sign. Her mom spares a second to tell her that she recently got a letter for The Society of Shadows which is like a super secret rogue college (which her parents assume is legit even though they haven’t heard of it cause they’re Mumple people and also, if you've heard of a rogue school, how good could it really be?) Penny is excited except that it would mean she’d have to move and leave her party. Her mom is like “hey it’s a full ride and there are 20 of you guys so just take that into consideration but it’s ultimately your decision” before she dashes away to get to work because it is always Go Go Go with the Luckstones. She texts Sam for a ride and Sam swings by to grab her. This is not plot relevant but she has a booster seat in the back of Sebastian with her name carved into it and it’s important to me that you know that. 

Katja Cleaver

Next up is Katja who lives in a Richie Rich style mansion and comes from very old money as she is descended from one of the first adventurers in Solace. She is in the barn with Cinnamon and the bugbear farrier they have employed (her name is Gertrude and a farrier is someone who does horseshoes). She eats the same breakfast as Cinnamon (hot dry oats and berries baybee) wo she loves so so dearly. Cinnamon is a magical horse--basically like a Find Steed spell that’s on all the time. She’s modeled the horse in her fave book series--the Babysitter’s Horse of course. Lockwood, the staff’s hobgoblin butler, is also there and they get a fantasy Zoom call from Katja’s dad who is in the middle of the insane 20th level adventurer stuff which he says might make him miss her graduation. She is extremely disappointed but just barely hides it from her dad (who seems to really care despite his not being around). She can’t hide it from the staff or Cinnamon however and Cinnamon offers to give her a ride to school via the scenic route. 

Note: We also learn two sad facts about Katja from the conversation with her dad.

Her mother is Disney Princess dead* and

She wears one half of a friendship necklace and it seems like she’s waiting for someone to give the other half to. It’s implied earlier that the way Penelope got her was by promising to be her best friend. Sad!

*Edit: Well, she’s gone and we’ll leave it at that until next recap. 

Ostentatia Wallace

Ostentatia wakes up and goes downstairs to have a very high energy in both directions interaction with her very fantasy-Italian mom and grandma. Her grandma is concerned her beard isn’t coming in--not knowing she shaves it on purpose which her mom is like, “Listen it’s fine but don’t tell grandma it’ll kill her.” She clocks very quickly that her dad isn’t there and his mithril working tools are gone. Her mom tries to play it off but she knows she’s being lied to and her mom relents. Her dad is at a meeting with the other workers of the shut down mithril factory and negotiations have ceased. It looks like he’s gonna be long term out of work. That explains where her dad is but not why the tools are missing. She decides to go do some investigating on her own and ambushes her dad in his car where, with the inaugural nat 20 of the season, she realizes he pawned his tools to get her 5 revivify diamonds. She's upset by this and he’s upset that she’s, in his eyes, questioning his ability to take care of his family. She’s like, alright, you did a thing for me, I’ll do a thing for you and she casts Animate Object to make his stuff steal itself back in a sequence that involves an animated crowbar using another crowbar which is just wild.

Danielle Barkstock

I’m gonna be real, Danielle’s life is exactly how you assume it is based on Who She Is As A Person so this one will be real short. Eco-friendly off the grid geodesic yurt. One super chill peace and love elf sorc mom and one rough and tough human ranger mom. She also knows and helps the Cubbies with their anarchist machinations because yeah, duh. She gets some messages from school on her crystal--one being a message from the principal saying that she and the rest of her party have first period off to meet with him and the other being a newsletter from the school showing, among other things, a photo of the Druid class doing a project but she’s not in it for some reason. She texts one of the other druids to see if she can figure out why she wasn’t invited but fully gets left on read. Brutal. Of course, she hasn’t messaged that person in 6-8 months so maybe that’s why.

Anyway, with that, all seven of our maidens make it to school and are all exuberant to see each other in a very teen girl way before getting to the principal’s office and learning that their party will be broken up at the year! 

Bad!

Superlatives 

I wanted to do something a little different for these recaps than the Bad Kid ones so instead of Honor Roll/Detention we are doing Superlatives and the inaugural one goes to...

Sam: Most Like To Survive a Horror Movie

Man she woke up chained in a ritual magic circle and she was Ready To Go Immediately. You will not catch this girl doing horror movie victim BS like exploring the spooky house or giving the creepy obvious ghost the time of day. She is hyper-competent and her goal is making it out alive and dragging her friends with her. Love her.  

Random Thoughts

The season immediately starts with a bang or I should say a bing with Izzy trying to say “bling bang” and accidentally saying, “bling bing” and immediately getting roasted by everyone. I love the authentic girl group vibes (which include everyone clowning on her then immediately hyping up Zelda to the max after being way more awkward). 

Handshake meme with Danielle and Moonshine from Naddpod. Also, Cinnamon and Horse from Centaurworld. 

I love that Rekha and Erika just straight up were like, “Our characters are Asian”. Like obviously, make your characters Asian coded in your fantasy world--all my D&D characters are black like me--but it’s funny that they completely disregarded the, “There’s no Asia in this world so I guess they’re this world’s equivalent to--” Nah just, “I’m a half-elf and I’m Asian.” You love to see it. 

I absolutely LOVE the choices the cast made to flesh out their characters based on the little info Brennan had about them, none moreso than rich horse girl Katja. Rekha is a genius. 

“I only want one thing and he’s working” KATJAAAAAAA

Man if I was in that flashback I would have been wilding out so much with my flashback plot armor. 

I appreciate that the first thing that Aabria has Antiope do is extremely uncool. I love it when players aren’t concerned about just being cool and on point all the time. Sometimes (read: often) that’s the less interesting choice. 

But on the exact opposite side, she’s a ranger and an arcane archer which I think is extremely cool. Lmao also I didn’t mention in the recap but she HATES dragons now which, understandable. I’m guessing they're her favored enemy. 

I can’t wait to see another group of kids interact w/ madman Aguefort. 

Also, as a known Aelwyn-stan, I am very excited for the possibility of the Seven interacting with her cause as much as I love her they are under no obligation to acknowledge her redemption arc and I would love to see them throw hands. 

I love the Greek myth naming scheme of Antiope’s extremely cool family as with her on the spot nickname “L-Cab” short for long caboose since she’s the youngest by a mile. 

Also this is out of character not in character but Sephie is an extremely cool nickname for Persephone. 

I wonder why Brennan didn’t let Sam read the Primordial in the cave. He just glossed right past her saying that she speaks it and she didn’t push it. Would it have solved his entire plot in the span of a flashback or was he just keeping things moving?

Sidenote, if I was married to an elf man and worried about aging like Rebecca, I would simply become a druid (or a monk or up my wizard levels so I could learn True Polymorph or Wish or something). 

I wonder what the deal with Ending is. She seemed relatively sincere in the mirror but that doesn’t mean anything. She could be sincere and also Very Bad News. 

There is an offhand comment by Brennan about how the dwarf forge god gives spells but doesn’t talk to his followers which I think means that Ostentatia is gonna be getting a direct god call soon enough. 

Also she mentions that her dad is doing some criminal activity on the side which seems like a Problem for later. Honestly all of the kids have some pretty rich parent drama happening which should be interesting to see explored. 

No nat 1s this ep and 1 nat 20 as I mention from Ostentatia. 

[pjo-whore]

Percy Jackson At Hogwarts

Chapter 1: Wizards Are What Now?

Look, Percy never wanted to be half-blood.

Being a half-blood – the child of a mortal human and a god – was dangerous. It was scary. Most of the time, on top of having neglectful parents and a dysfunctional and incestuous family that wanted you dead for petty reasons, it got you killed in other painful, nasty ways.

There wasn’t a day that went by where Percy didn’t feel envious of the kids who didn’t have to deal with the mythological world.

Percy Jackson was seventeen years old. Until a month ago, he was fighting a war against a Greek primoradial, the Earth Mother incarnate, Gaea – also known as his great grandmother. Before that, he fought in a war against his grandfather, Kronos, Greek Titan of Time, who wanted to overthrow the Olympian gods and take over the world and the Empire State Building. Somewhere in between he also found time to spend a month in literal Greek hell, Tartarus, who also happened to be his great grandfather, and who also tried to murder him on sight.

Was Percy a troubled kid?

Yeah. You could say that.

And right now, he was still trying to clean up the mess from the Second Giant War.

Now that there wasn’t a war looming overhead, the gods’ recent exploits were coming to light, and new demigods were popping up everywhere, everyday. The number of demigods skyrocketed now that they were actively searching and not waiting for them to stumble into Camp on their own.

But that also meant there were new kids to train, more demigods for the gods to claim, and less time to recoup from the recent war.

Less than a month had passed since Gaea’s defeat.

The days were filled with helping each other get back on their feet, rebuilding the camps, and trying to keep the fragile peace in order.

There was still a lot to sort out, and the gods weren’t as hands-on as most would like. There was conflict building up. News spread about how the gods helped the seven demigods of the prophecy fight the giants, because a giant couldn’t be killed by a mortal alone, and this made many jealous and angry. The gods could pop in for a single battle when it was their own ass on the line, but not when a group of their own literal kids needed to rebuild their home that was dedicated to the gods?

Besides Chiron and Dionysus, the only god to physically stay at Camp Half-Blood following the battle against Gaea due to his punishment from Zeus, there were no other adults. The oldest demigods were barely twenty. Despite age, most, if not all, the demigods looked to the prophecy demigods for guidance and leadership.

Annabeth, Jason, Percy, Piper, and Nico.

The brunt of the responsibility fell on the daughter of Athena, and the son of Poseidon. They led their Camp through the Second Titan War, and now they were survivors of another war.

Things weren’t easy for a long time.

The Camp was completely ravaged.

During Gaea’s seize of the Greek demigod Camp, the cabins were burned by the monsters and toppled by Gaea’s massive earthquakes. Not even the Big House – the staple of Camp Half-Blood, the oldest building on the lot – survived the attack.

Camp Jupiter didn’t fare any better, but their buildings had been more structurally sound, thicker and built of material that didn’t burn and crumble. Enough buildings were still standing well enough to inhabit.

Everything had to be rebuilt for Camp Half-Blood.

Nobody could be sent home – to their mortal homes, with mortal parents, and a mortal life, mortal being the slang for “normal” among the mythological world – despite the new lack of residency at Camp Half-Blood. Kids needed to heal. There were nightmares and PTSD. Trauma and concussions. People to be counted, bodies missing, some so mauled they were impossible to identify. Several bodies were unearthed from the ground, sucked in by Gaea’s attack and suffocated beneath the dirt.

Shrouds were made for those who could be identified, the unknown buried in unmarked graves to be remembered. Those who were missing were given honorary shrouds, unknowing if they were in one of the unmarked graves. The Romans were unable to do their traditional funeral rituals, transporting the bodies all the way to Camp Jupiter, and were burned in shrouds alongside the Greeks.

Mortal parents simply couldn’t help.

They couldn’t fathom their children being in a war.

There were fears that demigods would be taken away from Camp Half-Blood by their mortal parents, horrified at what their kids were put through. Chiron especially worried about demigods who would be kept from Camp by parents, forcing them to live alone without any mythological world support, to defend against monsters on their own, without any magic or special weapons.

So, among the remaining able-bodied demigods, Greeks alongside Romans worked together to erect the new Big House. Tents from the Romans’ siege on Camp Half-Blood were gifted to the Greeks to provide residency until the new cabins were built, while the Romans started to march back home.

During all the chaos, Percy didn’t have any time to sit down and process all that happened.

The whole Camp looked up to him as a leader, but Percy didn’t feel very strong or wise.

He only felt bitter.

There were some who walked by and whispered “lucky” and “prophecy.”

Some who stopped talking as soon as he walked into the room.

Those who acted like he wasn’t even human, just some untouchable hero; but they ostracized him.

Percy was aware that he was one of the so-called “lucky” campers; lucky being compared, because at least he walked away with all his limbs intact.

It didn’t feel like he was lucky.

He wasn’t unscathed. He bore many scars, visible and not. His time in Tartarus was an impossible nightmare on bad nights, and a shadow on good days.

Percy was learning that he had triggers.

He was learning Annabeth did, too.

Neither liked using elevators.

Annabeth’s expression went tight when Percy used his powers around her. She turned away, sometimes completely leaving the area.

She got antsy in the dark, a childhood fear resurfaced.

There were other little things; at night when she had nightmares she would toss and turn in bed, sweating through her clothes and sheets, despite the breeze being cold. Sometimes Annabeth would completely avoid Percy, acting snappish, always coming back and apologizing in the end, and they would hold each other like they were hanging over the chasm again.

Annabeth refused to talk about what she saw in her nightmares, and Percy never pushed. He was one of the only people who could understand what she was going through.

Sometimes all they could do was sit and try to drown out the memories of The Pit.

Percy’s triggers were different.

He developed a deep-seated hatred for empousai. The moment he saw one, his body started to shake with adrenaline and nerves, fire flashing before his eyes.

Percy could no longer look at the stars without feeling a deep loss, tears pricking at his eyes.

He prayed to his father, Poseidon, more often, as if trying to re-establish his connection to the sea, to re-establish his connection to the Overworld, as if that could cleanse him of what happened in The Pit. As if he could wash away the touch of The Pit.

Percy’s nightmares were always blurry and violent. He wouldn’t snap awake like others. He didn’t startle or jerk upright. He didn’t make a single noise. He would wake silently, and lay there in bed, eyes open and unseeing, that shattered glass feeling he always dreaded at the bottom of his stomach. After he could never go back to sleep, and he would get up and sit on the tile in his cabin for hours and look in the mirror and wait for the image to change. He would wait for it to reflect what he feared, though it never did.

*

“Okay, so, how big is the situation? Is it like, ‘Aphrodite lost her hairbrush again’ big? Or is it ‘Gaea has risen again’ big?”

Annabeth frowned. “I don’t know. All Chiron said was that a god needed our help – and I don’t know about you, but I don’t like the sound of that.” She chewed her bottom lip in thought as they headed toward the Big House. They had been asked to attend a private meeting with Chiron, outside of the camp counselor meeting. “He sounded serious, too. Whichever god it is must be an asshole to seek help so soon after the war.”

She wasn’t wrong, Percy thought.

Jason was appointed Pontifex Maximus in Camp Jupiter, and as such he was responsible of advising the praetors, ruling over the Camp Jupiter counsel, and overseeing the work and prayers to the minor gods. His promise to Kymopoleia to bring worship and awareness for all minor gods became his fulltime job, and it was ruled that most gods must go through Jason to request help from either demigod camp.

A god asking for help directly after a full-scale war? Using Chiron as their connection? It was a hit below the belt, and it made Percy frustrated.

A few demigods raised their heads in greeting as Percy and Annabeth passed by the arts and crafts center. Conner and Travis Stoll, who were trying to build bombs with bits and pieces from the forge, took one look at Percy, then at Annabeth, and wiggled their brows suggestively. Percy unsubtly stuck them the bird, and they started to laugh their assess off.

The Big House was smaller now, after being rebuilt.

What could be scavenged from the attic was saved, but most of it was lost. Magical artifacts and ancient texts were burned and crushed. Now the Big House served mostly as the infirmary, aside from the drop-by medicinal tent near the Apollo cabin, where more medical supplies were. The Apollo and Hephaestus cabins had been the first to be rebuilt because they gave needed services.

Aside from the infirmary, the Big House had a commons area for meetings, and housed a kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom.

Checking in the commons area, Chiron was in his wheelchair. Nico was sitting at the beloved ping pong table, which had somehow survived the siege on Camp, and Thalia was sitting backwards on a chair by the new counselor table, which no one ever used.

Percy sat next to Nico and twirled the ping pong paddle between his hands, Annabeth taking her usual seat during counsel meetings.

Chiron looked tense.

“Now, I know that only a month has passed since the end of the Second Giant War, but –”

The air practically sparked with the collective tension that built.

“– a new quest has been issued.”

Annabeth leaned forward in her seat, interested. “Chiron, you can’t have an official quest without a prophecy. And the last time I checked; the Oracle of Delphi wasn’t working right now.”

“Well, it’s a good thing this isn’t a quest from the Greek pantheon, then.”

Percy cocked a brow and shared a look with Annabeth.

“The Roman pantheon doesn’t have an oracle, and their last augur exploded himself, so –”

“It’s a friend of Lady Hecate, the Triple Goddess.”

Dead silence.

“The Triple Goddess?” Percy parroted. “I don’t follow.”

“The Triple Goddess is of the Old Religion, once practiced in Europe hundreds of years ago by the druids and magic users in general. It belonged to Albion, a land of five kingdoms, before it split into the United Kingdom and Ireland.”

“What does that have to do with us?” Nico said.

“All those years ago, in the middle ages, after the golden age of the Greek pantheon, the Old Religion became very popular in Albion. Magic was something that anyone could practice even if they weren’t born with the innate talent, with the proper training. Through the ages, though, the religion declined, and the New Religion rose and became the staple. While the Old Religion relied on the magic of the land, sea, and sky; the New Religion relied on your inner magical core, and so not everyone could do this new magic.”

Chiron shifted in his wheelchair and pulled out a small stack of photos, but when he tossed them onto the ping pong table, the demigods saw that they held moving pictures.

In one photo, it showed a person standing over a boiling cauldron, on the wooden table beside them, old parchment with a quill that moved by itself, writing on the paper. The picture moved slightly, the character stirring the cauldron. Then the animated picture reset and repeated.

In another photo, two persons stood facing each other, holding purposefully shaped wooden sticks, pointing them at each other. Bright lights exploded from the tips of the sticks, and their robes and hair swayed with strong winds.

In the last photo, a person was wearing a uniform of sorts, with a helmet and pads on their knees and elbows. They held an old broomstick between their knees, and metal hinges held on the back close to the bristles, like a hitch for the feet. In the picture, the person grabbed onto the end of the broomstick and shot into the air, like magic. It gave image to the stereotype of witches flying on brooms in the night.

“The Old Religion died out because the land lost its magic. Only select spots held magical creatures and natural magic. Magic was only preserved through the New Religion, and those who practiced the New Religion became witches and wizards. The lot of them went into hiding and created their own society – the wizarding world.”

“In today’s day and age, magic is passed down through genetics. And sometimes, those with magic cores can be born to those with no magic at all. The population of magic users stays stable, and there is balance in the world of magic …” Chiron winced. “Mostly.”

“But these people have lost contact with the Triple Goddess. They no longer worship or prayer to her. They rely solely on their own magic, not what comes naturally from the land, like in the Old Religion. And recently, war has passed for them. The Second Wizarding War ended four months ago. And this has severely depleted their resources and magic. There is a school for the magic users, used as the stronghold during the war, and now the wizarding world’s hero is returning to finish his studies.”

“His moniker is ‘The Boy Who Lived,’ and he’s called Harry Potter. But he was only a child – is only a child. He and his peers are children who have been used to fight a war that they shouldn’t have had to fight.” Chiron looked very grim.

Percy bitterly sank back in his seat.

“We were kids, too.”

Chiron sighed. “This war has thrown the balance of magic out of whack. The natural magic has been depleted for too long, and there are those who are actively tipping the balance to sabotage the magic for their own gain. It’s suspected that the dark forces from the war – Death Eaters – are still operating in the shadows. It is because of this that the Triple Goddess has called upon you as heroes to help restore the wizarding world and save magic.”

“You would only be obligated to attend the school of Hogwarts until you uncovered the source of oppression over magic, so the Death Eaters can be caught and restrained. If you choose to accept, of course.”

Percy eyed him sharply. “You say that as if we have a choice.”

Chiron pursed his lips. “Despite what you think, yes, you do.”

“But this is from a whole other pantheon,” Nico said. “A group of magical people who don’t even believe in the goddess who brought about their magic. Why do we have to fix this?”

More silence.

Chiron looked down on them unapologetically.

Percy shifted uncomfortably, looking over at Annabeth. Chiron seriously expected them to just up and leave Camp for this quest. Barely a month had passed since their own war, and they were getting by as they were. Percy didn’t believe Camp Half-Blood could afford to lose any support or cabin counselors, even for a short period of time.

“So, let me get this straight,” Percy said. “Basically – if I just ignore the little prologue, you gave there – you want us to go to this magical school, on orders of a goddess that’s almost faded, stalk a kid, and watch out for people who like to try to rob the world of magic – magic, which they use themselves.”

Chiron looked pained. “No, I don’t believe they’re purposefully robbing the world of magic.”

“Oh, well that clears everything up.” Percy threw his hands in the air.

“Regardless, you understand what’s being asked. This is a quest, technically coming from Hecate, as a favour for the Triple Goddess. It’s valid as a hero’s quest. It was decided it would be best that you go undercover as transfer students and secretly watch over Harry Potter, the target for most Death Eaters. Your goal is to prevent trouble before it gets serious, though I doubt that will be hard, as trouble always manages to find you –”

“Wait, hold on,” Percy said, still hung-up on the quest. “How are we supposed to fit in at a school for the magically gifted? None of us are wizards.”

“Oh, that is something that can easily be fixed,” Chiron said, dismissing the problem.

“Excuse me?!” Thalia said.

“Hecate considered this quest from the Triple Goddess for a long time before coming to me.”

Percy rolled his eyes. Out of everyone in the room, he had the least faith in the gods. They never gave him anything to have faith in.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at the camp director. “And how exactly does Hecate plan on ‘fixing’ the problem? I don’t see any obvious solutions. We’re demigods, not wizards.”

Chiron shifted awkwardly. “She has not shared that with me. I have only gotten the request that you undertake this quest for the Old Religion, and that she will visit to prepare you.”

Percy felt like grinding his teeth. “Oh, so she just expected us to accept the quest. She never considered us refusing? Why can’t the wizards fix their own problem?” Chiron said nothing. “Camp is still in shambles – we don’t even have all the cabins rebuilt yet! We can’t leave, not now. There’s still too much work to do here, and too many new demigods to watch over and protect. And have you even considered that maybe we don’t want to go on this quest? That maybe we want a break? My entire childhood was prophecy after prophecy, quest after quest, serving the gods. We’re under no obligation to do this. You can tell Hecate that she can stick her magic wands up –”

He didn’t get the chance to finish because Annabeth had already taken a ping pong paddle and smashed a ping pong ball in his direction, the mutual action used to keep order in camp counselor meetings.

“BALL!” Annabeth yelled, slamming her paddle across the table.

Percy scowled and took his seat again.

“Now, Percy,” she said sweetly, leaning over the table. “Where did you say Hecate could put those wands?”

“Nowhere,” he muttered.

Annabeth acquiesced and put the paddle down.

“Where is this school anyway?” Nico asked. He frowned. “And Hogwarts? What kind of name is that?”

“It resides in Scotland, its exact location unknown and hidden by powerful magic. Outside of the school, which is an ancient and famous monument for the wizarding world, there are other magical establishments. One place you will be required to visit is Diagon Alley, a wizarding market. That’s where you’ll collect your resources for going undercover at school.”

“Again, you’re saying all this like we’ve agreed to go,” Percy mumbled.

He was ignored. Thalia raised her hand, her features etched with confusion. “Okay, I hate to be the one to say it – but how are we supposed to blend in with wizards and witches? We can’t use magic, and we know nothing about their world.”

Chiron admitted he didn’t know how Hecate would find ways around the problems. “She has informed me that, only once the quest is accepted, will she come and discuss the details. In fact, she should be arriving any moment –”

What happened next could not have been anymore dramatic.

There was a blinding flash of light – the glow filling the entire room – and it forced the demigods to cover their eyes lest they go blind from laying eyes upon a god’s true form.

All eyes landed on the goddess, technically titaness.

Hecate appeared as a tall, thin woman. Her dark brown hair was tied up in a kekryphalos, the shining coil twisting and adorned with intricate gems and metals. Loose strands of hair framed her sickly pale face, which held sharp chartreuse yellow eyes. She wore a dark chiton robe that draped over her thin figure, and it seemed to ripple like a heat hallucination, like ink spilling off to the ground.

At her feet, she was accompanied by a black Labrador retriever and a polecat.

The demigods all stood as one and politely bowed, as was common for all gods. Percy glared up through his bow as he followed reluctantly.

“Rise, my young heroes.” The goddess’ voice was smooth and rich. She sounded monotone. “You have done more than enough to prove your worth to me, and for that, I know that I can trust you. I have called you four here on special request from the Triple Goddess, who has observed your acts of heroics. She believes you can save the wizarding world, her beloved kin, and magics.”

“You will use the ways of the Old Religion to learn magics and go undercover. As demigods, you already have magical cores. They just need to be trained; refined.”

Percy scowled.

“And will the oh-so-gracious Triple Goddess be visiting us herself?”

Annabeth shot him a scathing look.

“Percy!” She hissed.

Hecate eyed Percy again, as if reappraising him. “No,” she said, after a tense silence. “You will be sent to get your wands from one who still practices the Old Religion and can pair you with an appropriate wand. Your cover stories are fabricated and with the wandmaker. The Triple Goddess does not appear without dire need.”

“Her entire world being in trouble seems pretty dire to me,” Percy muttered under his breath.

Annabeth elbowed him harshly.

Hecate narrowed her eyes.

“This,” she said, pulling a laminated piece of paper out of thin air, “is called a portkey. It is an enchanted item; when touched by the intended people, or random persons, it can magically teleport you to a predetermined location.”

She held it out to demigods.

On it, in fancy letters, it read: Littletree Farms, Dorchester, Boston, Massachusetts.

“Touch this, all at once, and you will have accepted the quest.”

Chiron gave them an encouraging nod. The demigods all shared exchanged looks.

“Our responsibilities …” Thalia started, subconsciously reaching up to grab at her lieutenant circlet, from the Hunters of Artemis.

“Will be forgiven for the time while on quest,” Hecate assured. “The Triple Goddess does not ask favours lightly. This has the potential to spill into the real world; to affect our pantheon. The Old Religion is younger than the Greek pantheon, but its reach goes far and wide. The Triple Goddess is powerful; no harm will befall your precious little Camp while you are away.”

Nico hesitated, but was the first to reach for the paper. “If this is really that important … why ask for us specifically? A larger group, organized and planned, could do better.”

“The Triple Goddess has observed you, and believes you are the right heroes to help save magic.”

“But right now? This instant? Can’t we have time?”

“You will come back to your little Camp before you leave for Europe.”

Annabeth pursed her lips, then also reached for it. “Okay.”

Percy looked at her, askance. “Okay? Just like that?”

Annabeth shrugged. “A quest is a quest, and someone needs help. We are in peace right now and have no threats. I don’t see why not.”

“Fine,” Percy said, tone short. He looked over at the laminated paper. “So, this will take us where? What’s in Boston that could be so magical?”

“A wand wood farm,” Hecate said, smiling thinly. “And your quest starts now.”

Percy’s eyes snapped to the paper, where Hecate had pushed it into their collective hands unwillingly. Then the world began to spin, and there was a sharp tug in his gut, yanking him out of time and space.

*

[consumeconstantly]

Not a Saint or a Hero

Summary: To civilians, Ladybug is a hero. In the eyes of the law, Ladybug is a vigilante at best, and a villain at worst. 

______________________________________________________

Conquering the Parisian underworld is child’s play for Ladybug and her partner, Chat Noir. The ex-boss of the Parisian underworld, code name Hawkmoth, may have been good at pushing drugs and ruining people’s lives, but he was woefully incompetent at... basically everything else. Which meant that other than Hawkmoth and his direct underlings, there really wasn’t much of a structure at all that Ladybug had to be worried about. No cohesive unit, fighting as one, just easy pickings and an even easier way to convince the drug dealers, homeless, illegal fight rings, and various other under the radar activities to band together to topple Hawkmoth’s empire. 

Ladybug, after all, had experience with overthrowing established mafiosos. She did it once in Wenzhou at her mother’s side, another time in Beijing because somebody made the mistake of trying to push her into prostitution, and twice in Italy with her grandmother, code name Befana.

“Do you really have to leave, m’lady?”

Ladybug shrugs. “I trust you and the team to keep things up and running. We had a good run, but there’s a good structure in place now and Befana wants me to go with her to another country.”

Nobody says no to Befana, not unless they’re bullet proof. Ladybug may have high quality Kevlar sewn into every outfit she wears, but even she isn’t the biggest fan of the impact of a bullet. Depending on the gun, broken ribs are a kindness.

“I know you don’t get along with Queen Bee, and almost everyone else is out of the country, but you’re not going to say goodbye to Rena or Carapace?”

“It’s not like I’m going to be gone forever. Just a few months. A year at most.”

“Promise me you’ll come back, m’lady?”

Ladybug puts a hand on her partner's shoulder. “You know I can’t make promises like that.”

Chat pauses, dull thud of the rave music filling in their silence. 

He swirls the whiskey in his glass. “Stay safe, Bug. Play it smart.”

“I always do.”

#

It comes as no surprise that Befana dumps her in the middle of one of the most crime infested cities world wide without a backwards glance. Her granddaughter is grown up now, after all. 

“Have fun, darling. Black Mask is particularly nasty, make sure to watch out for his assistant, she’s very sharp.” Befana pulls away from the nonexistent curb— nonexistent because there’s no sidewalks in the slums of Gotham, at least, not many of them in good enough conditions to have curbs or whole piece of cement to walk on— and leaves Marinette all on her lonesome with a backpack, a key to a cheap apartment.

Marinette eyes the broken bottles leading to the entryway of her new building and the boarded up windows. Across the street, there’s two women smoking and conversing in hushed tones.

“Well,” Marinette mutters underneath her breath, shifting the straps of her only worldly possessions. “It’s definitely quieter than I expected.”

“Hey, new girl,” one of the women in the group calls out to her. “What’re you in for?”

“School. This is the cheapest apartment I could find.”

The woman exchanges a glance with one of her friends. 

“You’re better off finding a more expensive apartment elsewhere. This isn’t a place for someone like you.”

An excellent line for Marinette to begin to fish for information. “What do you mean by that?”

“This is disputed territory, now. If you can’t afford to stay somewhere else, you better stay with whoever just dropped you off.”

Marinette fidgets. Gina is long gone. Grandmother or not, even though Gina is undoubtedly loyal and will never hurt her, she believes that the best way to inspire growth is through adversity. Like now. The only information she got out of Befana was that she had to figure out a way to keep Gotham in line… whatever that meant. “She’s not going to come back. I guess I’ll just have to try my luck.”

“You really got nowhere else to go?”

“No. I’m from abroad.”

“That explains the accent,” says the one holding a beer bottle. “Then listen up, girlie. If you wanna survive, there’s three rules you’ve gotta learn. One. Don’t cross the Black Mask. Two. Don’t cross Red Hood. Three. Don’t sell to children.”

“Sell to children?”

“Well, I don’t suppose you’d be doing it anyways, given the whole,” she motions to Marinette’s body with a cigarette, “but Hood goes after anyone who sells drugs to kids real bad. Worse than if you fuck him over with anything the Black Mask’s doing, anyways.”

“Red Hood doesn’t sound like that bad of a guy, then.” Maybe she’ll look into a collaboration with him.

The woman with the beer bottle laughed. “Oh honey, you’re a saint. Don’t go fostering any dreams. You just stay away, hear?”

“I hear you,” Marinette says.

But they got something wrong. 

Marinette isn’t a saint, and never has been.

#

The walls of her crappy one bedroom apartment are thin enough to hear the baby upstairs scream at ungodly hours. If it’s not the baby waking her up, her neighbors in the apartment to her right are fucking very, very loudly. The apartment below her blasts rock music at all hours, the apartment to her right is likely selling drugs, given that she sees at least fifteen different people come in and out each day, and they always have a vaguely dazed look in their eye. She hasn’t heard anything from the apartment across, but she’s sure they’ll start up some noisy activity that Marinette doesn’t particularly want to hear soon enough.

She really got pampered in Paris, didn’t she?

Marinette lived a life of relative luxury whenever she stayed with her parents, instead of Gina. While in Beijing and Chongqing with Tom and Sabine, Maman did all of the heavy lifting for her. Well, Beijing had ended rather disastrously, and they had to make a quick getaway, but at least in Chongqing, Sabine managed to get rid of the prostitution ring. 

Back in Wenzhou, Catania, and Bologna, Gina took the reins, and it always turned out to be a sink or swim sort of situation. First off was her mother’s birth place, which had an astonishingly high crime rate and definitely explained why Sabine Cheng was so adept at self defense, and once they were there, of course they had to reform the fight rings. In Catania and Bologna, Gina practically threw her at two of the lowest rank mafia groups and told her to use them to bring order to the warring mafias. During those years, Gina didn’t make a front like Sabine and Tom did, purchasing a bakery and running a business to aid their more behind the scenes work. No, with Gina, it was either war of peace, and there was nowhere in between.

Which, of course, meant that Marinette rarely got to stay in nice rooms or pursue hobbies like sewing or drawing or anything, really.

Now that she is of age, Marinette could potentially try to wrest herself out of Befana’s influence, but that’s almost a laughable thought. Befana has eyes and ears everywhere. If she wants to escape the rat race of reformation, Marinette needs to gather power. 

The best thing she can do for now is try to figure out the situation in Gotham. If it’s not particularly bad, maybe she’ll have an easy time of it, and figure out how to disappear herself. She’s not totally opposed to the whole making-criminals-act-within-the-bounds-of-morality thing, but it’s gotten pretty tiring. Not repetitive, necessarily, but after experiencing an almost normal life in Paris, Marinette does want to have the privilege of not having to worry about her life every hour. Maybe she can even start up a little boutique. 

Marinette dumps most of the contents out of her bag, only leaving her wallet, a knife, and her trademark yo-yos. 

“Maybe I can go back to Paris, eventually.” She has become very fond of the city; the first place where she took fate into her own hands, where her mother and grandmother didn’t push her to reform the underworld. The first place where she chose to change the world around her. The first place where she saw things through from start to finish. The first place she formed her own team. 

The power of change is both incredibly addicting and terrifying. She sort of gets why Befana roams the world, looking for the next place she wants to shake things up in. But Marinette can’t get addicted. This is going to be her last city, then she’s going to return to Paris and settle down. She’ll leave city beautification to the so-called vigilantes that almost every city has acquired, save Paris.

Oh wait, she supposes that Ladybug and Chat Noir were-- and Chat still is-- a type of vigilante back home. But as it stands now, it will be more correct to refer to them as heads of the Parisian underworld; they definitely don’t work on the side of the law, but she and Chat made sure that drug deals were more… regulated. That deaths and the induction of children into such a dark world were curbed. That if people really wanted to get out, they could.

All of that doesn’t matter. Not in the eyes of the law at least. Parisian citizens love the duo for helping keep crimes off the streets and for banning the particularly strong strain of drug that Gabriel called AKUMA off the market, but the Parisian police? She and Chat both have targets on their head. Their whole team does.

She eyes the apartment across from her. There’s blood on the door handle. It’s a good thing that Sabine and Tom never tried to instill those odd customs of ‘house warming’ and ‘getting to know her neighbors’ that most other people teach their children. In good neighborhoods, it’s important to have a cordial relationship with whoever’s living next door. In neighborhoods like these? It’s even more important.

But rule number one of pissing people off? 

Coming over uninvited.

Marinette doesn’t bother locking the door behind her. 

#

“New to the neighborhood?”

Apparently, it really is bizarre for her to have moved into this apartment complex. She’s come across a grand total of five people during her week here, and every single one of them stopped whatever they were doing in order to take a closer look. 

Marinette knows that this is a disputed area. She looked into the two women’s words the day she arrived. But, for a disputed area, everything is remarkably quiet. No fights, nobody on the streets, most people keep indoors, unless they’re out for a smoke, to throw out the trash, or are going to or coming back from various activities outside of the block.

What’s even more odd is that all of her neighbors seem to know each other intimately. Or at least, intimately enough to know that she doesn’t belong there.

“Yeah,” Marinette says, ready to leave this conversation behind. She doesn’t bother getting information out of the people who are in her apartment complex or on this block. To be more accurate, she tried with one of the first people she came across, but it was apparent that someone encouraged them to be tight lipped with information. 

Given the current information she has, she thinks it’s more likely that the one who gave that order is Red Hood, rather than Black Mask.

“Been here a week.” The guy lights his joint and breathes out. “Not so new anymore.”

Over the years, she’s gotten used to the smell of marijuana, though she can’t say she likes the scent. She’ll take cigarettes over weed any day.

“You could say that.”

“Don’t suppose anybody’s laid out the rules for you yet, have they?”

Maybe this will make things easier for her. Mostly, she’s just settled into her apartment over the past seven days. There's no need for her to immediately get to work, and she does enjoy comfort. Taking down criminals is hard work. She wants to come back to an apartment that doesn’t look awful and lets her relax. So what if she spent most of her money on an expensive mattress and a coffee machine? She’s an adult now. Nobody can tell her what to do. (Except for Befana.) “No, not really.”

“Tina and Audrey give you a crash course?”

“Mostly just warned me not to sell to children.”

The man barks, smoke spitting into the stale air. “Some of the best advice around. Let me tell you, Black Mask might have more manpower, but Red Hood has rage. Cross Black Mask by gypping him, he’ll send a lackey after you. Fuck with children, Red Hood himself will come for you.”

He pauses, evaluating her appearance. 

“Though you look like a child yourself. Mighty pretty too. lucky girl. Hood will protect you if you stay around these parts, but if you go south on the diagonal, you’ll be in bad territory. Plenty of prostitution rings around there.”

“Thought this was disputed territory.”

“Not really. Anywhere Hood has claimed is said to be disputed because Mask hates his guts and keeps sending goons to these areas. But anyone who’s dealing under Mask aint gonna take the risk of their lives just to branch out to these spots.”

“Sounds like Red Hood is pretty well liked around these parts, then.”

Perhaps she’ll look into working with him. From what she’s heard of the guy and what she’s found trawling the dark web, his morals seem to align with her own. A little bit more temperamental than she’d like, a little too quick to kill, rather than apprehend, but Gotham prisons seem to have jailbreaks every other week, so she can understand why it may be easier just to make every encounter a one and done.

“Liked?” Blunt finished, he flicks the stub into the dirt, crushing the embers under foot. He wipes his mouth with the scarf around his neck. “Like isn't the question in Gotham, Frenchie.”

Marinette inwardly cringes. She’s tried to minimize her accent because it makes natives distrust her, or think they can take her for a loop. Most people she’s come across accept her as one of their own, but apparently she hasn’t been doing as well as she thought she was. Maybe this is why people seemed a little more reluctant with any information.

“When it comes down to it, liking means nothing. It’s who you trust to watch your back.” He fumbles in his pockets, pulling out another blunt. Marinette notices that his fingers are fairly heavily bandaged and that the man is shaking slightly. Medicinal marijuana, maybe. “Wouldn’t trust that Mask farther than I can throw him. And he used to be a wrestler, so he’s a fat bastard. At least you can trust Hood not to cross you as long as you don’t cross him first.”

Lighting the tip, his eyes sharpen. “You seem like the trustworthy sort. Active, too. I’ll leave you with one more piece of advice. If you ever run into Hood? Don’t mention two things: the Joker, and Batman.”

“I doubt I’ll ever run into him,” Marinette lies. 

The man laughs. “I’m a Gotham native, Frenchie. I can tell what kind of person you are. You’ll be meeting him soon, I know. Hood needs someone to watch his back, and you? You need someone to keep your head above water.”

He flicks the ash off the blunt and turns his back on her, and Marinette can’t tell whether he’s showing her respect or belittling her.

#

 Two weeks into her stay in Gotham and Marinette has finally collected enough information about her surroundings to feel confident about going out as Ladybug.

Guns are infinitely more available here in America than they were back in France, which means she needed more than one costume, and an upgrade to her current one. High quality kevlar is good and all, but it’s heavy, and not everyone in Gotham is high off their minds using AKUMA. Replacing kevlar with polythene, now that it’s available to her, is only a natural decision. She has to be more careful here in Gotham. Not only does she have no support network, she’s also highly inexperienced with the terrain. She’s at a disadvantage here.

With a combo polythene and kevlar bodysuit, a crop top with her signature ladybug embroidery on the backside, an all black domino mask, and a utility belt with two yo-yos , knife, and emergency medical supplies, she’s as ready as she ever will be to witness the nightlife first hand.

And just like in Paris, Wenzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Catania and Bologna, she doesn’t have to go far to find the trouble.

Befana has told her multiple times that Marinette is like a lucky charm for problems. Judging by the amount of time she’s gotten herself into sticky situations unintentionally, she’s inclined to agree, though she’d call herself more of an unlucky charm.

She doesn’t bother speaking, instead hurling one yo-yo at the guy who’s trying to tie up a girl half her age and the other yo-yo at the wheels of his car, to make sure he can’t make a quick getaway.

Ladybug may not use guns, but she never said that her weaponry wasn’t tricked out; yo-yo knocks the guy up the head, sending him down for the count, and yo-yo two slashes through the rubber tire. The man waiting in the car rolls down the window to shoot. Ladybug rolls her eyes. Dumb and dumber. She’s not sure whether he’s trying to preserve his windows or doesn’t realize that rolling down his window leaves him open for her own attacks.

Reeling back in yo-yo one. She hurtles it through the window, presses a button, then ducks. The head of the yo-yo detached and shocks the driver.

“Need help getting home?” Ladybug asks the girl who’s currently edging away from her. 

“Who are you? Why did you help me?”

Ladybug shrugs. She’s never been particularly good at explaining herself; Chat took care of most of the conversions within Hawkmoths retinue. She’s good at making the occasionally public statement and making sure people she’s close to don’t stray, but strangers? Most people back in Paris just trusted her blindly, and she never had to think about how to present her reasoning.

She takes two sets of zip ties out of her pack, then restrains her first victim. After she slaps a patch on the tire-- if she is going to take this girl home, she certainly doesn’t want to walk her back in this neighborhood, and judging by the size of the van, there are probably a few people in the back she’ll need to free as well. Ladybug moves on to tie up the guy in the car, back towards the girl. “If you don’t want my help, that’s fine too.”

As soon as she turns, there’s a sharp intake of breath. “You’re with Hood, then.”

Not yet. “M not, actually. Never met the guy. What makes you say that?”

A bout of nervous, high pitched laughter. “The red, maybe. Or, I don’t know, the fact that he’s here and not knocking you out?”

Ladybug whirls, trying to see where the infamous vigilante is. True to the girls word, he is just a little ways down the alleyway they’re currently in, looking, for all intents and purposes, not about to kill her. How pleasant. Better than she was expecting; his temper precedes him, and she was expecting to have to fight with the guy before even dreaming about having a civil discussion with him.

He doesn’t have his hands on his guns, which she takes as a good sign. Taking a good look at him she’s almost surprised that he’s calming himself the Red Hood instead of the Red Helmet, but she supposes the former sounds better.

“Let me finish tying that one up,” Ladybug says.

Red Hood grunts in response.

“So you are working together,” the girl concludes.

Ladybug shrugs again, tapping another button to reattach the head of her yo-yo and grabbing the keys and phone from the driver’s pocket. She pops the back of the van. There are three girls tied up in the back. 

Her knife makes quick work of the bonds that restrain them. The girls take the duct tape off their mouths themselves; she feels a deep disgust of the men that are currently knocked unconscious. Not only are they traffickers, but they’re new traffickers. Inexperienced. Duct tape isn’t used most times because it damages the goods. Either that, or they’re organ dealers, because people don’t need the bodies to look pretty when they just want the innards. Judging by the fact that all of the people in the back are girls, she’ll put money on the first one.

“You going to let me drive these girls back before we have our talk?”

“Fine,” Red Hood bites out, moving to sit shotgun. “You move one finger out of line, and I’ll shoot.”

Ladybug tosses the unconscious body out of the driver’s seat.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

@jasonette-july-2k20

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

I have a head cannon that when technoblade becomes friends with someone he braids their hair he's so far done it to Tommy philza and ranboo but only philza knows why

This is such a good prompt thanks! I went a little overboard and added a lot of my own hc's, hope that’s okay! Quick note I’m not past exile yet so my apologies if bedrock bros and just Ranboo in general are slightly inaccurate

When Philza met Techno, Techno was only a child, barely even able to talk, sitting dead-eyed in the ruins of a piglin village, hiding under the rubble in the hopes he wouldn’t be spotted. Philza, of course, being Philza, basically immediately adopts him.

Philza tried his best, he really did, but this was in the middle of a war, and Philza didn’t really know that child soldiers aren’t the best thing (he never quite learnt that, honestly). Techno learnt to fight before he learnt to read.

When Techno was young, he always had his hair cut short and out of his face, but he really liked the small side braid that Philza always wore in his hair. He had started to grow it out a bit, but not long enough to braid, by the time he became the vessel of the Blood God.

Short side note, he and Philza were fighting against a cult, and they’d managed to capture Techno and brand the sigil of the God into his flesh allowing the Blood God to make Techno his champion. Needless to say, the cult was near immediately completely wiped out after this process was complete, but also Technoblade wasn’t exactly super thrilled with all this.

Along with the more obvious changes- glowing, blood-red eyes, growing to almost nine feet tall, an insatiable desire for a good fight, and the constant voices ringing in his head, the growth of his hair was barely noticeable. Sure, it touched the floor and regrew rapidly when cut, but it seemed to mystically never get in his way during combat.

During combat being the operative sentence. Even if it isn’t life threatening, constantly tripping over your own hair when you’re still trying to get used to being a good two feet taller than usual and the voices in your head constantly mocking you for it.

This is when Techno gets the idea to braid it, like Philza does! The issue is, he doesn’t know how to braid hair, and he’s been so terrified of accidentally hurting Philza with all of his changes that he’s been avoiding him best he can, so his attempts fail horribly.

Meanwhile, Philza's very concerned that Techno's started avoiding him. He’s actually really frightened that Techno hates him now, since as the champion of the Blood God, with the voices of it’s angels in his head now, he might well view all other gods as enemies, and Philza, as not only the most esteemed angel but the husband of the goddess Kristin, would be included in that.

Still, he was very concerned about how Techno was avoiding him, and eventually came into Techno's room to have a talk with him, and he walked in on one of Techno's honestly awful attempts at braiding his own hair.

Philza offers to help braid Techno's hair, and during this they have a long, long conversation about both of their worries. Techno reassures Philza that he doesn’t hate him (or Kristin, for that matter), and Philza reassures Techno that he’s not going to lose control. The voices decide that Philza is pretty pog, actually, and chill out a bit. Overall, it’s just a massive relief for everyone.

After this, Philza starts teaching Techno how to braid his hair. It’s a slow process- especially since braiding nine feet of hair is an ordeal- but it’s one of the few moments of peace in the Angel of Death and the champion of the Blood God's life. Once Techno learnt how to braid hair, he started braiding Philza's too. The two of them knew what it meant. I trust you, unconditionally, and without fail.

Hundreds of thousands of years pass. Nations rise and fall, legends are made, but Philza and Techno stick by each other’s side throughout it all. They maintain the tradition of braiding each other’s hair. Techno does not do it with anyone else, but Philza does it with whatever random of assortment of children is under his wing at the specific time. Techno can’t quite understand the mans attachment to whatever orphan he finds on the street. Even the ones who don’t die in the battlefield die too soon, and he can’t understand how you could let yourself go through the heartbreak of seeing their inevitable demise.

He doesn’t expect the latest batch to be any different. Sure, one's Philza's biological kid, so he’d theoretically be able to survive indefinitely, but he’s a creative type who’s so inept with a sword Techno's certain he’ll perish the second a war comes around. One's a failed clone of Philza, but the hybrid and human DNA he was given to stabilise him made him a mess of instincts with atrophied wings and constant sickness. And while the shine in the ram-boys eyes shine with an energy that's definitely a sign of some relation to the older species, everything else about him suggests a regular child who’ll pass and die in maybe a hundred years tops.

Still, when he receives a letter from Wilbur about a rebellion, Techno was excited to go. More for the fun of combat and of course overthrowing a tyrant, but he can’t help but feel proud of the boy he remembered once trying to pick up a sword blade-end becoming a capable general.

He honestly developed a respect for Tommy and Tubbo during Pogtopia. They were so young, and already capable warriors. He felt they were naive, with their talk about restarting a government, but held hope in them that they’d realise that anarchy would be preferable.

Still, they drifted apart, in no short part due to being pressured into canonically killing Tubbo and non-canonically killing Tommy. Techno would never admit it, but the anger in Tommy's eyes and the fear in Tubbo's whenever he was around stung a bit.

His few interactions with Tommy after the sixteenth lead him to believe that the boy didn’t want anything else to do with him, so he was surprised to find the boy shivering under his house, bruised and eerily quiet in comparison to the Tommy he was used to who would never stop talking.

The Blood God may be more traditionally thought of as a god of combat, of killing and of blood shed by violence, but that’s only scratching the surface of the Blood God's dominion. It is also a god of anarchy, of freedom, of vengeance, and of protecting those who cannot protect themselves. And as a champion of the Blood God, Techno would have hesitated throwing out even someone he despised in those circumstances, but Tommy? There was no way he wouldn’t have helped him, despite how much he grumbled and groaned (that, at least, was easier than admitting attachment).

Techno tries, he really does. But he mistakes bruises and scars caused by cruel hands to the ones a younger Tommy came home with on accident due to his frailness, the possessiveness of the man who hurt him as he came in search as him as overbearing concern instead of obsession. He chalks up confused feelings to some awful accident, unwilling to pry in the clearly distressed child's business (and while he doesn’t want to admit it, he doesn’t want to think that Dream, his friendly rival for thousands of years, might be truly a monster.)

The first time Techno offered to braid Tommy's hair, he didn’t even realise what he offered until he’d already said it. Tommy was just sat, shivering, despite being curled up in one of Techno's cloaks in front of the fire, and Techno'd noticed how Tommy's long hair always got in his face, and he kept raising a shaking hand to push too long hair out of his face, and Techno couldn't help but be reminded of himself long ago, scared to leave his room and dealing with hair far too long for for himself.

That’s not to say he had any regrets, though.

Techno braided Tommy's hair every day after that. Honestly, on the days where he wasn’t shaking bad enough that he couldn’t braid his own hair it sort of annoyed Tommy- he felt a bit like he was being pitied, and that’s something he absolutely can’t fucking stand, but Techno's pity was far, far preferable to being back with Dream, watching the light slowly drain from his eyes in the reflection in the water every day, so he stayed quiet.

After Tommy's betrayal, Techno felt hurt- far, far more hurt than he’d ever found himself before. He’d given the boy his unconditional trust- showed it to him, every day, and Tommy couldn’t even show enough trust to stay by him.

The first time he saw Tommy after, still wearing a braid in his hair, a mockery of friendship, he punched through the walls in his home afterwards. Anger hurt less than sorrow, so he stewed in it, refusing to admit he still cared about the boy at all.

As such, it took him a long time to even braid his own hair, let alone anyone else’s. It was something that was safe, and now just reminded him of a boy who used his kindness and left it unrepaid.

The first person he started braiding the hair of again was Philza, not long after this. It was Philza, and Techno doubted he could lose trust in the man, even if he flat out stabbed him in the back quite literally. Philza was much closer to a friend than a father, but he was still the closest thing to family Techno had ever known.

Eventually though, somehow another boy managed to sneak past his defence. Ranboo was awkwardly tall and quiet with a crown and inexplicably good fighting skills, and Techno couldn’t help but like the boy who reminded him so much of himself. He supposes this is probably the closest he'll ever get to understanding Philza and his children.

Still, it takes a while for him to feel safe and comfortable braiding Ranboo's hair for him- as far as he was aware, Ranboo almost never had it loose out of the braid it was already in, anyway. The last time he trusted someone who reminded him of himself, it only hurt.

Eventually, though, Technoblade came around. Ranboo had just come out of one of his weird sleepwalking states, hair a mess and very distressed. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if the kid had enough memory to know who he was, but he relaxed as Techno braided his hair and talked about nothing in particular.

Now, as Technoblade's founded the Syndicate, he's grown a little more comfortable showing affection to others, especially Philza and Ranboo. Niki's a little new, but Techno knows that someday soon he'll trust her enough to braid through her hair, and put his trust in her completely.

[smokedstorybara]

I have so many bnha fanfic ideas, they’ve just been popping into my head every few days for weeks now

So I’m just gonna share them all on this one post instead of making a million new fandom posts out of nowhere (ok, it’s closer to, like, ten - but still!)

If any of y’all want me to actually write any of them, don’t hesitate to say so - or if you just want to ask questions and talk about the ideas I’d be totally down for that too

Also, if any of them inspire you to write or draw something, please send me a link when you’re done!

(under a readmore cause it’s long and also there’s spoilers)

Fae courts AU

Nedzu - Spring King

U.A. / The Spring Court - also known as the Court of Lost Children, all members of the Court were once human children or children of one of the other Courts and they view it as their duty to care for the lost, neglected, and abused children of the world (one of two child stealing Courts)

All Might - Summer King

All For One - Winter King

Objectively, the Summer and Winter Courts are not as different as they like to believe - a Summer fae is just as likely to trick or turn on you as a Winter fae, they just prefer to play at benevolence while Winter fae make no secret of their nature

Shie Hassaikai / The Autumn Court - used to be more like a lesser version of the Summer and Winter Courts, until Overhaul put the King to sleep and made his research into humanity the Court’s focus - they’re now the second child stealing Court

Eraserhead was once human but has made enough deals over the years - most notably with Nezu himself - that he’s practically fae now

Deku and Kachan are human children who were taken in by the Spring Court, though Deku only after catching the attention of All Might

Endeavor - High Fae in the Summer Court - wants to become Summer King but knows he’s not powerful enough to overthrow All Might, married a High Winter Fae in hopes that combining their powers would make one of their kids powerful enough

Dabi fakes his death and eventually becomes a High Fae in the Winter Court

Shouto seeks sanctuary in the Spring Court’s halls

(I don’t actually have a plot for it, but I’m enjoying figuring out the world and stuff)

Evil All Might AU

The underworld knows that young Yagi Toshinori is a con-artist, and a very good one

The kid’s quirkless, and from a bad neighborhood, so of course he gets involved in shady dealings to get by

But he never ever gets caught

See, he’s mastered the eager, innocent, “I know I’m quirkless, but it’s my dream to be a hero! To fight crime! To be someone people can look up to, put their faith in! To be a… a symbol!” act, he’s been running that con any time he’s found in the wrong place at the wrong time since he first started walking - no one with even a single good bone in their body ever questions it

He gets involved with AFO, who’s like “I could give you one of my lesser quirks in exchange for your loyalty, or you could do a long undercover mission for me and get one of the most powerful quirks in existence out of it”

His mission: pulling his signature con on Shimura Nana, being given One for All, becoming a hero, becoming the Number One Hero and Symbol of Peace and the singular pillar holding up hero society, maintaining that status for long enough that everyone grows a little complacent, finding a weak and manipulable child to pass One for All on to, setting them up to fail, and then retiring

(I’d either have this one be All Might-focused and end with the reveal, or have it be Izuku-focused and give it a happy ending where All Might totally chose the wrong kid, cause nothing about Izuku is weak)

Commission analyst Izuku au

Member of the commission overhears him muttering/catches a glance at his notebook while watching a hero fight, strikes up a conversation

The commission tracks him down, shows up at his home with a similar offer to the one they gave Hawks - but instead of a hero they want him to be an analyst for them

Like Hawks, they take away his name, only calling him something like Eagle Eye or something (I’d go with Hawkeye but Hawks already exists so it might be weird?)

(Basically this fic idea is just an excuse to have Izuku and Hawks as the ultimate team, and helping each other get out from under the commission’s thumb - maybe revolutionizing hero society along the way)

Canon rewrite w/ Monoma as main character, somehow

All I have for this one so far is just:

Monoma copies afo, uses copied afo to steal afo, AFO is now defeated

After getting better at controlling her quirk, Eri rewinds Kurogiri back into Shirakumo Oboro

But he’s the age he was when he died

So he joins the current class 2-A

As in Izuku’s class

Basically it’s just his old best friends having to teach him and him making friends with all Aizawa’s problem children

Time travel

(I have multiple cause I really like time travel)

Aizawa-centric time loop fic

Loop stretching from day before Oboro’s death to towards the end of the liberation war (diverging from canon in at least the first loop cause he fucking dies during the fight)

At first he thinks maybe he just, like, dreamt up those 14(?) years

But then things are happening the same way and so he starts changing things and he dies and wakes up the day before Oboro’s death again

He experiments a lot with the loops, figuring out that they’re definitely not time based - unless it’d loop back at the end of the liberation war even if he survives? Requires further testing

Details he changes throughout the loops (culminating in a loop in which he successfully changes all of them):

Oboro’s death

Shimura Tenko being taken in by All for One, All Might’s injury(?), Izuku accepting One for All, and more I haven’t fully decided on

Time travel fic where Pro Hero Deku accidentally time travels back to just before Aizawa’s first year as a student at ua and somehow gets hired as a teacher

Gonna be a two-parter

Part one: Izuku has to teach teen versions of his old high school teachers, channels their future selves a little

Part two: Aizawa, Yamada, and Kayama have to teach the teen version of their old favorite high school teacher, and end up channeling his future self - in different ways

(I’ve come across a couple different “Izuku gets accidentally sent back in time to when his teachers were students” fanfics and they keep making me think about how Aizawa & co would react to meeting him in canon timeline after meeting him in high school and then I took the natural step forward from there to “let’s parallel their nostalgia, make him their high school teacher so it can really hit hard”)

Izuku is related to rooftop trio aus

(I’ve come across a bunch of “Izuku is the biological son of at least one member of the rooftop trio” aus but only one acknowledges that in canon he’s only 15 years younger than them and that one has a very angsty explanation, so I wanted some that fit with canon and also aren’t too heavy - cause like, sure you could go with the complex extremely angsty trauma reason or you could go with the “these 13-16-year-olds(idk Inko’s canon age and as long as I never look it up I can pretend I’m not going against canon by making her only 2-ish years older than them) did what teenagers do and went to a party and made some relatively innocent mistakes and ended up with a pregnancy”)

Dadoro

Oboro and Inko have been neighbors and best friends their whole childhood, despite being a couple years separated in age

The fall before Oboro starts high school, Inko takes him along to a party with her high school friends

They get drunk and sleep together

Inko gets pregnant

They talk it through with each other and their families and agree to keep the baby (they’re both actually pretty excited to be parents) and raise it together platonically

Some months into first year (maybe second), Oboro tells his friends about his kid

Spends the rest of his life gushing about Izuku to all his friends (sorry for the word choice fjdhshshx)

Oboro dies and his friends make pact to help Inko take care of Izuku once they have steady income and stuff

But Inko’s family has moved and she’s married and they can’t find her

They keep searching, for roughly 14 years

And then Midoriya Izuku enrolls in UA’s hero course and his big green eyes and curly green hair match the pictures Oboro used to show them and his smile is identical to their old friend’s

And his mom’s name is Inko

But they’re not sure (His quirk doesn’t match Oboro’s nor his Inko’s after all)

Not until after the first term and the summer training disaster camp and Kamino, when All Might and Aizawa go house to house talking to parents about the dorms and All Might tries to insist on visiting the Midoriyas alone but Aizawa insists right back cause this is the closest he’s come to confirmation

and then he’s face to face with a woman he’s only ever seen in photographs

And then they talk about everything or something idk I haven’t got that far

Dadzawa and Dadmic (trans!aizawa)

A year and a half before he starts high school(I know I changed the timeline a whole year here but shush, how’s he supposed to get into U.A.’s hero course while pregnant?), Aizawa’s middle school and one or two others have a Joint Event, at which he meets a loud but cute blonde who keeps flirting with him

They hook up

He gets pregnant

His dad insists he get an abortion but he doesn’t want to and his mom supports his decision, they convince his dad to let him go through with the pregnancy on the condition that he gives the baby up for adoption immediately

He has twins, both boys (one with green eyes like the blonde’s(but darker) and the other with purple like Shouta’s mother’s)(that’s right, Shinsou is also their son in this, you’re welcome), and he gives them up for adoption to separate families

But with conditions

No one from his blood family is allowed to initiate contact with either boy without the kid’s knowing consent (he’s terrified of his father changing his mind, tracking them down, and hurting them)

With the one exception being that he’s allowed to send each one a birthday present and card every year

Which he does

Then he starts at UA and then gets into the hero course and there he is… the blonde… the father of Shouta’s children… who does not recognize him now that he’s started transitioning

This time Shouta’s the one who flirts - or tries to, the kid’s a little too oblivious

Of course they do eventually get together, and even end up married! (Haven’t decided if they get together during high school or after they start teaching there or what(probably the latter, for plot reasons))

The first time Midoriya Inko contacts Shouta is after Izuku is diagnosed quirkless - she knows the young man loves her son as much as she does and might be able to reassure him where she already failed

His next birthday, Izuku’s mystery card says he can be a hero even without a quirk; it makes Izuku’s year

Hitoshi’s parents also contact Shouta that year, the boy struggling to make and keep friends ever since his quirk came in; Shouta’s birthday card to him isn’t much different from Izuku’s, really

The Shinsous get in an accident and Hitoshi is placed in foster care and suddenly Shouta can’t send him his yearly gift and card anymore cause nobody will tell him where the boy is now because of the contact portion of the adoption contract

They also won’t tell Hitoshi that he was adopted and his birth father is out there looking for him, so Shouta’s pretty sure they’re trying to hide that he’s being mistreated wherever he is

Inko continues to contact Shouta now and then whenever she thinks Izuku will need extra encouragement come his birthday (she never tells Izuku about being adopted - even after he enters his teen years - cause after his diagnosis, everyone but her left him and she doesn’t want him to internalize the idea that his birth parents didn’t want him - Shouta’s not happy with the decision, but he understands)

Then one year he sends Izuku a Present Mic figurine and she writes him to share how excited the boy was and how Present Mic is one of his favorite heroes and he listens to his radio show all the time and Shouta simultaneously melts and has a minor breakdown at the realization that he hasn’t told his husband that they have sons, he can’t tell Hizashi that their son listens to his radio show regularly when Hizashi doesn’t know Izuku even exists

So of course, being the rational man he is, he finally tells Hizashi about Izuku and Hitoshi

Hizashi freaks, of course (in a good way(mostly))

And then, one of the worst days of Shouta’s life

He’s on patrol and sees a figure on a rooftop and rushes to get there - just in case it’s a jumper - and it’s his son, his Izuku

They talk(it doesn’t breach the adoption contract, he didn’t know it was Izuku when he approached and the kid spoke first) and Izuku tells him “everything” about his encounter with All Might, Shouta tells him to tell his parents - they’re there to support him - and also that All Might’s full of shit and a quirkless hero is totally possible with the right training and enough willpower

Then after they leave the rooftop his kid gets in trouble again, rushing in to save a classmate from the same sludge villain that attacked him earlier that day

Of course Shouta swoops in and pulls the kids out of danger before All Might arrives to “save the day”

This time Shouta insists on walking Izuku home to make sure he actually gets there safely

But then All Might shows up again wanting to talk to his kid privately and he wants to tell the man to fuck off but he’s not legally allowed, really, so when Izuku says it’s fine he reluctantly leaves

Inko asks to meet him just days later

She tells him that Izuku told her everything about what happened that day - including what Shouta told him - and she tells him that she’s realized she needs to properly support her son in pursuing his dream

She understands that Shouta wouldn’t feel comfortable training him one-on-one with the kid not knowing who they are to each other, and she’s still not ready to tell him yet, so she asks for a list, for him to help her get in touch with people who can train Izuku or ways for Izuku to train on his own, ways for her to help

He puts her in contact with seven pro heroes (Midnight, Gunhead, the Wild Wild Pussycats, and - somehow - Sir Nighteye) and a vigilante team (the Naruhata Crawler and his team), all of whom he talks into helping - and has to tell about his connection to this boy they’ll be teaching

(Each have something important to teach him: Midnight - using words and body language to throw off opponents, Gunhead - martial arts, Wild Wild Pussycats - stamina, teamwork and use of your environment when out in nature, Sir Nighteye - analysis and planning, the Naruhata Vigilantes - use of gadgets and weapons, use of your environment when in the city, having the heart of a hero, and - most importantly - that quirkless people can be fucking strong and skilled and terrifying and certainly aren’t weak or useless (they were trained by a quirkless vigilante after all, they’re bound to have a different perspective on the idea of a quirkless hero than anyone else, a perspective Izuku could really benefit from))

Ten months later, Izuku passes UA’s entrance exam and is placed in Shouta’s class (he’s pretty sure Nezu did that on purpose)

When the school year starts, he and Hizashi discover that Izuku isn’t the only one in one of their classes - Hitoshi is in Hizashi’s homeroom

They are, of course, fucking extatic

They just need to, y’know, figure out how to tell him that they’re his parents and maybe possibly would love custody of him if he wants

(Again I haven’t gotten any further than that yet)

(Also, if you can’t tell, in this au Izuku turns down All Might’s offer of One for All, cause Eraserhead said he could be a hero without a quirk and was honestly a lot kinder and more responsible (like, making sure the kid got home safely instead of leaving him on a roof) and stuff than All Might and honestly might be his new favorite hero)

[catherdrashepard]

Atlas au Raa

So, I finished Dark Age not that long ago and it came with so many brand new questions. And so many thoughts about the characters. But, as the title suggests, the character who has been at the forefront of my mind is Atlas au Raa. There’s just so little we know about him but there’s pieces there that I think just need to be put together. It will in no way reveal the full puzzle that is Mr. au Raa but I do hope that it can give some idea as to what he’s about. Spoilers ahead. This post is very long and a but rambly, apologies in advance.

What DO we know about Atlas au Raa? Shout out to @hyena-frog for helping me with this part. (Read: pretty much doing this part for me.) He’s a Rim Gold and brother to Romulus au Raa. He grew up in Octavia's court as a ward because she required each Rim family to send a kid to her as a hostage to prevent another rebellion. Apparently he was a favored student of hers. He mostly stuck to himself there but loved the library. Octavia forced him to have a child with Aja (Ajax, AKA the Core’s Storm Knight.) Atlas himself is the Fear Knight. He was best friends with Lysander’s parents, Brutus and Anastasia and, at some point after they died, he was sent to the Kuiper Belt to supposedly deal with the Ascomanni. Although, we’re pretty sure Octavia sent him there in order to eliminate him. He tortures people in order to kill enemies psychologically, preventing further deaths. He also controls Volsung and Xenophon. There is also the implication that he views the Rim as enemies and is more loyal to the Core. He makes meditation totems out of those who make him question his prejudices. Currently he has totems of (that we know of): Daedre, a Red woman. And a WIP Darrow.

The whole “question his prejudices” thing is really Interesting to me. Golds are taught that they are at the top, that they are the pinnacle of humanity (which they are but....that’s only because they MADE it that way) which definitely gives them some biases against the other Colors. I haven’t quite puzzled out if he counts these people as exceptions or if he realised that Color isn’t indicative to someone’s ability and he needs to remember to judge them based on individual ability. My money’s on the latter tbh because he doesn’t seem like the type of person to assume everyone is going to fit into the place they were assigned. As @hyena-frog beautifully put “He's learned not to let his biases blind him to how dangerous even LowColors can be.” But you know who doesn’t have the same critical thinking skills as Atlas? Lysander.

There’s also the question of his motivations, and what exactly he uses the Fear Knight persona for. Something specific that’s been nagging at me is the story about the Ascomanni that Pax told to Ephraim. I already mentioned it briefly in the first paragraph but I’d like to expand on why I think he was involved in what happened with the Ascomanni.

First, I’d like to go through the timeline. From what I got from the Wiki, some Obsidians escaped to the Kuiper Belt around Late 3rd Century PCE (Post Conquering Era) and approximately 736 years later, Atlas au Raa was banished to the Kuiper Belt by Octavia au Lune. 11 years after that in 747 PCE, Atlas returned to the Core to allegedly help fight against the Rising. In 754 PCE, 7 years after Atlas’ return, the Ascomanni attack the Pandora over Mars. Darrow enters the Institute 2 years prior to Atlas’ banishment. The majority of the first trilogy happens while Atlas is in the Kuiper Belt, including the entirety of Morning Star. So Atlas returns sometime in between the end of Morning Star and the beginning of Iron Gold. I’m not really finding any answers on how long it might have take Atlas to travel to the Kuiper Belt. Pardon some weird math for a second. Based on the Wiki: “the novels depict travel time between planets taking several weeks and often two or three months without layovers...” For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to assume it takes about 3 months to get from one planet to the next. I’m sure it will vary depending on distance between planets but...3 months is a good average. I’m also going to include the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter. If Atlas was travelling from Luna to the Kuiper Belt, assuming he made no stops in between, my guess is it would have taken him probably about 2 years to get there. Theoretically then, Atlas would have spent 7 years in the Kuiper Belt doing whatever he was doing.

Something else that I’ve been thinking about is why Atlas joined the Core Golds and why Octavia appointed him as the Fear Knight. I don’t believe for a second that it would’ve been to foster peace between the Rim and Core Golds. Atlas’ parents were most likely alive during the First Moon Lord Rebellion considering their oldest child was born 9 years after it took place. We don’t really know a lot about Atlas’ parents but we have gotten little bits of information that I’ll do my best to analyse. Revus au Raa, Atlas’ father was said to be involved in the death of Lysander’s parents so that puts his death to sometime after 739 PCE and I believe before 742 PCE. I am not the cultural anthropologist that my sister, @saiikavon is so I got her opinion on Atlus’ potential motives for joining the Core. Her thoughts are that Atlas joined because he wants to understand the Core. The Rim Golds believe the Core is “barbaric and has corrupted itself with a sense of entitlement...” so it’s safe to say they have heavy prejudice against them. My sister mentioned that based on Atlas’ totems, he seems to be the type who would question the prejudices the Rim has against the Core and prefer to do his own research in person. From what little I know about Revus au Raa, I doubt he would have approved of his son’s choice.

Since I don’t know exactly when Atlas became the Fear Knight, I have to make guesses on which events he was on the Core for. I think it’s entirely possible that he was present for Eo’s song and her death. He also wasn’t sent to the Kuiper Belt until a year after Darrow finished at the Institute so I don’t think it’s farfetched to think that he witnessed all of what happened with that. He was also friends with Lysander’s parents, one of which who was planning a coup against Octavia. As we know, Lysander’s parents were killed because of this plan and, if Atlas was in on it as well, that could explain why he was sent to the Kuiper Belt. Octavia obviously didn’t want him to return from his exile, but she couldn’t outright kill him because that might have started a war between the Core and the Rim. And I don’t think Revus would have wanted to risk a war either had his son been able to succeed in the coup. Which would explain why he became involved in the death of Lysander’s parents and why he allowed his son to be sent away. Revus was then killed which I suppose could’ve been Octavia tying up loose ends.

This finally brings us to the Ascomanni. 736-738 (to account for Atlas’ travel time) years is a long time to be isolated in and beyond an asteroid belt. My guess is that they were incredibly far behind in technology until Atlas showed up. If we consider the above paragraph as canon, I suspect Atlas would have tried to recruit the Ascomanni to help him overthrow Octavia. If we take account the 3-4 years that it probably took for Atlas to reach the Kuiper belt, he spent about 7-8 years with the Ascomanni. We can only speculate (until Pierce Brown maybe tells us please) as to what happened between them but I feel like it’s safe to say that Atlas helped the Ascomanni obtain at least some of the technology they used during the attack on the Pandora. Also, because the Ascomanni didn’t arrive until 7 years after Atlas did, he had plenty of time to make plans and recruit Xenophon.

The only thing is, I think Atlas’ plans must have changed during that time, at least to some degree. In one of the previous paragraphs, I mentioned that Atlas returned to the Core sometime after the end of Morning Star. I’m sure that on his journey back, he learned that Octavia was killed and that Lysander was taken away by Cassius. Whether or not he knows WHO Cassius is is unknown. I think it’s possible depending on how closely he followed the events at the Institute. But as Cassius trained with Aja in 740, Atlas probably didn’t have a close relationship with him or know him all that well. This makes me think that it’s possible that Atlas assumed (like most people now that I think about it) that Lysander was dead.

Where does this leave Atlas then? Octavia is dead, Lysander is also presumed dead, and the Core has been taken over by a new group. I’m reluctant to say that he is entirely for restoring the Core back to how it was, but I imagine that he sees the Rising (and defeating the Rising) as a way to reshape the Core to be what he thinks it should be. I feel like his motives are similar to Lysander’s in that he wants to fix what he thought was broken about the Core. Although, Lysander’s (stupid) opinions on what’s broken and Atlas’ are probably different.

Anyway, I don’t really feel like I answered any questions about our beloved(?) Fear Knight but here are my thoughts. I really hope we get more of him in the next book.

[loudblonde]

Peter Parker x Male!Stark!Reader

Trigger warning: angst, mentions of murder and death, bad communication between father!Tony and son!reader, depression, recovered self-harmer, self-harm scars, hydra mention, homophobia.

Reincarnation AU, where lovers who were destined to be together will always find each other after they die. They will feel naturally drawn to each other, like magnets. No matter who they are in this life, they always share some of the same physical traits.

(Y/N) pulled the hood further over his head, desperately wanting to escape the situation. The lawyers’ words stitched together, into a long string of nothingness, no meaning came from it, not to a kid.

(Y/N)’s mother had died not even two days ago, killed in front of (Y/N). Now his uncle fought for rights to custody over his father. A pointless battle, (Y/N) didn’t know this at the time, but he would be lucky he ended up with his father.

(Y/N) had never seen his father, he didn’t like him, or at least his mother hadn’t liked him. She had always talked about how arrogant he was and how he would rather just sleep around instead of being a father. How parties were his priority and not his own son. So no, (Y/N) didn’t like his father, not with those words in mind.

The black-haired boy looked over at the lawyer with tears in his eyes, he wanted to get away. He wanted his mother. But even he knew, she was never coming back.

That day had been far too long. (Y/N) had barely even registered the trial ended or that he was escorted out of the room and into a car. Once (Y/N) finally registered what was happening, a burger was offered to him. (Y/N) took it.

“Cheeseburger.” Tony said, unsure how to react, he was not fit to be a father. But he was rich. How would he ever provide what the kid needed emotionally? He wasn’t ready to be a father, but before Catharina had died, Tony had been in the hospital room with her. She had begged him to take in their son, to not let her brother get him.

Something had just screamed at him to take care of her son, no, their son. Something about the desperateness in her voice and eyes or how she had spent her last breath asking him to promise it to her.

But no, Tony was not ready to be a father, he wasn’t even sure he would do a good job, but he would try his best.

He watched as (Y/N) slowly ate. A sigh came from Tony. “I know that this is hard… I’m sorry kid.” Tony didn’t get a respond, not that he thought he would. He looked towards Happy who shrugged. “Drive us home.” Tony looked out of the window.

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

11 years passed quickly, (Y/N) Stark. The only known son and heir to the company. A genius like his father, just in other ways. He had spoken 7 languages at age 10. By the age of 15, that number was up to 16. The media had no pictures of him after his 13th birthday. They could never quite find him or else he was just hidden from the naked eye.

Now, (Y/N) just avoided the public as much as he could. He looked too much like his father. Who wanted a camera in their face 24/7. Definitely not (Y/N). It did help that he was sent off to a boarding school ever year.

Oh, and there was also this little detail called, he was fucking a mutant. A powerful one at that. He could read peoples minds and warp their senses. It’s tiring and often resulted in him getting a nosebleed. Yet he kept practicing, payed off on the exams.

(Y/N) knew very well, that if the wrong people found out, he would be taken away and used for some crazy science experiment. By hydra or someone worse. Someone Shield had no idea were around, (Y/N) was sure it could happen.

So, (Y/N) remained closeted in multiple ways.

Even if he had some destined lover out there, he wouldn’t wanna be with them. He doubted he had one, but just to be safe, he had an escape plan… however if the stories proved true… He didn’t think about that too much, it was not gonna happen.

Which he had been fine with until he came home and saw a guy his age in his fathers’ current workshop. He normally never went in there but felt as though he needed to do it.

“Erm, excuse me, but who are you?” (Y/N) asked the rather cute brown-haired boy.

Peter looked up with wide eyes. For a second, he thought he had seen Tony, but this man was so much younger. Peter scratched the back of his head. “I’m Peter Parker, Mister Starks intern.”

(Y/N) raised his eyebrow at that. “Who are you? I-if you don’t mind me asking!” (Y/N) found something cute about the nervous edge to the young man. (Y/N) smirked ever so slightly.

(Y/N) chuckled as he walked further into the workshop, his body reacted without him wanting it to. He walked all the way over to Peter and looked at what he was doing. Homework? Or… something else? It seemed strangely familiar; though Peter covered it up before he could see anymore.

“I’m (Y/N) Stark.” He said with a friendly smile. (Y/N) looked up as two other people walked into the workshop, his pretend girlfriend and father, happily chatting away about some scientific thing.

“Oh, (Y/N), didn’t see you there. You never told me your girlfriend was smart.” Tony said.

“Well Tony, you never bothered to ask asked.” (Y/N) shrugged as he sat on a table his legs dangling slightly, they didn’t have the best relationship, (Y/N) had never called him father.

Not even to his friends. His pretend and also very closeted fake girlfriend walked over and stood between (Y/N)’s leg, (Y/N) placed his arms around her shoulder, ignoring the hurtful look in Tony’s eyes. He had seen it a lot.

“You never do ask about anything, I didn’t think you would care enough about who I was dating.” (Y/N) shrugged. Peter felt very uncomfortable, he just looked down, hoping to just avoid the whole family mess.

Tony on the other hand sighed. “Look kid-“

“Don’t kid me. I lost all sense of that word that night.” (Y/N) said, without even raising his voice. (Y/N) had forgiven Tony long ago, though he didn’t know if Tony knew this. Being taken away from his uncle, whom he had cared for a lot, to never see him again. Turned out his uncle had killed his mother… yeah that was not fun to know at age five.

“The only reason I’m home now is because I’m required too, I will stay out of your way, as always. Have fun with your intern.” (Y/N) said as he jumped down from the table. He landed soundlessly. Peter caught onto that.

“(Y/N)….” Tony looked after them, but they left towards the direction of his sons’ room, not even bothering to look back.

He loved (Y/N), but something was off, there was something (Y/N) never told him. It bothered Tony, but he didn’t know how to get a bond with (Y/N), he had never taken to science. Or anything else they could bond over. Tony had tried but eventually… just given up.

Not even Pepper could bond with (Y/N) and she had tried. The closest had been one moment when (Y/N) almost opened up.

Tony looked over at Peter, who averted his eyes. “Sorry about that… where did we come from?”

(Y/N) listened as Tony dropped the subject and sighed. What had he expected? A confession that his father Truly cared but just didn’t know how to approach a moody teenager. Or perhaps Tony saying that he had never been a father to him, nor he ever would.

They walked into a living room and sat down, (Y/N) hoped for silence. “He still doesn’t know. Does he?” Elena asked him, she placed a hand on his leg, comforting him.

(Y/N) sighed. “Why would he? It isn’t as though he cares anyway.” (Y/N) wasn’t sure if that was what he truly believed or hoped. “Why would I ever tell him I’m bi. Sure, he is. But why would he care about me?” (Y/N) leaned back in the couch scowling to himself, thinking about his father.

Though he smiled when he heard a familiar pair of heals enter the room.

“What have the two of you been up too?” Clint asked from behind Natasha.

(Y/N) chuckled as he stood up, Elena did the say, they all shared hugs. “Not much, just planning world domination,” (Y/N) joked.

“Yeah, letting the queer people rise up and overthrow all the governments.” Elena joined in. They all chuckled.

“(Y/N)-“ Natasha began but was interrupted. She let (Y/N) speak, knowing damn well he was being an edgy teenager that she would beat the next time he asked to spare with her. Which for some reason he never seemed to learn from.

“Save it, please. I don’t need any pity. He found someone else when he was ready. I was literally thrown at him 11 years ago. He wasn’t ready to be a father and if he is now, then lucky for Parker..” (Y/N) shrugged, pretending it didn’t hurt him.

Of course, Natasha and Clint saw right through that. They shared a look before closing the door to the room and sat both kids down. Somewhat ready to have this conversation.

“Your father doesn’t hate you.” Clint said and sighed. “He just-“ (Y/N) shook his head.

“Doesn’t know how to reach me? I have heard that from seven different psychologists.” (Y/N) leaned his head against the table. Not wanting to have this conversation with two others.

“I was gonna say, afraid. You are distant, he cherishes the little you two have and always get sad when you leave. Just having you around cheers him up, even with your harsh rejections of him.” Clint said, catching (Y/N) off guard.

A slight gasp came from him as he looked up at Clint, unsure if Clint was actually telling the truth. “Tony likes having me around?” (Y/N) looked at Elena for comfort, she placed a hand on his thigh.

Natasha and Clint shared a look before nodding. “Yes, he is always talking about the next time you come home, how he wants to spend more time with you.” Clint said with a small smile.

“Yes, he smiles widely, just like the moments when he discovers something new.” Natasha said, a ghostly smile on her lips. (Y/N) knew that smile, he had seen it a few times. It always warmed his heart when he thought about it, his father actually being happy for once.

No matter how much (Y/N) claimed he didn’t care, he really did care. Seeing his father happy was always something he remembered. For two reasons, always the same two reasons.

One, seeing Tony smiling widely and not drinking was rare.

And two… it hurt. Seeing Tony get a sense of happiness when he didn’t think (Y/N) was around, a sense of happiness that (Y/N) previously wrote off as simply being a dislike for him.

They had some catching up to do, and it seemed as though Clint had read his mind.

“You should talk with him later when Peter goes off to sleep. I know you don’t sleep that much, both of you.” Clint said, waving a finger between them, making the small group last.

(Y/N) thought about it, one hand, he wanted a relationship with his father, but on the other hand. Tony must think (Y/N) hates him…

An idea popped into his head.

He knew what he must do, he stood up, a determined glint in his eyes. “I have to go, Elena, you know the code to my room. I will be back in two hours.” (Y/N) rushed out and into the garage, he grabbed his car keys and drove away to get something he knew his father loved.

Elena wandered off into the compound, looking for Wanda when she found Peter sitting on a couch, she plopped down next to him. “So, you’re starks intern?” She asked curiously. Her eyes glanced over Peters features.

Peter looked at her with a small smile. “Yeah. You are his sons’ girlfriend, right?” Peter asked.

Elena nodded as she shifted slightly, not being a good liar. “Yeah, we are.” She responded, a bit too distracted, Peter caught on.

“Unless there is trouble…?” He asked, really not looking forward to getting between them.

“Oh? No!” She chuckled and closed her eyes. She didn’t feel anyone around. Once she opened her eyes, she smiled. “I listen to girl in red.” She said. Peter nodded, knowing what it meant.

“And he covers?” Peter asked, suddenly wanting to know more about the other. She nodded.

“Yes, he covers for me. We have a whole breakup story planned once we both graduate at the end of the year. The darlings of the school practically married already. No one will see it coming.” She laughed softly; Peter chuckled slightly at it.

“Does Mister Stark know?” Peter asked, she instantly shook her head.

“No, Natasha and Clint know… and now you do. I trust that you won’t tell.” She held out her pinkie finger. Peter gently held her finger with his own.

“I promise and to trade knowledge. I’m bi. I’m Peter by the way.” He said with a huge smile, happy to have made a friend. “What school does the two of you attend?”

“Oh, that old thing?” She dropped her pinkie. “Institute auf dem Rosenberg.” She said with a proud smile.

Peters face dropped.

She chuckled softly at it. “Both of our families are rich; we are both smart. I mean, (Y/N) can’t really do science, but he can learn any language in three weeks. I take after my dad. Hank McCoy.” She beamed. She too was a mutant. She had the ability to feel the presence of others.

“What is it like on the school?” He asked. Everything she had said baffled him. She seemed so nonchalant about it as well.

“Oh, it is really a lot of fun. All the students there are super nice to be around. I mostly enjoy the horse riding or the various biology classes. The instructors are so good. Campus life is amazing. I have my own bedroom and bathroom.” She explained with a huge smile, just happy to be talking about it. She didn’t notice the sky darken outside.

“A-and your father is Hank McCoy?” Peters inner nerd was showing. He turned towards her, not noticing how dark it was getting.

“Yeah, I don’t see him much, but yes. I take more after my mother, I’m not all that blue.” She leaned back and closed her eyes, she felt a presence besides them, a familiar one, so she wasn’t worried.

They kept talking for an hour before Peter had to sleep, he had been up early. Elena just wandered off the bedroom.

Meanwhile (Y/N) had finally gotten home with the cheeseburgers. He walked into his fathers’ shop and placed one down besides Tony. “Tony… dad…” (Y/N) looked away as Tony looked at him shocked.

“I know I haven’t been the best son… or person and I’m sorry for that.” (Y/N) looked down.

“Kid…” Tony began but stopped at (Y/N) raised his hand.

“I don’t blame you for not being close with me. I pushed you away, I’m sorry for that dad.” (Y/N) looked over. “I shouldn’t have pushed you away… but I was just too scared what would happen if we tried to get closer again. Last time we tried anything father son like, you got blown up.” He nodded towards the reactor on Tony’s chest.

“I guess… my mother dying and you almost dying… I couldn’t afford to lose anyone I cared for, not again.” Tony hugged (Y/N) who just stood there, not knowing how to respond to the hug.

Tony pulled away and looked to (Y/N), he gently wiped (Y/N)’s tears away, leaving slightly oily marks on (Y/N)’s cheeks. (Y/N) hadn’t even noticed he was crying. He scrunched the sleeve of his hoodie up and wiped the rest of his tears away.

“You don’t have to be sorry… I haven’t done my part either… I thought you hated me and that you rather wouldn’t see me… I should have reached out instead of just letting you be alone.” Tony smiled gently and sat on the chair, (Y/N) jumped up on the table as he opened his cheeseburger.

“We were both not good at communicating.” (Y/N) sighed. There was so much to say and so little time to say it in. Or at least that was what it felt like.

“Dad?” (Y/N) looked towards Tony unsure.

“Yes?” Tony questioned and stopped opening his burger up.

(Y/N) bit his lip before shaking his head. “I’m gay.”

Tony looked confused. “What about Elena?”

“She’s also gay… We date as a cover. It is easier than anything else.” Tony nodded, understanding the need to keep it hidden.

“You know, it seems to run in the family.” Tony chuckled, catching (Y/N) off guard. “I’m bi. The news just doesn’t report the men I have slept with.” Tony shrugged as he took a bite off the burger.

“I can also read peoples minds.” (Y/N) muttered as he took a bite of his own burger.

However, Tony had heard it. “Read peoples mind?” Tony asked unsure if he heard it properly.

(Y/N) looked at him and nodded, his eyes shifted into a cloudy white colour, it looked as though someone had poured drops of milk into water, the white curled around his iris before finally overtaking his eyes.

“You hope I’m lying and joking around, you want to comfort yourself with that thought but deep down you know the truth, you know that there has always been something off, something you couldn’t see or explain and it wasn’t my sexuality. Something that pushed you away.” (Y/N) said, his voice sounded as though he spoke from somewhere else.

Tony watched as (Y/N) tilted his head to the side. “But you aren’t scared of me, of this. It caught you off guard but you…” (Y/N) shook his head. “You actually want to protect me.” (Y/N) couldn’t believe what he heard. Why would anyone ever protect a monster like him?

Something so vile, that could freely enter and probe around in someone’s mind.

“Of course, I would help you and keep you safe.” Tony took his sons hands in his. “Even with your gift, it isn’t something to be ashamed off.” Tony smiled.

(Y/N) smiled before shaking his head. “I… Why? Why keep me safe?” (Y/N) asked, unsure. His school had a few mutants, but those out was socially isolated and for a school priding itself with creating future relationships for their careers.

Tony looked confused at that question; something just didn’t seem right. Tony had a bad feeling where the conversation was going. “Because it’s the right thing to do and you are my son. If I didn’t protect you… I would be no better than hydra.” Tony said while looking into his sons’ eyes.

The word hydra made (Y/N) flinch and close his eyes. Imaginations of what happened. He had spoken with James for a few hours, before he had been whisked off to Wakanda and then again, every single time he was in Wakanda. He knew what hydra could do and with powers like his…

“(Y/N), I would never let hydra get to you.” Tony said sternly. “And, if they do get you, I will rain hell down upon them before they touch you.”

The words didn’t comfort (Y/N). Tony had essentially said he couldn’t promise safety, that hydra could very much just get to him. That he would never be safe. But (Y/N) put on a fake smile, not wanting to worry his father too much for one night. “Thank you.” Tony didn’t see through the smile.

(Y/N) faked a yawn, he needed to get some fresh air. “I should head towards the bed. I have had a long flight.” He stood up and threw his half-eaten cheeseburger out. “Don’t stay up too late.” (Y/N) joked at Tony who in turn chuckled.

“I was going to say, be safe. But I don’t need that.” Tony finished his own cheeseburger as (Y/N) walked out of the room.

(Y/N) walked into his room and out on the balcony, unbeknownst to him, Peters bedroom was right next to his own. (Y/N) took the hoodie off and dropped it down, scars littered his arms, but (Y/N) knew no one would see that here. It was a blind spot; no cameras could see his balcony.

A sigh came from him as he ran his fingers over the jagged scars, all healed and all going to stay. He had been clean for over a year. He had found a way to distract himself, singing. It sounded stupid when he thought about it. But singing helped him get away from his feelings, for just that moment.

He started off with a quiet song, one he had written himself. A song about a lost boy, trying to find his way home. Trying to live in a world with constant hate towards him.

Peter who had trouble with sleeping, heard someone sing outside his window. A beautiful, almost angelic voice. He looked outside and saw the young stark standing there shirtless and just singing, Peter had been too caught up in it he hadn’t noticed (Y/N) stopping and looking at him.

(Y/N) turned towards Peter with scared eyes. “H-hey Peter.” He chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

Peter fell inside his room before walking outside, rubbing his shoulder. “N-no. You didn’t. I just couldn’t sleep-“ he noticed the scars but said nothing, “and then I heard you sing. W-which you are really good at!” Peter exclaimed.

(Y/N) walked over to where their balconies met and leaned on the edge, Peter sat in the chair right next to it. “Come here often?” (Y/N) asked softly. “Every other weekend.” Peter proudly said. “Mister Stark wanted to teach me how to properly make my suit, but he is mostly always busy, so instead I train with the avengers.” Peter looked genuinely excited about that.

(Y/N) laughed softly before shaking his head. “That is what my dad is like. Tell me Pete. Why did my father pick you? He isn’t exactly one to get interns.” (Y/N) knew he was onto something, but he didn’t want to probe Peters brain.

Peter blushed, giving (Y/N) all the confirmation he needed to know he was indeed onto something. “I-“ Peter stopped himself.

“No need to tell the secret if it is.” (Y/N) placed a finger on Peters lips. Keeping him quiet and blushing. “But if you want to, then I never tell a secret.” (Y/N) winked as he removed his finger.

“I’m spiderman.” Peter whispered, (Y/N) heard it.

He moved over the balcony and sat next to Peter. “Really? That is so cool!” (Y/N) said in a voice that was maybe too loud, it made him flinch slightly and calm down.

“You think I’m cool?” Peter asked baffled. His blush only growing.

“Of course. At my school we watched your videos and used them in math, seeing how someone in a split second can change and twist their body. It is honestly amazing.” (Y/N) said without realising what he had just confessed too. But it was fine, right? He had said that they had done it in math class. Totally didn’t sound creepy. Right?

However, Peter blushed madly, even in the dimly lit night, (Y/N) could easily tell Peter was blushing, it made him blush as well. “Erm, sorry if that is weird.” He chuckled softly and scratched the back of his head.

“N-no. I just never imagined that someone that handsome and smart would ever be interested in what I did, nevertheless the only son of my mentor. I always wanted to impress really smart people but to actually-“ (Y/N) placed a hand over Peters mouth, which shut Peter up immediately.

“Pete, you are rambling, it’s cute.” (Y/N) removed his hand just as Elena walked outside. Peter didn’t notice it, instead he just heard the words over and over again. (Y/N) Stark thought he was cute? Or at least what he did was cute.

“Would you two please quiet a bit down. I have a meeting soon.” She pleaded while looking at the two.

“Of course, Elena. Sorry.” (Y/N) waved at her as she walked back in. ”Mind if I stay over on this side for an hour or two? Elena has a meeting.” (Y/N) looked at Peter.

“You can stay!” Peter said somewhat loudly, making (Y/N) smile. He stood up and bend over the balcony wall to get his hoodie. (Y/N) put it on and followed Peter into his room.

The room was decorated with some hero merch. It was honestly charming. To see someone, work this close with the avengers and still be a fan. It reminded him about Phil.

(Y/N) sat on the bed as he looked around the room amazed, the twin sized bed was small, but (Y/N) didn’t mind it. Peter sat next to him, maybe a bit too close, but neither of the boys noticed that.

(Y/N) leaned into Peter. “I really love your room.” He said softly.

Peter placed an arm around (Y/N)’s shoulder. “Really? It isn’t too… I don’t know, childish?” Peter asked, suddenly very insecure about his room. Why was Peter doing this? The most likely very straight (Y/N) Stark was this close, close enough for Peter to just- no, he couldn’t think like that.

“No?” (Y/N) turned his head slightly to look at Peter, his eyes travelled down to Peters lips before looking back into his eyes. “It isn’t childish, at all. It’s normal to have imagery of someone or something you idolise.”

Peters eyes widened slightly as he saw (Y/N)’s eyes travel down again before coming up, so he took a chance and cupped (Y/N) face. Peter leaned down almost all the way, leaving less then an inch between their lips. (Y/N) was quick to fill in the gap. He may not have known Peter for long, but it just felt right.

The kiss sparked a memory he didn’t know he had.

The sun was setting. Two young men had snuck away and into the forest to watch the sunset from the tallest tree. The tallest man had his hands around the others face, while the shorter had his arms around the waist of the other.

“I love you, (Y/N).”

(Y/N) pulled away from the kiss with wide eyes. He looked at Peter with a panicked expression. Peter shared the equally panicked expression. “I’m sorry!” (Y/N) halfway yelled, this time it was Peters turn to place his hands over (Y/N)’s mouth.

“You saw that too, right? I’m not the one going crazy here.” Peter asked, (Y/N) melted under Peters touch, he tried to say something, but Peters hand was still over his mouth.

“Right, sorry.” Peter removed his hand.

“If you talk about the two of us, in these old clothing, sitting in a tree and… kissing. Then yes.” (Y/N) said, moving slightly away from Peter. (Y/N) instantly regretted it, not feeling the warmth of Peter.

“… The reincarnation.” Peter stood up and started pacing the room. “So, it is true, I have heard stories, but they were hard to believe.” Peter stopped and looked at (Y/N) who just blankly stared at the wall.

“I’m a mutant. You should know that before you decide if you want to stay with me. The stories have always been true… never imagined me to be one of those.” (Y/N) stood up and was immediately hugged by Peter.

“Pete, what are you doing?” (Y/N) asked unsure as to why people kept hugging him.

“Oh… sorry!” Peter pulled away slightly but kept (Y/N) within arms range.

“No reason to say sorry.” (Y/N) smiled. “Why don’t we just, sit down and talk this through?” (Y/N) asked as he took Peter with him over to the bed.

They spent the next night just talking about everything they could think. About (Y/N)’s power, Peters school, mental-health, and childhood stories, how they both shared having seen someone they cared about get killed.

At some point during the night, they fell asleep while cuddling on the small bed.

[bangtan-sonyeonddaeng]

Play it loud, Daechwita

The loud sounds of the market were buzzing through your head. Countless people talking all at once, some screaming, others bargaining, and some you swear were talking loudly just because they liked the sound of their own voice. Every time you came here you left with a migraine, and you knew this time would be no different. Unfortunately, you are only human and you have to eat.

You come to the butcher’s stand and notice an odd exchange happen. The man wearing a straw hat doesn’t buy anything, just simply mouths a few words, they both nod, and he turns around to walk off. His gaze is cast down, clearly trying not to be noticed. He begins walking towards you and as he does, one gentleman runs into him, causing the man to smack right into you. You fall to the ground and a cloud of dirt is kicked up. You try to expel the dirt from your lungs and clear the dust away from your vision with a wave of your hand.

“Yah! Jin watch where you are going! You just ran right into that guy!”

“Excuse me? Show some respect that is hyung to you!”  

You watch the two fighting with each other and notice the man is still walking off away from you. He didn’t even offer to help you up, which honestly made your blood boil just enough to the point where you went running after him demanding an apology.

“Hey! You! Don’t you just walk away from me! You knocked me flat on my ass the least you can do is apologize!” He continues to ignore you and keeps walking. “Hey! Straw hat guy!” His shoulders tense. “Ah so you can hear me. Listen up you can’t just run into people like that and not stay you’re sorry didn’t your mom teach you any-“ Suddenly he turns around, grabs your wrist and yanks you into an ally and your nerve are immediately on edge. Maybe you shouldn’t have pushed the issue so much. “Um, listen I am sorry I didn’t mean it please don’t murder me.” You hide your face and hear the guy let out a deep breathy chuckle. It sounds familiar. So familiar it sends a shiver up your spine.

“You can’t be.. Y--.. Yoon-“ A hand is slapped over your mouth and your back is suddenly pressed flat against the building. He slowly lifts his head up and your gaze finally meets. You’d remember those eyes anywhere. Your own widen to the size of saucers as you start incoherently shouting behind his hand muffling your voice. He holds a finger up to his lips.

“Shh! For fuck sake y/n keep your voice down.”

“Mmm-ph!”

“Are you going to be quiet?” You nod your head. He removes his hand from your mouth.

“What the fuck Yoo-“ His hand is immediately back.

“Listen, I need you to not blow my cover so please y/n I am begging you, don’t cause a scene.” You seem to relax at that, so he slowly lowers his hand until he is sure you won’t start shouting at him again. He sees your expression crumple and knows what’s going to happen. You are immediately pulled into a hug with your face buried in his chest. A hand is placed on the back of your head as he runs his fingers through your hair. A hand snakes down to your waist and pulls you even tighter against him. You sob into his chest, the sound muffled as he’s holding you so closely to him. You have a death grip on his shirt, terrified that if you let go for even a second that he is going to disappear again.

“Shhh, it’s okay. I’m here. I promise you, I’m not leaving again.”

“I- I thought you were dead. You’ve been missing for years, Yoongi. What the hell happened? Where did you go? What were you doing that you couldn’t even see me for two seconds to let me know you were alive?  You could have sent me a letter. A smoke signal. Or anything for that matter. You have no idea how heartbroken I was when I saw your brother cut you with the sword. There was so much blood..” You shudder at the memory which you thought you had repressed by now. Apparently your brain had other plans.  “How are you even alive right now? I thought I was never going to see you again and I’ve lived the past 5 years with this emptiness and hole in my chest that was left by you.” You pull away from him and his heart shatters at the broken expression on your face. He lifts his hands up to cup your face and kisses both of your cheeks until you stop crying.

“Y/n you know I couldn’t. He was after me. You all were in danger. I had to make everyone believe that I was gone otherwise my plan never would have worked. And to be honest I honestly thought that was the end for me. But the executioner.. He snuck out after my brother tried to kill me. He found me and took me to a doctor he trusted that healed me. My brother… he’s gone absolutely mad y/n I am sure you know that. He gave himself a scar to match mine just so he could pretend to be me so no one would question it. He can’t be allowed to rule any longer. That’s why I left for so long. I was building connections, ensuring that I would have enough support and people willing to follow me after I overthrow my brother. I had to let people know that there was still hope, that that imposter on the throne wasn’t me.”

“So you decided to let a bunch of strangers know you were alive but not me? Someone who has been by your side since we were kids?” You narrow your eyes, feeling more hurt now than ever. “You trusted people you didn’t even know over me?”

“Y/n that’s not-“

“Please, just don’t. I don’t want to hear anymore excuses.”

“They aren’t excuses it’s the truth. I couldn’t’ come back here. I didn’t dare set foot inside the city walls and I especially couldn’t see you. My brother knew how much I loved you. If I would have even tried to send a message to you, it would have been intercepted. People have been following you and keeping tabs on you ever since my brother became suspicious of the rumors that I was still alive. Otherwise I would have let you know I was fine. You weren’t the only one hurting, you know? But if I upset you that badly and you want nothing to do with me.. I understand.” He finally drops his hands away from your face and takes a step back. You immediately miss his touch and reach out to grab his hand and lace your fingers together, something he often did to assure you that he would always be there for you, and wasn’t going anywhere. Now you needed to do the same for him.

“You’re right. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through these past few years. I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” He gives you a small smile, but it’s enough to send a frenzy of butterflies into your stomach. Some things never change.  You stand there for a moment, taking in the sight of him. He looks tired, so so tired. The dark circles under his eyes have worsened, the usual light that shown in his eyes was gone. Although you could see a little bit being rekindled when you smile up at him. He’s more pale than you remember. And thinner. You make a mental note to cook him a hearty meal once all of this is done. Maybe make him a cake or two. You were planning to spoil him rotten as a welcome back.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Hmm, no reason. Just trying to commit this moment to memory in case I wake up and realize this really all was just a dream.”

“It’s not. I promise I’m here.” He moves closer and presses a kiss to your forehead. “Did you feel that?”

“Y-yes.”

“And how about this?” his lips lightly brush over your eyelids and you flutter them closed.

“Yes.”

“And how about this?” Ever so gentle, his lips finally are connected with yours. They barely brush against one another but it is enough to send your heart thudding loudly in your chest.

“I feel all of that.” When you open your eyes he’s smiling his signature gummy smile that you adore and missed more than anything.

“I guess you’re not dreaming then, huh?”

“I guess not. So where do we go from here?” His expression falls slightly.

“I… I don’t know. I can’t be here with you until I figure everything out with my brother. I can’t put you in danger like that please understand.” You nod your head, although you pout slightly. Yoongi pokes your bottom lip causing you to giggle.

“I understand. Just, can you at least tell me what you’re planning?”

“… I’m sorry no. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just don’t want you to know anything for your own safety.”

“Alright. I trust you.” His eyes widen at that in surprise.

“R-really?”

“Of course.”

“Just that easy? No arguing? Back talk? Are you my brother in disguise?” He pulls on your cheeks and you immediately burst out laughing and swat his hand away.

“Yoongi I will never stop believing in you or supporting you. You can always count on me.” You reach down and give his hand a comforting squeeze, and he does the same back.

“That really means a lot to me y/n. Seriously. Thank you.”

“No need to. You should probably get back to whatever it is you were doing though. The more time we spend back here the more suspicious it is going to look if someone really is watching me.” Yoongi’s grip tightens harshly.

“You’re right.” He brings your hand up to his lips and places a kiss there.

“I promise I will come find you once this is all over.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting.”

So things weren’t going exactly to his plan. No, they absolutely really were not. Him getting captured of course was. The executioner was on his side, and he knew that his life was not in danger at his hands. What he wasn’t planning on, was you getting captured as well. His heart immediately falls into his stomach when he hears your whimpers from beside him.  

“Let y/n go you asshole. Your problem is with me.” You hear his brother scoff loudly.

“Hmm yes. But see y/n here cares for you deeply, and I know you care just as much if not more. So I figured why not have a little party here? I’m sure my dear brother, that you love to spend your last moments with them, correct?”

“What are you talking about? Yoongi? What’s going on, I can’t see anything because of the blindfold.” You hear him click his tongue against his teeth.

“Well that’s a problem. See I want you to witness everything, my dear.”

“Don’t call me that you freaking crazy ass-“

“Yah! Y/n don’t say that. Don’t make things worse than they already are, please.”

“You should listen to him you know? He’s right. I don’t take kindly to people insulting me. You’re lucky I am even considering letting you go after I kill him. By the way how did you even survive the first time? I cut with you with my sword and made sure it was deep enough that you wouldn’t survive. Someone must have saved you. Who was it hmm? Who do I have to behead for betraying me all those years ago? Maybe if you tell me I will consider letting you live out the rest of your days in the dungeon.” Even though your eyes are covered you know Yoongi would have rolled his eyes at that.

“Guess I just got lucky. You did get me deep enough, I have the scars to prove it. Some other worldly force in the universe must be looking out for me and knows who’s really meant to be on the throne.” You are about to speak when the blindfold is suddenly ripped off and you are staring up at the very man you despise with everything in you. Any trace of light or kindness is completely gone from his eyes. His blonde hair is tied back and you take in the sharpness of his features. Even though they are brothers, there is nothing similar about them. Agust’s eyes are sharp, and cruel. Whereas Yoongi’s are soft and hold so much kindness. There is a reason people around town call Agust the Mad King. He smirks at you and you wish your hands weren’t bound so you can quite literally wipe that grin off his face. He turns towards the executioner and nods his head, giving him the signal. He starts heading towards Yoongi and your heart is racing in your chest. It feels like it’s going to absolutely burst and you can’t help the tears that are escaping from your eyes.

“Y-Yoongi, no. You can’t.. This isn’t happening.” The executioner forces him to stand and move where he is kneeling with his back to you.

“Y/n everything is going to be okay. Trust me.”

“Even when you are about to die you are still so confident and cocky. You disgust me, you know?”

“Yeah? Well the feeling is mutual, sir.” He spits on the ground in front of his brother and he almost breaks his composure for a moment, but scoffs instead, turning on his heel and walking back up to the top of the steps to his throne room to watch everything unfold.

“Well? Get on with it.” The executioner raises the sword high above Yoongi’s head and you let out a cry. Yoongi told you to trust him, that everything will be fine. But when you see the sword come down and see him crumple onto the ground everything he says goes out the window. Your body just shuts down. You collapse onto the ground and cry silently, having had every ounce of energy completely leave your body. But then you see something through the blurriness of your tears. It looks like movement? You squint your eyes and try to wipe them as best as you can on your shoulder. Yoongi is moving. Your eyes widen in shock as you watch him take the blind fold off and shrug the ropes off his body. The executioner is bowing to him, head held low and handing him something. It’s a glint of metal and you immediately know what it is. The king says nothing, clearly having realized he has been betrayed. His arrogance having got the better of him, he had none of his court officials or soldiers with him because he thought there was no way he would get away this time, that he wouldn’t be so lucky. Yoongi takes the gun and turns around to face you.

“I’m sorry angel but I’ll untie you in a minute. Close your eyes, I don’t want you to see this.” Before he even finishes his sentence you feel your vision going black, the onslaught of different emotions you’ve felt all at once washing over you and overwhelming your sense all at once. Your head falls back onto the ground and you’re out. The last thing you hear before you drift into unconsciousness is the sound of a gunshot, and footsteps running over to you.

“Y/n? Come on sweetheart, you need to wake up.” He places his palm on your cheek and runs his thumb over it gently. “I know that was a lot to deal with, but I need you to wake up now, come on angel stay with me.” Your eyes start to flutter open when you feel his lips pressing kisses all over your face. When your eyes do finally stay open and you meet his, he’s smiling at you. It’s a small one, but you see the intent behind it with the way his eyes are shining at you. “There you are. You passed out for a little bit there. Are you okay?”

You stare at him, just blinking and not saying anything and he begins to worry that maybe you hit your head a little too hard. Until his thoughts are abruptly cut off by you throwing your arms around his neck and tugging him into a suffocating hug. He doesn’t hesitate to reciprocate, holding you just as tightly.

“Is it done now?”

“Yeah. I mean, no I have a feeling this mess is just beginning but he’s gone. My brother’s rule is over. I can finally take my rightful place on the throne and lead this country to the greatness it was once meant to be. And I can do it with you by my side.” You pull away and smile at him, and lean in to peck a kiss on his nose. His own grin widens and you see that gummy smile you adore so much.

“Um, your highness. The gunshot caused quite a commotion I think all of the soldiers are running over here now.” Yoongi tries to move away from you but you refuse to let go. He places his hands on your own and tries to gently pry the death grip you have on his shirt away.

“Angel, you gotta let go of me. This whole place is going to be in chaos in a moment and I need to be able to explain myself so they don’t try to behead me the moment they see me.”

“But I just got you back. I thought for a second I lost you again, I can’t let go of you Yoongi, not yet.” He sighs but regardless, can’t help the fondness he has for you.

“What do I always tell you, y/n?”  

“… To trust you.”

“So believe me when I say I am not going anywhere. I’m not leaving you again. I promise. Once everything gets sorted, you’ll have forever to spend with me.” You slowly let go of his shirt, but he doesn’t let go of you just get. He laces his fingers with your own and holds your hand tightly.

“We’ll face whatever comes our way together?” He nods his head and kisses your cheek.

“Together. Always”

[somelazyassartist]

10

Is there a single leader, multiple, or are decisions made by the people? If the former, how are the leaders chosen? If the latter, how are decisions made?

Okay okay okay look okay this. This is probably the thing I worked on most so far so I'm. VERY excited. But also I wrote half of this when I was like half-asleep and the other half right after I woke up so if it doesn't make any sense, feel free to ask for clarification and I can elaborate. Also I'm gonna name drop like a LOT of characters so if you wanna hear more about any of them feel free to ask. Okay okay okay.

So basically, most Fey follow an Archfey of sorts, but they still have their own civilizations and kingdoms with rulers- they just are always one rank below the Faerie Queens. But yeah yeah yeah, okay there are definitely some places in the Feywild where decisions are made by the people, but we're specifically talking about "The Three Kingdoms" so like. They're kingdoms lmao.

Okay so first of all, you need some backstory,,, The Three Kingdoms used to be one Kingdom, ruled by Zacria Xulaphani. Zacria is a LeShay, a powerful and immortal Elf-Like Fey creature of extraordinary power. Back thousands of years ago, the Forces of Darkness (I haven't come up with a better name for it yet that's just a placeholder, but it's an army of evil Fey, demons, Fomorians, and other such things that were trying to make a second(?) attempt at taking over the Feywild) banded together to try to take down one of the most prominent kingdoms within the Feywild to show their power and to scare other smaller rulers to just give in, because if Zacria's army couldn't stop them then nobody could. Zacria was vastly outnumbered, so she sent recruiters out to the Material Plane to try to see if anyone would volunteer to help with their plight (which is when Evalur and Keanan came to the Feywild, they willingly volunteered when they were only kids not understanding how serious it really was), and split the Kingdom into three separate ones so that she could have ⅔ more time to focus on fighting the war. She took over the section she called Shylha Dorthore, appointed the head of her royal guard, Briarloch Von Birus III, as the King of Arran Thalas, and appointed her royal advisor, Morsandoral Telloxia, as the Ruler of Maethveserine.

Long, long, VERY long story short, Zacria and her armies won and drove back their attackers into the Feydark, but it was a pretty close call, and Zacria didn't get out of the fight unscathed. During a confrontation with one of the more powerful demons they were up against, she was cursed (though she never told the public what exactly the details of said curse were to try to avoid causing a panic). When the war ended she decided to step down from ruling altogether, though the people weren't happy with that for a number of reasons, so she came up with a compromise of sorts. She'd still step down from being Queen, and somebody else would take her place to rule, but she set up a system to make sure there was extra protection put in place to keep the people safe from if there ever was an attack against the kingdom again. She set up a court of mages, twelve extremely powerful individuals with a rank only below that of their ruler themselves, who would each guard one of the twelve factions of Shylha Dorthore. The members have changed many times over the thousands of years it's been since it was established (only Zacria can remember who her original eleven partners were, it's been so long even Evalur can't remember them fully), but it always stays in the same pattern: 3 Bards, 2 Clerics, 1 Druid, 1 Paladin, 3 Sorcerers, and 2 Wizards. Zacria still has some power over one of the factions, as she is one of the three Bards in the court, but she is no longer a Queen and has much less influence than she did during the war.

Okay okay so that's like. The history of how Sylha Dorthore, Arran Thalas, and Maethveserine came to be. I already had a lot of stuff written down in a Google Doc so here's just a copy and paste of how the court of mages functions:

"Shylha Dorthore's court of mages are a group of twelve extremely powerful magic users, always consisting of 3 Bards, 2 Clerics, 1 Druid, 1 Paladin, 3 Sorcerers, and 2 Wizards, regardless of how often the individual members change. They act as advisors to the rulers, and help with any magic-related issues in the Kingdom. Each one lives in and protects one of the twelve factions of Shylha Dorthore, though all answer to the ruler and must be willing to drop everything to go to the castle at a moments notice if the need arises. They answer only to the ruler and each other, and to the common folk they may as well be rulers themselves. While some more corrupt individuals may try to get this title to abuse its power, the other members can step in and stop them if they truly must, and if the people don't like the current mage in charge they're more likely to try to replace them with someone else, so corrupt individuals never seem to stick around for long. The members can all be individually replaced whenever someone proves that they are more powerful than them by beating them in a magic duel; however the new person trying to get the role must be the same class as the current member they are fighting, to keep order. However, trials aren't too common as long as the people like the mage protecting them, and the current twelve members have never lost a fight to anyone outside their own court and may arguably be the most powerful magic users (that are not Archfey) within any of The Three Kingdoms. The current mages that are present today are: Fensira Rosebrush (Bard), Zacria Xulaphani (Bard), Falias Crimsoncrest (Bard), Tavmendi Dawnheart (Cleric), Quicksilver Dazzledance (Cleric), Dos'run Oakenpelt (Druid), Araquiel (Paladin), Stargazer Bluebeauty (Sorcerer), Urirel Starbrook (Sorcerer), Perlamin Wosantavir (Sorcerer), Enrona Eysiith (Wizard), and Xichikh Reetshe (Wizard)"

And here's a copy and paste of how determining new rulers works:

"Arran Thalas, Maethveserine, and Shylha Dorthore all have very different ways of determining new rulers when one is no longer fit. In Arran Thalas, the title is passed down by the current ruler to somebody they see fit, regardless of whether or not they have a familial connection (though it can often be their own family members if that's who they truly see fit to rule), and they start preparing as soon as they are coronated in case anything happens to them, and it's normal for the chosen person to change many times (the one currently listed at the time of the current ruler's death is the one that takes over). Maethveserine has a very similar way of doing things as Arran Thalas, but assassinations are a lot more common so rulers change incredibly frequently, though some do manage to rule for quite a while. In Shylha Dorthore, if a ruler is dying of old age, the title will go to the strongest in their guard so that they can protect their Kingdom if need be- but that is fairly rare; a ruler will be forced to step down on the 100 year anniversary of their coronation and will celebrate with a public viewing of the fight for the new ruler; the court of mages that the ruler has will all battle each other with wondrous feats of magic, and the winner (or possibly only survivor, if the others are so desperate for the throne they resort to murder, though typically the games are treated more like a friendly sparring match. The smaller fights that happen when a new commonfolk tries to overthrow a single member of the order to take their place are far more likely to end in bloodshed) will inherit the throne until it's time for the next ruler to be crowned. Any mages that do not wish to rule/risk their life for the chance may step aside before the games even start and let the others fight for the title, though it is usually very rare for them to do so and more likely that they will be forced to step aside mid-fight if they realize they will lose or if they become too tired/injured to keep fighting. If the other members survive they will be healed, but anyone who dies during these trials will not be resurrected as necromancy is heavily frowned upon within the kingdom due to old superstitions left from the war."

I haven't quite come up with all the details for Maethveserine's current Queen, but the current King of Arran Thalas should be Evalur Braveheart (I'm pretty sure the timeline works out? I have to double check but as far as I can tell he's still ruling after all those thousands of years. Only Zacria knows he's cursed/a Warlock, and she helps him cover it up by having convinced the people that he's descended from LeShay so his long lifespan just comes from that- instead of the truth that he gets it from his Warlock patron). The current ruler of Sylha Dorthore is a very very young Fey Eladrin named Kaivara Ravennight.