#to it anymore so does that mean i’m bad?

[catsukkii]

"can you spot me?" | kirishima x reader

summary: kirishima has a little crush on the pretty girl from the gym, who just so happens to be you.

gymbro!kirishima, who decides to switch up from his usual gym for once and explore his other options, and the minute his eyes land on you jogging on the treadmill, hes never been more fucking happy he explored.

gymbro!kirishima, who now decides this will certainly be his regular gym just in hopes of seeing you. now, eijirou was never one to ogle at girls at the gym, sure, he could recognize some of them were attractive, but it was never manly to drool over random women! which is why he beats himself up so bad when he catches himself staring at you doing squats for a little longer then normal.

gymbro!kirishima, who stands at the pull up’s after a hardcore session, sweating and breathing heavily. who also, just about jumps out of his skin when he looks to the left and you’re there staring at him with big eyes.

gymbro!kirishima, who stammers and stutters nervously when you ask him to spot your squats, “huh? oh- what? yes- I mean- yes! of course!” you simply smile as a faint giggle escapes past your lips at his nervousness. he mentally facepalms himself but continues to laugh it off with you nonetheless.

gymbro!kirishima, who physically can’t help the way his eyes drift down, partially forgetting what he even came here to do, and that was to spot you. which he was doing quite poorly at.

gymbro!kirishima, who feels horrible when you set the weight down and look at him with an awkward grin, ur brows had furrowed lightly as he mentally beat himself up.

“hey uhm, thanks for your help but I think that’s enough for today-“ you go to wrap up the conversation to avoid an awkward conflict, plus the fact you’ll probably see each other often if you go to the same gym, you didn't want to have any problems in the future.

“w-wait!” he stammers over his words and lowers his head down as if he were an ashamed puppy. “I’m sorry, I swear I can do better! I was just..distracted.” you nod along at his words, it’s nerve wracking to meet new people, especially at the gym, so you understood why he would be distracted after all.

“here!- look,” he reaches for his back pocket and pulls out his phone with a silly shark case covering the electronic. “will you put your number in my phone? so we can try again some day? I swear I’ll be better.” he breathily laughs as if to ease the tension, and you decide, why not, what’s the harm in a new gym buddy right?

gymbro!kirishima, who does his best to cover up how ecstatic he is he just bagged the ‘pretty girl at the gym's’ number, immediately texting the groupchat with all of his various friends as they cheer him on and congratulate him on ‘not being a pussy anymore.’

gymbro!kirishima, who texts you that night with a smile on his face, simply writing out,

‘hey, you goin to the gym tmrw? we can totally train together and I can be a better spotter!!🦈💪’

gymbro!kirishima, who kicks his feet and giggles like a school girl once you text back,

‘I’d love to! don’t disappoint me this time kay😊?”

[cha-melodius]

#16, Alex/Henry?

(Also requested by @firenati0n. I feel like there were two obvious options for this one: post-leaks in canon, or post-rescue mission of some kind. You can probably guess which one I chose. 😂 read all the hug ficlets)

Firstprince, 16: The “it’s okay, I’m here” hug.

Add’l note: This is more or less a tiny sequel to So Close to Something Better Left Unknown. You don’t have to have read the fic to read this ficlet, but it does contain minor spoilers for the very end of said fic.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.

When Henry gave him the watch, it was half a joke and half because Henry’s in love with him and his hopeless heart latched onto the slim chance to keep an eye on him, at least from a distance. He’d expected Alex to leave it behind, or disable the tracker, or at the very least not wear it, but as far as he can tell, Alex had done none of those things. The tracker bops around the globe, giving Henry far too much information on CIA missions merely through its location. Not that Henry would ever pass on that information to his own agency, or anyone else for that matter.

That Alex trusted him not to, to keep his secrets… Well, it means a lot.

He assumed that at some point his own work would bring him within striking distance of Alex again, and he’d make use of the tracker to find him and… oh, hell, he doesn’t know. Say hello? It sounds absurd for a spy, but it’s pretty much all he could hope for. But before that happens, the tracker gets stuck for a week in a remote part of Guatemala, and Henry starts to get worried. Maybe Alex just lost the watch, or abandoned it for some reason. That’s the most reasonable explanation. Even so, Henry quietly requests recent satellite images of that area and zooms all the way in on the watch’s coordinates.

It’s a high-security compound of some sort. Not good.

He tries not to let his imagination run wild. The tracker he’d left in the watch is extremely high resolution, and he watches it occasionally move around the compound, as if someone was wearing it, though mostly it stays in one place. Alex could have traded it or gifted it as part of an operation; it was a valuable watch, after all. Still, it nags at Henry. He’s not going to be able to rest until he finds out what actually happened. The most straightforward way would be simply asking, but he has no way of contacting Alex except a burner phone he has no reason to believe Alex would be monitoring.

He sends a message anyway, but after a few days without a response, he can’t take it anymore.

It’s completely mad, he knows it is, but he makes up an excuse about tracking down a lead on a long-cold operation and books a ticket to Guatemala City. He covertly watches the outside of the compound for three days, keeping track of the men who come and go, and sends photos of them to Bea with a request to run facial recognition and not ask any questions. (She does, of course, but she doesn’t push, even when they come back with the names of some very bad people.)

Finally, once the compound’s primary resident leaves and takes with him what should be the majority of his armed muscle, Henry makes his move. The watch is still inside, and Henry follows the tracker’s signal down into the basement of an outbuilding, taking out a handful of guards with tranquilizers as he goes. The building is dark and dank, and the series of locked metal doors he finds do nothing to help the cold, hard knot that’s settled into his stomach. His hands don’t shake as he picks the lock on the one the watch is resting behind, but that careful composure slips when the door finally swings open to reveal a miserable lump curled on a thin mattress, a head of matted curls just visible through the murky darkness.

Alex flinches away when Henry first reaches out for him, scrambling into the corner, but then his eyes land on Henry and his mouth drops open. He blinks rapidly, scrubs frantically at his eyes, and blinks again.

“Henry?” he croaks in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for you, love,” Henry tells him, holding his hands out in front of him as he slowly moves closer. “I’ve come to get you.”

There’s a beat of silence, then another, then Alex surges toward him. Henry almost shies away himself, unsure of what Alex means to do, but then Alex is grabbing him and wrapping him up in a hug so tight it squeezes the air out of Henry’s lungs, and Henry can do nothing else but curl his arms around the trembling man now occupying his lap.

“It’s ok, I’m here,” he murmurs, rubbing a soothing hand down Alex’s back.

“How?” Alex chokes out. “How did you…?”

His voice trails off as he raises his left arm and looks at his own wrist, where a bit of watch strap peeks out beyond the filthy cuff of his shirt. Inexplicably, his captors had let him keep it, though that becomes more understandable when his sleeve slips further down and Henry sees how he’s smeared it with mud. The exquisite Patek Philippe now looks like a beaten up piece of junk.

“I didn’t want to lose it,” Alex says, his voice cracking over the syllables. He drops his arm and tries to bury his face in Henry’s chest. “That probably sounds dumb.”

“No, love, it doesn’t,” Henry says, holding him tighter. It’s torture to pull away, but eventually he must. “Come on,” he says, tipping Alex’s chin, now covered in a scraggly beard, up so their eyes meet. “Let’s get you out of here.”

[thisnameisnotspokenfor]

So I lied

there's bits and pieces of the intro to the next chapter not here but enjoy this!

I am pushing to have a Tuesday/Wednesday release!

The forest seemed to hold it’s breath as the star gestured to the surrounding glowing trees. 

“When the order was finally established, a primordial star gave up her spot in the sky, to stay on earth in order to guide the order and firmly cement its placement as the bridge between our worlds. It was a move that impressed the other stars, and to show their support for the newly found order, they made the Asterius that you saw in the market. One created and cultivated from the power of each court to symbolize its unity within the order.”

“Was there any particular reason why they chose a tree  as a symbol?” she asked, as she stared at the glowing trees, gently swaying in the night breeze.

“Yeah…but what’s with your tone? Trees are cool!” he frowned, almost sounding offended.

“They’re alright…but I mean why do stars take such interest in them if they’re practically everywhere? Surely you guys must have cooler things than just…trees!”

“We do but…we wanted to use something familiar to both worlds and besides, have you ever noticed that no matter how far into the heavens a tree can ascend it must always stay rooted to the earth to survive? It can never forget its origins, no matter how far or great it grows…” he smiled thoughtfully as his foot scuffed against the ground. “Isn’t that something?”

Asha slowly nodded, and turned her eyes upwards “Hmm I guess it does sound a bit more…fascinating when you describe it like that…but why do yours glow?”

The star hummed thoughtfully as he rubbed his chin, “Well, the short scientific and aesthetic answer would be bioluminescence to attract nocturnal pollinators. Plus you can always appreciate their beauty no matter what time of day. It makes the nighttime forests nicer, doesn’t it?”

She nodded in agreement, “It does. But what’s the long answer?”

“Well,” he started as he straightened himself. “I don’t know the details exactly but I think it’s also because of their connection to some greater network of energy both with each other and the world around them. One of my nannies would always tell me about it when I was little and couldn’t stop climbing them but it’s pretty convoluted if I’m being honest.”

“A network of energy…” she whispered as her eyes trailed the trees’ glowing roots. “Like your energy?”

“Something like that,” he shrugged before thoughtfully staring at the sky. “I mean they sort of come from our world…so I guess it only makes sense that they would act like that…”

“You know before you told me anyl of this, I never would’ve thought that something as simple as a tree could hold so much meaning in the grand scheme of things,” she confessed. “Sure there was the wishing tree, but that felt more like a relic than anything else…not some political  cosmic display of diplomacy…”

“You’d be surprised…there’s a reason why most Asterius made today are no longer created by all four courts…”

“They aren’t?” she asked, a bit taken aback as the star shook his head.

“No not anymore, not since Deneb’s asterius came into the picture…”

“Deneb has an asterius?”

“Most members of the royal star families and high-ranking nobles do…but few have a tree as controversial as hers….” he hesitated as if mentally debating something before he eventually nodded and turned to her. “Asha” he stated suddenly as she straightened herself in preparation. “You remember how when we were in the forest you told me that you knew that the crimson court hated Deneb because of your father’s writings, right?”

“Right,” she nodded, trying not to shift uncomfortably. 

“Did your father ever state why?” 

“No…his master had been vague about the situation…but from what I could tell, it seemed as if the bad blood between the two parties was a little more extensive than just the courts…it seemed like it involved the council too…”

“It did,” Cepheus carefully nodded. “But did he say anything else?”

“Well…he theorized that it was the result of some act of defiance she did a few years ago that involved her children…you wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?”

“I do,” he confessed. “I don’t know if you’ll like the story but I suppose for you to understand anything I’ll need to give you a few details…”

He gestured for her to follow as they slowly began to near the forest. “I’m not sure if I’ve told you this explicitly,” he started as the glowing trees and shrubbery began to surround them.   “but the crimson court and cerulean court have always hated  each other. They’ve led countless wars and battles against each other long before the order,  Deneb, and her children ever entered the picture.”

“Why?” She asked as she ducked beneath a low-hanging  branch. “Was it differing philosophies? Scandalous love?” She called after the star who’d somehow managed to put a rather large walking distance between them. “Cultural differences? Why did they hate each other?”

He paused as if listening out for something before she finally made her way to his side, “Differing philosophies and a bloodthirsty competitiveness to conquer the galaxies,” the star frowned and abruptly looked away. 

Had…had he been ashamed of his court’s past? She wondered before he quietly continued, “Nevertheless it all seemed to come to a head when during one of these wars…the council, being as senile as they are, had grown both tired and indifferent to the constant fighting. So they decided to exercise their powers to ensure peace would prevail, one that, unlike their past attempts, could not be so easily dismissed…” The star sighed, slowly moving his hand as the air around his fingers began to glow a soft misty blue. 

Soon the rest of the world followed, rippling and blurring, as she blinked, trying to rub the uneasiness from her eyes as her surroundings slowly began to come into focus as she looked around. They were still in a forest, that much she could be sure of as the familiar sight of large, thick glowing greenery greeted her.

But where the distant yet elaborate town of Banquo had once stood was gone, and in its place was a seemingly endless glowing body of water. 

Were they…at the beach? No this couldn’t have been the beach, at least not one she’d been familiar with. Her eyes traced along the light blue shoreline as she took one hesitant step forward before rubbing her eyes in disbelief.

The ocean was glowing. Real oceans didn’t glow. But the feel of the calm sea breeze passing through her braids had nearly convinced her otherwise.

“Wait…” she started, looking around. “Is this another illusion like what you did with the scrolls?”

“Something of the sort,” the star smiled as he spoke from behind her. “Are you enjoying the view?”

She nodded, before looking around again, “Yeah! It’s…beautiful -,” her voice trailed off as she took in the sight of the star who’s skin was now a beautiful shade of cyan, while his hair was nearly white. 

Was this what a blue star looked like? She wondered, as she looked him over and over again.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been staring, but it was enough to earn herself an all too knowing grin as the star arrogantly extended a sapphire colored wing. “I was talking about the sea, but if you think I’m beautiful as well, and wish to stare,” he humbly gestured to himself as another wing revealed itself. “then by all means, my dear-,” 

“What?!” She scoffed, before waving her hands dismissively as she looked away. Thank God her blushes weren’t visible. “Ha! No! No way! I was talking about the beach! Not you! It’s the beach that’s beautiful, see?! You’re just…blue!” 

“Mmhmm.” He hummed teasingly as his now brilliantly blue  colored iris seemed bright with laughter. “Well either way I hope you enjoy whatever view you choose to partake in….or indulge…”

“I bet you say that to all the girls, don’t you?” she huffed and took a step back as she crossed her arms.

“Only the ones with good taste,” the star lazily grinned, never breaking eye contact with her as he stepped closer to her. His grin only sharpened as she glowered. “The ocean is that way, Asha.”

“I know that, you silly star!” She snapped and sharply turned to face the body of water, hoping to enjoy any semblance of peace she could get.

But alas, no peace came when she heard the king’s voice echoing from behind her as he lightly laughed, “Seriously Asha? Beautiful?” The other voices joined in as she tensed, trying to steady herself with one breath after another.

“Don’t get too attached Asha…Don’t you remember what your poor old father wanted?” rang the king’s voice in her ears again as she flinched. “You’re not supposed to be a part of this world, remember? Much less enjoy it or the beings that come with it.”

She wasn’t enjoying it. She wasn’t! She’d only been stating the obvious when she’d called the beach beautiful! She hadn’t meant anything more than that!

“Asha?” called Cepheus’s voice as she broke into a cold sweat. The echoes of voices faded like smoke as she blinked. “Asha, are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” She blurted, perhaps too quickly to convince anyone before she gestured to their surroundings, “But where are we exactly?”

“Kepler,” he answered as his wings quivered at the passing breeze.

“Kepler?” she narrowed her eyes. She couldn’t recall hearing of a city or country named Kepler…unless- her eyes widened as she stared back at the ocean.  “is this the ocean where you were before you heard my wish? Where you said that Deneb met her soul mate?” 

His smile grew as he nodded. “Yes.”

Ah! So this was the place! He hadn’t been lying when he’d called it beautiful, she thought as she looked over the shoreline once more. If there’d ever been a place she imagined as the setting for a scandalous royal alien fairytale then it would be here. But speaking of royalty…“Where’s the castle?”

“The castle?”

“Yeah, the Cygnus castle? You know the one you told me you loved to visit…you said you could see the waves from it, remember?”

“oh…OH!” he blinked in surprise, before lightly slapping his forehead. “Sorry…That castle wasn’t built yet…”

“Oh…” she replied, trying not to feel disappointed.

“But there’s another castle and a human village not too far from here…” 

“A human village?!” she gasped as he nodded. “There are humans in space?! Why?!!”

“Atlanteans, astronomers, diplomats, smugglers, the sheer expansiveness of the universe- take your pick!” he laughed as he listed the reasons on his clawed fingers. “A lot of humans settled here for different reasons. But the one thing they all have in common is that they’re well taken care of.” He hummed thoughtfully before lowering his hand. “You know Asha if you ever decide to come to space…I’m sure the other humans wouldn’t mind accommodating you and your family! 

Asha frowned. “You think I should stay with the other humans?”

“Of course! I mean…isn’t that what you wanted?”

Well..yes…but…she hadn’t wanted to do so without him. 

She couldn’t explain why, but…In this strange world. In his world, he was her only piece of familiarity. Her safety. How could he be so casual about them splitting up?

“Oh brother, do you hear this guy?!” the king’s voice angrily called as his figure slowly materialized before her. His grip on his spear tightened as he rudely waved to the oblivious star. “Ugh see whenever I tell you that age does not equate to wisdom, it’s because of things like this! You think he’d try to be a little less obvious about it!

‘A little less obvious?’ she wondered, as the king rolled his eyes before continuing, 

“C’mon Asha! Even Dario would be able to tell you that going into space is not the wonderful fix-all solution he’s trying to sell you.” She grimaced, her gaze no longer able to meet his as he stepped forward and shook his head disapprovingly. “Did you really think things would be any different in his world?”

‘I...I don’t know unless I go…maybe things could be different…it could be a fresh start! Maybe I could help people!’ she weakly thought in reply.

“Fresh start?! Asha Those people live amongst stars- why would they bother to entertain anything you have to offer? You have no powers, no title, no wealth, or relevant skill for that matter”

‘I know but…I won’t know unless I try…’ she’d meekly thought as his cruel laughter filled his ears.

“Try? Asha, you haven’t even made your decision to leave and he’s already decided to put you as far away from him as possible. Out of sight, and out of mind.” She could feel the ghost of his hand resting on her shoulder. “Changing environments isn’t going to change anything, Asha, not when we all know that the real problem has always been you. See? It didn’t take your little star very long to figure it out now, did it? He’s not very different from me, is he?”

She bit her lip, feeling her fingernails slowly dig into the palm of her hands as her name echoed within her own ears. Maybe Cepheus had been calling her, she didn’t know. She couldn’t hear him over the sound of the king’s voice teasingly asking her, “What? You didn’t think he wasn’t going to be embarrassed by you?”

‘No! He wasn’t embarrassed!’ she thought, clutching at the cape’s edges. ‘Beauty aside, his world was unarguably dangerous. Her father had almost been killed upon entering it, and now people with ties to it were trying to kill her! Maybe he was just trying to protect her, right? 

“Where’s your confidence?” the queen’s voice gently whispered. It sounded concerned, and maybe if she’d been in a better state of mind, she would’ve thought caring. “If you’re so sure he’s looking out for you then why don’t you tell him how you really feel?”

She could practically hear the grin in the king’s voice as he quickly added. “Or are you just too afraid that he’ll turn you down like the prince did?”

“Asha?” came Cepheus’s voice as she felt him grasp her shoulders. “Asha, are you alright?”

“I-,” she stopped, as a low growl reverberated overhead. 

The growl hadn’t been deafening, but something about it had felt wrong as if she were hearing the sound of a creature that never should’ve existed in the first place.

Her eyes promptly darted to the cloudy yet translucent sky above, narrowly catching sight of something large swiftly disappearing into the clouds as another growl shook the ground. 

She hadn’t seen much of what it was, nor had she wanted to. But from what she could determine, its body had been all too similar to the Atlantean serpentine she’d seen Allepac destroy. 

Only this one had been far bigger and more…organic looking… like it was something more than just an instrument of war….

“W-what in the world was that?!” she cried, stumbling behind the star as her eyes refused to leave the sky.

“The leviathan,” the star casually answered as he looked up at the sky. 

“The Leviathan?” she grimaced, quickly crouching behind the star as another growl filled the air. “Um…quick question...why is it growling like that? Better yet why is it flying?!”

“It’s probably determining whether or not to kill whatever it senses approaching.”

“Kill?” 

“With extreme prejudice…” the star cheerfully replied as if it were the most casual thing in the world. “this could get very nasty very quickly.”

Why he was so calm about this was beyond her…sure this might’ve been an illusion but it was a rather unpleasant one! Then again, he had stated that a star’s true form was rather large…what if he’d been bigger than the leviathan? Was that even possible?!

She hoped not, she thought, before a figure stepped out of the forest and approached.

To her surprise, it was a rather handsome man dressed in stately blue robes who looked to be somewhere in his late twenties or possibly early thirties. He appeared to be partially African, but she could tell through his white-colored dreadlocks, and crystal blue eyes, that he also carried Atlantean heritage, and just like any Atlantean she’d suspected his appearance no doubt, betrayed his true age. 

Sighing, he’d looked up and down the coast as if searching for something before he shook his head and withdrew a blue crystal attached to his necklace.

“Oceans,” he grumbled and watched with disgust as the glowing waves crashed along the shorelines. “Why did it have to be oceans? Does she have any idea how terrifying these things are?!” He sighed, shaking his head before he took one deep breath after another, and carefully kneeled, maintaining some distance from the water before he bowed his head and placed a hand over his heart.

 “Oh patroness of arts, protector of the seas, the heart of the Kraieyek empire,” he paused, as the sound of the ocean filled her ears once more. A sound that was promptly broken by the string of curses that left his lips as he abruptly rose back to his feet before backing away.

She hadn’t seen it at first until he’d moved, just out of reach of an emerging stream of water flowing upwards towards the beach. Such motion should’ve been impossible she thought as the water began to slowly encircle itself, as smaller streams began to branch off, connect, and tangle into a pattern of sorts. 

No sooner had the pattern formed than a figure slowly rose from the ocean’s depths. A multitude of brightly glowing cyan-colored eyes broke the surface. Water cascaded over her shoulders as she slowly rose to the edge of the shore.

To call her full height frightening would’ve been an understatement, but seeing it now hadn’t made it hard to understand why her father had reacted the way he did to the star’s heights. 

The star that stood before the man couldn’t have been any shorter than seventeen feet, as he bowed to her once more. Yet even despite her height, she was beautiful. Her skin was a pleasant shade of blue perfectly decorated with cyan-colored tattoos that spanned from her collarbone to her forearms and cyan-colored fingertips. Her four irises were a piercing shade of blue that sharply contrasted the dark blue of her scleras and the near whiteness of her hair. 

“Vitrius,” she softly spoke. All of her eyes focused on him as water continued dripping from her white hair.

“Vitrius” Asha whispered. As in Tau Vitrius?! Her father’s mentor?! This is what Tau Vitrius looked like? She hadn’t expected him to somewhat resemble the Atlanteans so much given the disdain he’d shown for their dialect and its influence. 

Wait, but if Vitrius was her astronomer, then that star could only be —“Your Majesty…” he bowed, leaving Asha unsure whether she should have been more impressed by the star’s beauty or Vitrius’s fearlessness.

But…she had to admit, that save for the faded scars on her limbs and the weariness in her eyes, Deneb looked shockingly young. Maybe no older than seventeen or eighteen which was far too young to be a queen. 

“I apologize for the informal setting,” she started, swiftly stepping by him. “Had I known you’d arrived so quickly, I would’ve arranged for something a bit more formal….” Maybe Asha had been imagining things, but she could’ve sworn that Deneb’s accent sounded…familiar.

“You’ve heard the news haven’t you?” she spoke, breaking the silence once more as she turned to face him.

“Yes…I believe congratulations are in order for your ascension to the throne,” Vitreous replied as he crossed his arms behind his back. “Headmistress Karagash sends her regards.”

She darkly scowled, before stepping away with a scoff. “Of course…. I take it that your superiors were overjoyed at the announcement weren’t they?”

“Some were,” Vitrius confirmed with a small nod. “Barring the headmistress of course…but it seems as if most are cautiously optimistic in the council’s proposal…I know your feelings on the matter but there is no denying that your move is arguably as forward as it is backward. From the moment your sister abdicated, you were the only viable option to become Apsuramal.”

“You're too optimistic Vitrius,” she sighed, sounding more exasperated than anything else. “Ascension or not Vega’s banishment was not necessary nor will it do me any favors in the near future…”

“With all due respect my lady, sentiments aside, as high queen your power must be absolute and unquestionable. The situation that has brought us here is far from ideal, but even you must admit that banishing her will undoubtedly limit the options your opponents have to overthrow you, as that’s one less viable figurehead that they can use to challenge you.”

“And with all due respect astronomer,” she spoke. The ground silently yet somehow softly shook with every step she took. “Optimism aside, it was a rather well-planned self-inflicted blow. As it currently stands I am a rather unpopular Apsuramal, and the banishment of not only a superior healer but an initially more popular contender to the throne will certainly do me no favors in the eyes of my detestors or the ones who have yet to make up their minds on the matter.”

She turned her eyes towards the horizon as she placed her arms behind her, briefly allowing Asha a view of the small but luminescent cyan scales that littered her forearms almost in the patterns of constellations. “If I go through with the council’s proposal then everything my people and ancestors have worked and bled for, what my mother died for, all of it will have been for naught.”

“Not quite,” he interjected. “Pardon my optimism, but as bleak as the situation may be it has yet to become totally hopeless.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked, as she spared him a glance.

“You may not have been born destined to rule the throne, but it seems as if fate has proven otherwise. Call it an old astronomer’s superstition,” he shrugged as he walked towards her. “but my master’s always told me that things never happen without reason…maybe you cannot be the perfection that the court wants, but you can be their hope, and sometimes that’s all people, or maybe even beings  need.”

“Do you really think I could be the hope my people need even when my desires do nothing more than push us closer to the very same war we sought to end?”

“It’s possible… although it’s far too early to say for sure…but even if they do not accept you as much as you’d like they’ll always need you. You are their Apsuramal. Their lifeline. They are a part of you just as you are of them. So neither of you can exist without each other, even while you’re still figuring things out.”

She said nothing as the waves continued to roll against the shoreline. Somewhere from above the Leviathan’s calls faintly echoed, as Vitrius cleared his throat,  “You don’t have to believe me your Highness, but the worst thing you could do is to let your enemies know you have fallen apart. Not when they’re still looking for the opportunity to strike.”

“Yes,” she took in a deep breath as she nodded. Her posture straightened as she turned back towards the ocean. “For now there is still time…And with it, hopefully, opportunities as well…”

“Did the council grant your request for a second hearing?”  he murmured thoughtfully.

“They did. Of course, you know they were rather adamant about the marriage arrangement, regardless of whether or not I made any valid counterarguments. But thankfully the meeting proved to be quite useful in…other ways to say the least,” a ghost of a smile appeared on her face. “Mortal word isn’t the only one that spreads quickly.”

“Oh?” he raised an eyebrow at her words before turning to her. “Care to share what’s transpiring on your side of the galaxy?”

“My informant has confirmed rumors about a certain diplomat of the Myrkadius”  Deneb hummed before kneeling at the small patterned streams of water that promptly twisted itself into a small figure. “From what we gathered, her name is Alhena.”

“Alhena?” Vitrius repeated, looking somewhat surprised. “I didn’t know she was a diplomat…”

“She is…You’ve heard of her?”

Vitrius nodded. “She is a distant relative of the current Myrkadius I think. A remarkable singer as well. Maybe even too remarkable.”

“Hmm…” Deneb’s eyes narrowed as with a flick of her finger, the water figure immediately froze. “From what I hear she’s everything you’d expect in a silver star- ambitious, intelligent, manipulative, and whatnot, save for the one thing.”

“Oh?”

“She lacks significant physical power. It’s the only thing that’s keeping her from achieving a much higher status within her own court. But what she lacks in ambition, she certainly makes up for in charm and beauty…” Deneb laughed, muttering something in a strange language as red slowly began to seep into the small water figure before it shattered.

“Well, if he’s going to be like that, you might as well take a lover too,” Vitrius replied without hesitation as she cast him an ever-so-questioning glance. “What?” he shrugged as Asha nearly choked in disbelief. “I said what I said.”

Asha could tell from the way Deneb simply stared in an almost apprehensive way that she was used to Vitrius’s strange advice, as she continued, “Affair aside, I received word that Vega has accepted the sanctuary the Myrkadius offered her upon her abdication and banishment…”

“Sanctuary? So…that means…”

“Yes,” Deneb sighed and closed her eyes. “We finally know who she was with all those nights she’d been absent. She was probably the informant for the spies the silver court had sent to examine our border territories.”

“That’s… treason, isn’t it?” Vitrius asked as she nodded and he grimaced. “Goodness. There’s never a peaceful moment amongst your kind, is there?”

“You are one to talk,” Deneb frowned. “Exactly how many wars has your species started over trivial matters?”

“This isn’t about us,” Vitrius retorted as Asha quietly conceded Deneb’s point. “Drama aside, have you received any more intel from that other source? Perhaps they might know something given how they were the ones who’d been rather quick to inform you of the Myrkadius’s infiltration attempts!”

“No,” she shook her head. “Lately…They’ve been strangely silent…”

“Were you ever able to figure out who the source of that intel was?”

“Not yet. I’ve combed through all the spy networks in every corner of the universe, but it seems as if whoever it was spared no expense to ensure they wouldn’t be discovered…a calculated action no doubt, but if my suspicions are correct, I believe it originated from a different court.”

“There’s only one other court that would bother concerning themselves with the affair of the silver ones…” Vitrius added. “Perhaps you should look into allying with them.”

“That might not be possible,” she scowled. “The Solaris, no matter how friendly he may appear to be has always been rather adamant on staying away from us. Whether it be because of his friendship with the Nocturnes, or his partial ownership of the Terracotta court, my mother was never able to get anywhere when it came to attempting to secure an alliance between our courts.”

“But that should be changing rather soon,” Vitrius spoke with a small note of hope in his voice. “I overheard that the Solaris had personally requested that none of the astronomers attend the Sentenga Solstice this time.”

“I take it most of you weren’t pleased with that,” her eyes glowing rather smugly as Vitrius scowled. 

“Why would we be?” 

She chuckled. “Well if it’s of any consolation to you, I’ve heard the reasoning behind said the decision was on behalf of the Myrkadies and the Nocturnus, who by all means plan to be in attendance when the heir to the court is formally announced.”

“The Nocturnus and Myrkadius are attending?! I thought the Myrkadius and the Solaris despised each other!”

“Shocking isn’t it?” Deneb smiled, evidently amused. “But he’s done so under the notion of promising peace talks and alliances. All too coincidental, but I suppose from the view of the Solaris…if he were to establish a new level of tolerance between the two it would undoubtedly strengthen the council’s faith and favor towards him, which is exactly what he would need given both the Nocturnus’s growing influence and the legacy he is leaving behind for his heir.”

“Agreed, but…did he have to do that by excluding us?!” Vitrius huffed. “We’ve been working on facilitating their relations for millennials!”

“So it seems…” Deneb calmly replied. “He was after all strangely absent from the council meetings today….Any idea on who the chosen heir will be?”

“I’ve heard inklings of theories from my colleagues… most seem to be torn between Tomiolin and Rigil Kentaurus… Tomiolin is said to be rather studious and disciplined, whereas Kentaurus is said to be a bit more…unfocused, but even then most can’t deny that his charisma, sheer power, and superior skills as a healer and warrior almost make him the perfect candidate.”

Deneb’s lip curled, as she scoffed, before asking, “And what of Proxima? Does anyone believe in his chances?”

“He was…considered…but they didn’t really want to entertain the thought as much…apparently he’s a bit of an odd one…”

“Indeed,” she nodded as she stood. “He is more crimson than anything else.”

“Proxima is half crimson?” he raised a brow towards her.

“Yes.”

“How do you know that?”

“His eyes…” she whispered as her darkened claws grazed the side of her face. 

“Are they the same as the crimson royal family?” She nodded, as her expression hardened and her eyes narrowed. “I see…But if your mother was interested in pursuing an alliance of sorts, did she ever formally introduce you to the three princes?”

“Yes.”

“Well…” Vitrius began. “Would you…ever entertain the idea of a possible alliance with one of them?”

“No.”

“No?” he took a step back and looked her over. “And why not!?”

“For as admirably disciplined and focused as he is, Tomiolin lacks any meaningful warrior prowess. Proxima is of crimson blood, and Kentaurus is…Kentaurus.”

“Meaning?”

“He is kind. Too kind, to be effective when in a leading role. Therefore he is not in the least bit desirable.”

“Well then, we are fortunate that you seek to make him an ally and not your husband!” Vitrius smiled as her gaze darkened. He must’ve seen the displeased look on her face as he cleared his throat before promptly adding. “I merely speak facts, Arided. You don’t have to like your allies. But if you can tolerate each other more than any third party, then I think your alliance is safe.”

“But even then, you forget just how crucial ownership of the Terracotta court is for both parties. They’ve been taking care of that minor court for eons, no doubt with the plan of utilizing it to its fullest potential if something were to say unfortunately but not unexpectedly happen to another major court.”

Vitrius eyes widened before he firmly shook his head. “They couldn’t replace your people-,” 

“You’d be surprised,” Deneb casually answered. “But if they are in on it, then that limits my potential for any strong alliance…which brings me back to where I am now…The cerulean court’s best healer now resides in the heart of any enemy’s empire, who strongly supports the crimson court, which very few would think of standing against.” She glanced over her shoulder at Vitrius. “And even though I exposed Vega’s treason it has done little to sway my court’s opinion towards me…if anything it’s only soured their opinion on the family as a whole…so if I am not careful I may end up exhausting all of my options. And what then? Would this higher power that you think put me on the throne save me then? Or would it be to abandon me to the hands of my enemies?” she asked, as her grip on her forearm tightened.

“I…I do not know, my queen. I wish I did…”

“I know…I only wish…wait”  her voice lowered as thunder rippled through the air once more, as both astronomer and star’s eyes turned to the sky.

Silence filled the air momentarily before the sound of thunder emerged once more, its pitch and volume heightening as it turned into a roar.

“Did you feel that?” she whispered.

“Feel what?!,” Vitreous retorted as he fearfully eyed the roaring waves>

“What’s happening?!” Asha shrieked, covering her ears as she turned to face Cepheus.

“Your Highness!” called one of the guards as several soldiers rushed to the shoreline. A few pointed their spears to the air, as several surrounded the queen. 

“A powerful presence has been detected approaching the planet!”

“This way your Highness! You must be prepared to evacuate if needed!” one of the guards called, as another roar pierced the air, this time accompanied by a bright beam of golden light as the clouds tore open revealing something that was headed straight towards the ocean.

In a heartbeat the queen was gone, sharply yelling commands as she headed towards the ocean where the object had disappeared. 

“Arided!” Vitrius screamed as he ran after her. “Arided come back!”

His words were lost to the wind as three pairs of blue wings emerged from her back. She was a mere blur as she swiftly dove into the dark depths below.

And then everything was still.

[hauntedbarbiex]

To all my Reality Shifters out there who’s Current Reality means as much to them as their Desired Reality does; this post is for you💗💋: 

I don’t know if anyone has told you this but you have permission to have both. Both this reality, AND your DR’s. I know a lot of people in this community talk about respawning or perma shifting and if that’s you, that’s amazing! But for some of us, our reality here feels just as important. Maybe for you it’s your loved ones, or your friends, maybe even your job, that you don’t want to completely leave behind or script with you into your desired realities. And that’s completely okay❤️ I know I have personally felt scared of shifting for a while, because a part of me felt like I was betraying my loved ones here. As if I was shifting because they weren’t good enough, which felt awful because that was never the case. I am so grateful for my life here, but I also want to experience my life there. And that is completely valid. It’s like travelling abroad or going on holiday. Just because you leave or want to explore new exciting places, doesn’t mean that your home isn’t good enough. You’re human! You want to explore, and experience new things and that is very very normal. Just because you’re doing it in an uncommon way, doesn’t make it any different. And you can always come back home. Even whilst you make multiple homes for yourself across the multiverse, this one is always here for you too, should you wish it🥰

Of course feeling bad for wanting to leave this reality can never, and will never, actually stop you from shifting (blockages aren’t real and doubts are normal and nothing to be scared of :) ) but it might be a reason why you procrastinate doing a method or reading your script. Not that you need to do those things to shift but you know what I mean! For me, I felt so bad that I didn’t even want to watch the very shows I wanted to experience anymore. I felt torn between both families (my family here and my family in my dr). As if even entertaining the thought of hanging out with my dr friends and family would be betraying the amazing ones I have here. But I’m here to tell you that you are allowed to have both. You’re allowed to have everything you want. Do you stop making a new friend in this reality because you feel bad for the one you already have? I hope not! You make as many good friends as you can! Everyone is different and so each relationship is different, and that’s what makes it so beautiful! That’s what makes life so exciting!

Maybe this is common knowledge to a lot of you but I wanted to write a post about it in case there were any others feeling the same as me. I wish someone had given me permission to have both. To love both. I wish I had gave myself that permission sooner, but I’m giving it to myself now. And I hope you allow yourself permission too. Go out there and spread love to as many of your loved ones across the multiverse as you can xx

[stealingyourbones]

Out of all of the people The Ghost King Phantom expected to relate to, it definitely wasn’t the scrawny red headed photographer of the Daily Planet. Jimmy Olsen has gotten so many temporary superpowers over his time being Superman’s friend. Hell, he once gained a 4th dimensional being’s reality warping abilities when he was given said dimensional being’s powers during a fight. Sure there’s a dozen or so heroes with the same amount of powers he has, but none as suddenly granted to them as a all powerful god that can relate to a teenager.

[adhdandcomics]

perhaps the most important question i’ve ever asked:

does anyone have tips for people trying to stop being chronically late to everything in the world that aren’t weirdly judgmental and aggressive or flat out lies

[pepperpixel]

SAID HE LIKES CRAZY GIRLS,

BUT HE HATES WHEN I ACT CRAZY,

IT TAKES TWO TO TOXIC!

FINALLY!!! Finished these pics of jinx I’ve been working on!!!!! HOLY SHIT, these took so long…. But finally… they’re done… pls enjoy this art of my beautiful princess w a disorder. Featuring alternate colors for the big pic and also a closeup! Cuz I rlly like how both the lines and coloring on her face turned out… like the pink gradients w her eye… her deer in headlights expression,, like uve just startled a raccoon digging thru ur trashcan and r two seconds away from getting mauled.. m proud of it!

[trashcandroid]

ok finished it, really rambly rant in tags lol

watching barry now, finished season one

[lunaticamic]

it’s incredible how hateful and obsessed with sainz are every comments on a big motorsport page on facebook… when the post even remotely mentions him the comments are like “oh yes because his obsession is only leclerc!!” “no top team wants him because his entourage is horrible!!” “oh he’s got a big ego and it’s not a team player. he races for himself only” and others alike…… he’s really rotating in your head. you middle aged italian men would do numbers as twitter fangirls‼️

[lemonthepotato]

I diagnose her with tism.

will do nontism pink icons too. wanted to add the infinity symbol somewhere but uh… I couldn’t get it to look fine so w/e.

[ciderjacks]

argh. This comic writing is taking me way longer than usual. I keep editing things and it doesn’t feel right.

[spacespore]

HI TUMBLRR it’s me

[simcardiac-arrested]

i don’t think we’re ever getting out of the “we’re just friends” “oh yeah those characters are such good friends (sarcasm)” “they’re not friends they’re gay” etc etc hole. we’re never getting out of that hole

[itchose]

can people stop referring to Akilah as “the normal one” in ref to everyone else

[reflectionsofgalaxies]

I FIGURED IT OUT

[milimeters-morales]

can i get Miles G with a fucked up sense of his own mortality pretty please :3 and some concerning views on his relationships with people and religious imagery in there with how he is the sacrificial lamb and the person killing it and the witnesses and the better good they all crave :3 and then don’t make him say it or even think it often just in the shower and when he’s trying to sleep pretty please with a cherry on top :3