#wilbur lamprey

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

Whumptober Day 5: Hostage and Kidnapping.

L’Manberg hostage AU. When Tommy went to trade his freedom for the discs, Dream pulled a weapon on him and abducted him as a hostage- locking him in Eret's castle in a gilded cage. Warnings for self victim blaming, kidnapping, abuse, isolation, psychological torture, severe mental health issues caused by intentional isolation, manipulation, suicidal thoughts, self harm, blood, self hatred, and dependency.

ao3 link

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Tommy’s wings were clipped.

That belied the truth of his captivity. His cage was gilded, yes, but it was a cage nonetheless. There were no bars on the window, no locks on the door, and his room was probably larger than L’Manberg itself was, yet that felt more like a taunt than kindness.

Dream didn’t even need to fucking do it. His wings were shit anyway, far too small to fly on, but Dream had cut the feathers off regardless, a pointless act of cruelty Tommy still struggled to wrap his head around. 

He thought Dream was- yeah, a bit of a fucking prick, and absurdly weird about L’Manberg and shit, but his friend. Like, a bit of a shitty friend, but a friend. He tried to take the discs and shit, but he wasn’t cruel, just… controlling. Really fucking controlling. Yeah.

Maybe that was why he’d done it, some sort of weird mind game to get him to listen or some shit. Yeah. Yeah, that had to be it, because it’s not like Dream would be, like, actually fucking evil. Just scary and weird. He’d made sure Tommy had nice food and free roam of Eret’s stupid castle and brought him gifts every time he visited, after all. He just was a goddamn weirdo, not cruel. He didn’t like to make Tommy suffer, right?

Prime, he was going crazy locked up in here.

He hadn’t even been allowed in the courtyards, and not being able to go touch some fucking grass was maddening. He missed the feeling of the sun in his hair, bathing in the river, spending time with anyone but Dream. Even Eret avoided him nervously, and Tommy was pretty sure it wasn’t out of guilt. Honestly, at this point, Tommy didn’t even care. He’d talk to the fucking Devil if it meant not talking to the walls except for the scattered occasions Dream showed up.

It had been a week.

Impatiently, Tommy tapped his claws on the windows of his room- stained glass, painting Tommy’s cell in bright, cheerful colours like some sort of mockery. A week. Dream had never been that long before.

And, yeah, he knew why, but that didn’t make it any less agonising. Tommy wasn’t kept here as some sort of sick fucking joke. Not entirely, at least. He was here for- well, Dream called it “insurance”, but he was pretty sure he was just a hostage at this point. As long as L’Manberg “behaved” (Tommy involuntarily shuddered, remembering the way Dream said that), Tommy would remain unhurt.

Tommy didn’t like thinking about what would happen if they didn’t.

It wasn’t hard to imagine, though. The scar across his neck still ached, still made it hard to speak above a painfully quiet tone, one with an unTommylike softness that felt like another cage. He felt like a songbird with its ability to sing ripped out, except instead of singing, he’d shout swears, but that was nearly the same thing he reckoned. Wilbur swore a lot in his songs, he thought he remembered. He couldn’t entirely be sure.

He couldn’t even remember his face.

He could remember Dream’s face but not his own brothers. Sometimes, he pictured Wilbur in his head with the same pointy features and rows of lamprey-like teeth Dream had beneath his mask. Sometimes, he pictured Dream as his brother, unable to remember the difference.

But there was. Wilbur wouldn’t clip his wings. Wilbur wouldn’t lock him up for some dumb political shit. Wilbur wouldn’t hold an axe to his throat and tell him to do exactly what he said, or he’d kill him permanently.

He just wanted to see, maybe, if he could trade the discs, his freedom for L’Manberg’s, Dream would listen. Whether he was more of a control freak over him or everyone else. In hindsight, that felt fucking stupid. Of course, Dream would find a way to get both, because he was fucking scary as all Hell. That was Tommy’s fault, really.

He was fucking stupid, and the scar on his neck was a permanent branding of that fact on his skin, forever telling the world he was an idiot and a pussy. Maybe it was almost good Dream kept him locked up like a fucking prisoner, Tubbo would laugh at him so hard if he saw it. 

Apparently, L’Manberg thought he was a fucking idiot anyway and they were super fucking mad at him, anyway. That’s what Dream said, and Tommy genuinely didn’t have a clue as to why he’d lie about that. Yeah, he’d, like, captured him, but that was because of shitty ass politics, and he was a dick, but that was because he was a clingy ass control freak. But why would he want him to hate L’Manberg? If he didn’t want to be a part of L’Manberg anymore, it’d kind of defeat the whole purpose, right?

It didn’t feel right that Tubbo and Wilbur would do that. Fundy maybe, he was a right prick sometimes, but it still felt very, very wrong. Maybe they weren’t as good as Tommy thought.

Maybe it was a good thing Dream was his only friend, anymore.

No. No, fuck that! This was fucking shitty as all Hell. Tommy wanted to beat some sense into Dream, tear him a right new one as he told him exactly how much of a dick he was. Fucking asshole. He hated him.

Fuck, no, that wasn’t right either. Dream wasn’t so bad. Dream was his friend. Dream just wanted to help. Every time Dream came around, Tommy couldn’t help but follow him like a lost puppy, and even a Big Man like him cried when he left, and he wasn’t afraid to admit it. He just wished Dream visited more, and that they could do more things together. He wished Dream really was his brother.

He didn’t fucking know. Being alone made his brain all wobbly, like it was trying to fill up the empty space of words and shit with its own Primes be damned nonsense. Even repeating the hymns and prayers he had memorised didn’t help, the book Dream had gotten him with like a million pages frayed and tattered and the words seared into his mind. They were almost silence themselves, a comfortable hum that certainly didn’t reach the Primes.

Or maybe they had, and They’d deemed him unfit to be free. Maybe he deserved this.

Tommy pressed his finger onto the scabby wound across his neck and rhythmically started scratching at them. It hurt, it hurt like fucking Hell, but it was better than the pain in his head. And yeah, Dream would be pissed at him, because hurting himself meant he was weak and stupid and shit, but he already knew that. If he knew what made Dream come in a bad mood, then he knew what to do to avoid it.

The last time he visited, he was pissed about something that Tommy couldn’t figure out. He’d said something wrong, and Dream had hit him. Fucking hit him, right across the face. It wasn’t hard; it didn’t leave any marks, so it wasn’t really that bad, but he’d hit him. And then he’d stormed off, and he hadn’t been back in seven days.

At first, Tommy was glad. Fucking asshole had hit him, after all. That was, like, abuse and shit. As the days passed, though, Tommy would have given anything for him to just come back. He’d have let him hit him a million times, because he must have deserved it, and he’d work so hard to make sure he never did anything wrong again. Prime, he was a fucking weepy mess around four days in. Eret had given him some sympathy and had, like, a three-minute conversation with him in hushed whispers after that, and Tommy had regained some sense of sanity, but both trains of thoughts felt both right and wrong. It was fucking confusing.

He didn’t really care if Dream hit him again right now. He’d done worse. When Tommy had met him on the Prime Path, stupid and naïve and childish, he’d held the crackling diamond of his axe against his neck, magic running through it and burning at his skin. And stupidly, Tommy had tried to fight.

It was agonising, the feeling of something razor-sharp digging its way into his skin and not stopping when it met something that hurt even more. Tommy had gone limp from pain, and the rest of the day was a blur. He remembered vaguely being physically dragged across the path- he’d had splinters in his ankles for a few days, until Dream was able to bring potions- and shouting as he entered the castle. He remembered being wrapped in blankets, and something numbing rubbed into his wounds as they were sewn shut. He remembered being tucked into his oversized bed like a little kid, and he remembered not sleeping all night.

Dream denied it was a kidnapping, and Tommy learnt to stop pushing that button quickly, but it was undoubtedly a kidnapping. He literally had a weapon held to his throat and was dragged away and locked away in a cell, even if it was one so fucking fancy it made Tommy want to puke. It was- well, it gave him even more fucking P to the TSD if he were to be honest. He woke up clawing at his bedsheets at memories of something digging through his neck until it hit bone, hands dragging him across spikes and throwing him into the darkest pit.

Tommy dug his nails in deeper, until he felt lightheaded.

Pulling away, he absently stained the windows in red, drawing little doodles with his blood-soaked fingers. A circle, two dots, and then a smile. He laughed once he realised what he’d drawn- Dream’s mask. Stupid fucking thing. Dream didn’t even really wear it when visiting, he said he thought it might freak out Tommy even more, considering how “unfortunate” his situation was. Tommy just got the vibe he was sick of the thing and had to find a way to justify it, but whatever.

Something felt less wrong with the Dream drawing beside him, somehow. Tommy relaxed, letting his head rest against the glass as he started to feel sleepy. It wasn’t too much blood loss, he unfortunately wasn’t going to die or anything, but he got tired as shit after those outbursts. Maybe when he woke up, Dream would be there, and he could stop slowly going mad in this prison made of gilded lies.

Or maybe he’d driven Dream away for good, and he’d die here with nothing but a fake doodle for company. And maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t have deserved that fate.

[story-of-the-infinite]

The Corruption of Earth Main Characters

General Info: the Academy is the name for any of the schools in the secret society called the Agency, and it is primarily for wards of the Agency and children sent away by their parents (often for financial reasons); the main Branch of the Agency referenced in this story is the English Branch

Infinity Weir: a god in a mortal body whose powers fluctuate based on how "human" she feels and how connected she feels to those around her; ran away from the Agency at age 13; her nickname is Finny and that's how I'll usually refer to her; currently works at a bookstore in Massachusetts; married to Sola Vagari; overachiever with a vaguely innocent demeaner; avoids using her powers; values loyalty to a fault

Sola Vagari: works as an Agent and Doctor for the Agency, but lives with wife Infinity in MA; extraverted and eccentric, dichotomy between angry/calculating and cute/friendly; he converted their basement into a laboratory; also escaped the Agency with Infinity at age 13, but he was recruited as an Agent at age 18

Biola Ace: online magazine editor who has known Infinity since age 14; doesn't feel listened to by those around her and tends to be the voice of reason; in a relationship with Abby; tends to be monotone and unimpressed by the world around her; prone to anxiety; ambitious; wants to be an author

Jo Bijou: local coffee shop barista who met Infinity and Biola when they moved to MA for university; struggles with feeling left out and connecting to those around her; lived in France until she was 4-6 years old; grew up with her mother and aunt and inherited their trauma; strongly connects with the color pink but is not particularly feminine

Abby Thomas: lawyer who began dating Biola a few years before the start of the story; grew up with her father and half-sister but is not close with either of them; the closest relative she has is her uncle that she visits once or twice a year; did ballet as a kid/teen; compulsive liar; confident and arrogant but warm and loving; has basically built a persona around herself that even she believes

Kai Redburn: he's Finny and Sola's childhood friend who they abandoned when they ran away and Stuff happened; he was initially in the Training Track at the Academy but was transferred to English at age 15 or 16; dated Sola for a while when they were 18-20 and Sola had just started working for the Agency

Wilbur Lamprey: absolute scum of the Earth, actual main antagonist; Headmaster + English Professor of the Academy and later the leader of the Agency; has an obsession with the color blue; wants to be the most important person ever, terrified of the idea that he does not matter because he was forced to compete for affection as a student at the Academy

Henry Angiel: Philosophy Professor at the Academy; completely devoted to the Agency and its mission; adoptive father of Infinity, also in charge of exploring her abilities when she was a child; Infinity accidentally injuring him (she believed to a fatal extent) is what ultimately caused she and Sola to run away; his color association is either black/white or indigo; partner of Gregor and Rowen

Gregor Thymes: Science Professor at the Academy (yep, all science for all ages, they are comically understaffed); partner of Henry and Rowen; was very close with Sola; genuine sweetheart forest man who wants to protect all of his students; former friends with Wilbur; his color association is yellow

Rowen Delivar: Social Sciences Professor at the Academy and Diplomat of the Agency; partner of Henry and Gregor; one of the most loving and self-loving people to exist; has a relaxing aura; part-goddess, but it's so far down the line that it mostly just means he has a REALLY good immune system; his color association is orange

Altheia Reed: childhood friend of Finny, Sola, and Kai who died during their early teens; control freak, ambitious, and caring; was sort of like a big sister to Finny; worried the most about the Agency and their futures; English Track

Simon Byrd: Mathematics Professor at the Academy; since the story is set a little in the future, he is the only Gen Zer on this list; his family became a part of the Agency through his stepdad when he was 11; he was a maths prodigy who was pulled out of the Academy during his teens to do Math Stuff for the Agency, then given the Professor position without having to do all of the stuff other students/applying teachers had to do; lot of anxiety, caffeine addiction, and fear of birds; has a antagonistic relationship with young Kai but is also the pseudo-parent of young Kai; he passed away shortly after Finny and Sola ran away; his color association is red

Thomas Lovell: Head Training Instructor (aka he teaches PE) at the Academy; it's like PE but with weapons and combat; hates his job for understandable reasons; best friends with Simon; kind of a himbo, major Labrador Retriever energy; he dies shortly after Simon; his color association is violet

[story-of-the-infinite]

Gonna go with Infinity and Henry. Sorry that this is long, I really love Henry and it's 3 am in my time.

One dreadful afternoon, Henry Angiel's partner, Gregor, returns from an unsanctioned school outing with a small girl he claims a student to have found in the woods. The girl does not speak, and just stares at him with wide, intense eyes. Henry asks Gregor what her name is, and he says Infinity Weir, then explains that the student named her Infinity and he named her Weir because they passed a weir on the way back to the school. Henry is tired and wants nothing to do with the drama and paperwork that this mystery child will bring.

Time passes, and it becomes obvious that the new child is... weird. Little things add up - levitating objects, broken things fixing themselves, and missing items appearing in strange places. The Academy staff settle on this kid being scientifically or magically "special" in some way, and Henry gets guardianship over her so that Headmaster Wilbur Lamprey cannot. He wants to use her, mold her, into something good for the Agency he believes in so deeply.

He's not cruel to her, but he struggles to see her as an actual child for a long time. She is dangerous, not defenseless like a human child. She is simply not a human child. He runs tests and harmless little experiments on her, teaches her how to be a good member of the Agency. Over time, they grow closer, but she's still a glorified weapon he's shaping to prove his worth to the Agency.

They still grow closer. She's a fine girl, a good student, and she has a small group of friends who definitely see her as a person. Henry's partners treat her like any other one of their students. Henry forgets, slowly, that he's supposed to view her as a tool or a legacy. She's his daughter - what else could she be, if he's honest?

He notices that her powers are waning the closer that they connect, the more she (and he) sees herself as a regular child. He distances himself, focuses on the priority, the goal. Tests her a little beyond her limit, perhaps trying to sever her trust in him or convince himself that he doesn't care for her. Wilbur is oh so encouraging of treating her like a monster to be tamed.

It's a matter of pride, but also fear of the Agency, and what they would do if their promised godling was no longer effective. Around age 13, Henry fears that if she loses her powers, the Agency will deem her worthless and harm her. Besides, he clearly doesn't know how to be a parent. He decides that he is harmful to her, and that the Agency, this glowing society he's worshipped and preached his entire life, is better for her. He must send her off to the higher ups of the Agency.

She doesn't take the news well. They get into an argument, and she loses control of her powers and hurts Henry (she believes fatally - she is wrong). Shortly after, she has run away from the Agency altogether, losing everyone she's ever known and having to rebuild her entire life and identity, believing that she killed her father.

Over a decade later, one of Henry's partners (Rowen) accidentally makes contact with her and mentions that Henry's missing. Infinity and co go on a whole adventure and find his captors, and Infinity learns that she's been harboring guilt over something she didn't even do for years.

They don't actually talk to one another until later, when the Agency does something else to Infinity, and she gets a moment of actually confronting Henry. They never fully mend their relationship, but they are able to have a better one after the events of TCOE and become somewhat close again.

Big OC Question of the Week #1

Tell me, what is your OC’s relationship with their parents?

[story-of-the-infinite]

~ The Corruption of Earth ~

WIP Introduction

GENRE

sci-fi, low fantasy, drama, horror, slice-of-life

SETTING

Salem, Massachusetts (primarily)

TROPES

tragic mistake, you can’t fight fate, childhood friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, kind of dead parents, found family

SUMMARY

Infinity Weir has spent more than a decade perfecting a normal and happy life after a rather unpleasant childhood spent in the Agency, a secret society quietly running the world.  When an old friend re-enters her life, begging her for help, she is forced to question whether anything can ever truly stay dead - and whether she wants it to.

CHARACTERS

Infinity Weir Sola Vagari Biola Ace Jo Bijou Abby Thomas Henry Angiel Gregor Thymes Rowen Delivar Kai Redburn Theia Reed Wilbur Lamprey Simon Byrd Thomas Lovell Elijah Arken Helena Wolff

[story-of-the-infinite]

Happy (late) Blorbo Blursday! (This is italiangothicwriteblr’s main btw)

Which of your characters have changed the most since the planning stages, either as a consequence of the plot or natural evolution of their arc?

Gregor Thymes from The Corruption of Earth!

He's the science Professor at the Academy that two of the main characters of TCOE went to as children.

The Academy teachers were originally very minor characters, and "Professor Thymes" was the only one I had a clear idea of. He fulfilled a similar role that Wilbur Lamprey does now. He was intended to be a source of trauma in (the main love interest) Sola Vagari's past as his favorite teacher who manipulated and took advantage of him.

I did a lot of RPs over text with my now-partner that focused on the Academy, so I made more professors and developed them further. Gregor just started naturally changing. The personality he had been putting on to be manipulative ended up becoming his actual personality. I tried to hang onto the point of him being a major source of betrayal in Sola's past, but it works a bit better more nuanced.

Gregor really was kind and loving and sciencey. He genuinely cared about Sola and all of his students. On the other hand, he was one of the adults in that situation and the bad things that happened to Sola and the others at the Academy are, to whatever extent, on him. Despite what he wanted and tried to do, he failed them. And I personally find this more compelling than "turns out every single one of the teachers was pure evil."

Thank you for asking!