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underfaller · 9 months

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Chapter 12: λ (pt. 2)

Pairing: dottore x angel!reader Summary: You are a Heavenly Messenger from Celestia that’s been captured by a mysterious Doctor CW: Violence Word count: 3.0k A/N: Chapters may come out slower than usual. I am working on a virtual convention called Fatui Con. It's going to be a completely free, fan event on Discord dedicated to the Fatui Harbingers. If you want to join, you can do so here. Though not explicitedly NSFW, it's 18+ only.

“Xinyue Kiosk. You truly know how to treat your guests correctly,” The Mondstadt man speaks, an arrogant smile on his slightly upturned face. He wears a tidy, navy suit with round glasses that rest on his pointed nose. The unfamiliar man sits with a group of other similarly dressed men, all staring intently at Baihu, who sits at the head of the table. Baihu laughs, raising his glass of wine. Out of the corner of his eye, Dottore sees that detestable smirk of his.

“Please. A block reservation is easy for someone of my status.”

Dottore raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t turn towards them as he continues to pretend to work. However, he’s intently listening to the group’s conversation. The normally formidable Doctor’s appearance is much different now. He wears a velvet red garment with a tight collar around his neck. His now brown hair is slicked back neatly. The only aspect of him that Dottore can’t change with basic alchemy is his eyes- crimson and sharp as they always were.

He’d taken the identity of a waiter that was assigned to work tonight’s shift at Xinyue Kiosk. The actual waiter was very willing to take the night off-- Dottore didn’t even have to dispose of him. He’d even willingly given Dottore his uniform and a follicle of oily, brown hair. Whether it was out of fear for this strange Doctor or relief that the overworked service worker finally got a night off, Dottore isn’t sure-- nor did he really care. All he needed was those two things to create the perfect disguise.

“The Financial Director is a lousy tipper anyways. Nobody wants to work when he reserves the restaurant,” The waiter had grumbled as he handed the neatly folded clothes to the Doctor.

“Franz, why are you watching me so intently?” Baihu muses as he takes another sip of deep, red liquid.

The man chuckles. “You just seem to be enjoying our wine so much. That means you’ll approve its import into Liyue so you can relish more of it, yes?”

Though, they need to get on with this bore of a meeting. After all, the potion won’t last long.

“Patience. We haven’t even started eating and you already want an answer,” Baihu replies, swishing his drink lazily within the confines of the crystal glass.

“We’ve been waiting nearly six months worth of dinners, Financial Director,” Franz snaps. His eyebrows furrow as he points accusingly at Baihu. “I feel we are owed an answer now.”

Baihu sighs, delicately setting down his glass.

“Oh, you Lawrence Clan members are so impatient. Very well, let’s discuss then,” Baihu states, leaning back.

“Finally!” Franz Lawrence declares, gesturing as he speaks. “As we’ve been saying, we simply want to share Mondstadt’s specialty with the people of Liyue. Dandelion wine is already popular in your region with so many Liyue officials crossing borders for just a taste.”

Dottore makes a face.

Augh. Dandelion wine.

“And I would approve of yours when the Ragnvindr Clan’s wine company is much more lucrative because…?” Baihu replies.

Franz’s expression once again darkens.

“Because we are willing to personally pay you a hefty sum,” He growls. “Don’t act as if you haven’t taken our bribe already.”

“A bribe? I thought that was a gift,” Baihu says. He tilts his head, giving the haughty man a half-smile. “But if it was a bribe as you said, then I suppose I can take it into account-- out of mere kindness. I will approve of your imports… with a cut of its profits.”

The financial director folds his arms.

“80%.”

Franz chokes on his own wine. He sputters as he quickly sets down the glass. After a few seconds of coughing violently, he glares at Baihu, his face as red as the wine they’re drinking.

“80%? You can’t possibly be serious!”

"Be grateful it's not 85%. After all, you interrupted my dinner for an expedited answer,” Baihu clicks his tongue.

“Aww, what is that face? Please don’t throw a temper tantrum in front of my meal, now.”

Franz slams his fist on the table with a loud bam. He stands up quickly, the legs of his chair screeching painfully against the wooden floor.

“You’d do best to watch your tongue, Director! Let me remind you who I am-”

It’s then that the suited man suddenly keels over, clasping his stomach and falling with a loud thud. His comrades jump up, circling him as they look at Franz then at one another in surprise and concern. Franz coughs into his palm, looking in fear at the reddish stain it leaves.

“Archons…”

Baihu calmly stands up, picking up his cane and slowly approaching the struggling man as he casually twirls it in his hand.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t see through your little plan? I had our waiter swap our wine glasses when you weren’t looking, “ Baihu leans down. His face is almost sympathetic, if not for the sadistic glint in his lilac eyes. “Killing me wouldn’t have helped you, you know. I can only chalk it up to childish retaliation for not getting what you want.

Dottore smirks, watching this unfold.

Finally, things are getting interesting.

Dottore looks at his reflection in the silver platter on the table in front of him. His brown hair now has a greenish tint as the potion’s effects slowly fade.

I really should work on improving this.

It’s fine, though. All he needs is an opportunity to shift this situation to his favor.

Baihu looks down at a wildly coughing Franz with utter disdain. He rubs his temples.

“I never liked posh folks like you. People who come from wealth, their success already written in the stars by the gods. Worms like you expect others to simply bend to your whims, Baihu comments. “It looks like the Lawrence Clan will lose another member. How unfortunate… for them.”

“You…. you dirty cheater…” Franz chokes out. “You’re one to talk. Street scum like you shouldn’t be able to rise to such positions. You don’t have any worth to your name, no respect, no dignity.”

Franz coughs, blood and saliva splattering against the brown wood floor. He glares at Baihu once more.

“Well, if I’m to die, then I’ll take you down with me,” Franz points at Baihu, his Clan members turning towards the financial director. “Kill him.”

Baihu laughs. “Come now, there isn’t any meaning for that-”

Now.

What pristine timing these businessmen have. As the Doctor appears from the shadow, his appearance slowly reverts back to his true self. Dottore slowly approaches the table, clapping slowly.

“Gentlemen. There’s no reason to ruin a fine establishment like this with such a useless struggle,” He says. “It’s as that insufferable banker says, there is no meaning for this.”

Baihu narrows his eyes as he turns towards Dottore.

“And the Harbinger once again makes his presence. How quaint. Please don’t tell me the Fatui are involved with this as well.”

Dottore laughs as he saunters towards Baihu. “Tsk. Don't jump to conclusions. I wouldn't dream of attacking you so unceremoniously .”

One of the men suddenly brandishes their sword, lunging at Baihu in an attempt to take advantage of the director’s momentary distraction. However, before he can impale Baihu, Dottore snaps his fingers and one of his mechanical objects immediately stabs the assailant with needle-like precision. He falls to the ground with a bloodcurdling scream. Dottore grins as he comes face to face with Baihu, shrugging nonchalantly.

“On the contrary, I’m willing to save your worthless life.”

Baihu’s glasses flash dangerously.

“I don’t need your help, Harbinger .”

With that, Baihu grips his cane, unsheathing the long sword hidden within the black exterior. As another Clan member attacks Baihu, he uses the shaft of his weapon to stop the steel blade from slashing at his face. He throws the man back, impaling him once before coldly stepping back.

Dottore looks amused.

“Look at that. The banker can fight!” The Doctor waves his hand. “Though, 8 against 1 is quite unfavorable odds. A 1 to 4 fight is so much easier, no?”

Baihu grits his teeth.

“Are you simply going to commentate on this? Or are you going to help me as you said?”

“Maybe, maybe not. I prefer a good show-- and seeing you die to such lowly ruffians would be quite entertaining,” Dottore laughs. “But if you were to rethink the Jester’s proposal…”

Baihu glares at Dottore. Despite this fight being far from over, he is already panting, his glasses slightly lopsided, his long, black hair falling over his irritated face. Baihu points his sword at Dottore.

“Tch. You'd wager my life for something like that?”

“Let's call it a simple quid quo pro, hm?”

Baihu scowls. But, he shakes his head, a small smirk forming on his face.

“Hmph. Fine. Maybe I underestimated you. You'd do well in the business world with that callousness.”

“Callousness? This is only simple logic, Mr. Zhang.”

The rest of the men circle them, readying to attack like a pack of stray dogs. Baihu’s grip tightens on his sword. Dottore readies his weapons. He tilts his head, gazing at Baihu with glinting, crimson eyes.

“I should add, banker, if you double cross me, I’ll make sure my assistant isn’t around to stop me from killing you.”

Baihu gives a wry laugh.

“You needn’t worry about that. I am shrewd, but I am still a man of my word.”

Dottore smirks. The two men stand back to back, weapons drawn.

“Then let’s kill some businessmen, shall we?”

“I am surprised you didn’t kill him.”

The sun shines in the sky once again-- a mere half a day from the antics of the previous night. Dottore already relayed the details to you last night. After all, it wasn’t long after he returned to your room that you awoke from the stench of fresh blood on his clothes.

You still can’t quite stand it.

You say as you walk besides Dottore, making your way back to the financial director’s office to finalize the details on the Fatui’s proposal. Dottore wanted you to stay at the inn, but you insisted on going. You’re unsure why he was so adamant upon you not seeing the financial director. You’re sure that Baihu would not attempt such an act again-- not after the Doctor was so merciful as to save his life yesterday.

I’m not sure I will restrain the Doctor from murdering him if he does try though.

As you ponder this, you can feel the small bites and marks on your neck and shoulder weighing on your skin as you think of Dottore’s surprising possessiveness towards you.

“It’s as you said, a dead man cannot accept a deal,” Dottore replies.

“Yes,” You turn towards him. “You should have woken me up, though. It was dangerous to go alone.”

Dottore scoffs.

“Why? I am capable of handling myself just fine.”

“But you’re still recovering from that fall-”

Dottore’s lips purse into a thin line.

“You’re underestimating me once again, little birdie,” The Doctor’s tone is oddly sharp as he abruptly interrupts you. “I’m a harbinger, not a pathetic child that needs someone fussing about them. You’d do well to remember who is the superior here.”

“I…” You pause, before nodding. “I understand.”

I am only worried about your safety.

I just want to be there to protect you.

…What a silly desire.

You walk in tense silence. You wonder if he is angry at you. However, as you once again pass the stone stairs that overlook Liyue Harbor, it’s him that now gazes upon the festivities preparing below. For a moment, you both stand there, watching. The sound of chattering, shouting, and the harbor fill the empty silence.

“Tonight is the first night of Lantern Rite Festival,” Dottore notes.

“Is it now?”

“Would you like to stay for a bit and see?”

You look at the Doctor. He refuses to turn towards you.

Is this… his way of apologizing for snapping at you?

You tilt your head curiously.

“I…”

It’s then that you notice a very tall woman walking towards you. She wears her platinum blonde hair in a complicated style that flows over her shoulder. An intricate, crowned mask covers her right eye.

She’s absolutely beautiful in the coldest way.

Her steely gray eye gazes almost amusedly at the Doctor.

“Dottore. What a coincidence.”

“Rosalyne. What are you doing here?” Dottore asks, his voice taut.

The woman raises an eyebrow.

“I did not know I needed your approval to enjoy Lantern Rite,” She states frigidly.

“Cut the antics, Fair Lady,” Dottore frowns, crossing his arms. “You and I both know you wouldn’t travel so far for a little party.”

Fair Lady?

So this is the other Harbinger that Dottore had spoken of.

“Always straight to business with you,” The Harbinger teases.

“I do not engage in idiotic small talk.”

Rosalyne laughs humorlessly at that.

“Well then allow me to explain,” She hums. “I heard about the Jester’s task for you and I just knew you’d spoil a deal as important as this, so I took the initiative to ensure success.”

Dottore clenches his fist. You turn towards him and can see he’s furious.

“He already signed the proposal?”

Rosalyne gives a small laugh.

“Correction: my proposal,” She smiles in a tauntingly dispassionate manner, waving off Dottore’s growing anger with a delicate flick of her wrist. “You catch much more flies with honey than vinegar, Doctor. Bankers are no different.”

You quickly realize why Dottore is so angry.

“You had no right to take credit for our work,” You say quietly. “The Doctor already got him to accept the deal.”

The Fair Lady swiftly turns to you. She looks you up and down as if studying you for the sole purpose of picking you apart. Her eyes narrow.

“And who gave you permission to speak to me?” She chides.

Dottore’s head quickly turns back to her.

“Why would she need permission? As my assistant, she’s above you, number eight ,” He snaps, finally losing his temper.

“Tsk. Down, boy. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Rosalyne folds her arms, rolling her eyes. Despite her annoyed tone, a mocking smile displays on her pale face.

“You vapid b-”

“There’s no need for such animosity,” Rosalyne states. “And there’s no need to continue this conversation. I will be taking my leave now.” The Harbinger walks past him, slightly turning her head.

“I’ll see you again, Second. Have fun with your new pet .”

Rosalyne sweeps past you, giving you one last look of obvious distaste as she does. The Fair Lady quickly disappears in the crowded pavilion. You realize how tense you are.

What an awful lady. Are all the harbingers this unhinged?

“Doctor-”

Dottore let out a harsh, angry breath before grabbing your hand. Without another word, he flies across the square, dragging you once more through the financial district and bursting through the director’s door with a loud crash.

Baihu looks up from the papers he’s reading. He looks a bit shocked but doesn’t rise from his seat.

“I thought you weren’t one to go back on your word,” Dottore snarls, his hands slamming against the desk’s surface as he leans angrily in Baihu’s face. As you stand behind the Doctor, half of you expects Dottore to grab Baihu and start shaking him violently.

Baihu sighs, setting down his papers. He calmly adjusts his glasses as he looks at the irate man. The financial director leans in his chair, fingers clasped together.

“I’m not. I signed the Jester’s proposal just as I promised,” Baihu calmly replies. “I never said who I’d sign with. Your fellow colleague just had a more persuasive offer than you did.”

“More persuasive than saving your menial life?” Dottore growls.

“Oh please,” Baihu glowers at the enraged Doctor. “Are you always this difficult to work with? If so, I may actually regret taking your Rosalyne’s offer since we’re to be very close associates now.”

Dottore stiffens. He steps back a bit.

“Explain.”

“Well, my term as Liyue's financial director is ending soon. When that happens, I will be in charge of Snezhnaya’s branch here,” Baihu utters. “Or, the Northland Bank as our superior has named it. Though I must say, ‘The Regrator’ is quite a pretentious title…”

“You don’t mean-”

Baihu’s lips turn into a smile.

“It’s a pleasure to work with you, fellow Harbinger.”

Another tense silence. You look at Dottore then at Baihu. Your eyes accidentally lock and you quickly look away.

Baihu chuckles as he finally stands. He walks towards you, a small smile on his face. It’s almost genuine-- and not as predatory like the day before. Still, you’re wary of the bespectacled man. Your wings ruffle nervously as he looks down at you. Your hand almost goes towards the dagger at your belt.

If he tries to kiss you again, you won’t need the Doctor to attack him for you.

“I must apologize to you for my behavior yesterday, my dear. Quite lowly actions on my part. I merely wanted to avoid signing that deal so preemptively and needed a distraction,” Baihu explains. “All is fair in love and Mora, after all.”

“Baihu.”

Baihu turns towards Dottore, who has an emotionless gaze on his masked face.

The financial director smiles innocently.

“Yes, Dottore?”

“Though the results of this little… experiment are unprecedented, I am actually quite pleased that you are to be a Harbinger.”

Dottore reaches out his hand. Baihu chuckles.

“Same. I’m relieved that there are no hard feelings between us,” He replies as he shakes Dottore’s hand.

“Because now I do not have to charade professionalism around you anymore.”

“What-”

With that, Dottore pulls the surprised financial director towards him by the hand. In one fluid motion, he doesn’t hesitate as he punches Baihu directly in his face. The director’s glasses fly off his face, skittering to the ground. Baihu drops to the floor. As he slowly sits up, groaning, you see his crooked nose, a thin stream of blood already running down his chin. It’s definitely broken. You’d feel bad for him if he hadn’t been asking for it.

Dottore looks down at the fallen man.

“Welcome to the Fatui, banker.”

With that he turns towards you, a cocky grin drawls on his face as he stretches his gloved hand out once more.

“Shall we enjoy the Lantern Rite Festival, my dear?”

You take his hand, a small smile can’t help but play on your lips.

“Yes, Doctor.”

Past chapters here

#fic: dead doves do not mourn #dottore #dottore x fem!reader #genshin x reader #genshin impact #cross posted on ao3 #pantalone

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oathkeeperoxas · 1 year

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AO3 wrapped!

Respond to this with what you would call the top 5 fanfics you’ve read in 2022. Any genre! Any ship! (Bonus points: if you’re a creator, make this a 5+1 and include your favorite fic you wrote in 2022!)

Then leave this in your friends’ asks too. Let’s give creators one more spotlight before the year ends, and share some of what we’ve enjoyed along the way!

You sending this: haha it'll be a fun way to wrap up the year!

Me for the past 2 weeks thinking about this nonstop every time I have a spare second: what WERE my top fics of 2022??

I've carefully picked out the below, but there are many, many, MANY fics that I enjoyed this year, so picking just 5 was so hard okay 😭 that being said, all of these are codywan recs except one (besides codywan and TOA fic I don't think I read anything else this year... Well, besides The Desert Storm which is an ongoing series, but which I recommend to every person, whether you like Star Wars and whether you like time travel or not). I've posted the below fics in the order I read them so no favouritism in the order they're listed!

this road is meant for two [10.2k] by @skatzaa

“Cody,” came a voice from behind him. The Jedi. The traitor. “Run. Use your jet pack.” “Shut up,” CC-2224 snarled. He could barely see through the pain, but he leveled his blaster rifle again. “I’m not leaving you behind again, General—”

This was my gift for FFFX and let me say I seriously won the jackpot with this one!! It really has so so much tailored for me, like time travel of codywan from tatooine into a clone wars fix it, the angst of purge trooper Cody and him struggling with what he did, trans Obi-Wan, hurt/comfort, established relationship, it was funny, and most importantly, Palps got killed 😊

Good Soldiers [7.2k] by @elwenyere

“Have I ever commended you on the vast array of sentiments you manage to convey with your ‘sirs’?” Obi-Wan asked wryly. “Someday I will persuade you to drop the appearance of formality - at least when you’re telling me I’m full of shit.” “You’re welcome to keep believing that, sir,” Cody allowed. “Everyone needs something to look forward to.” The rest of Obi-Wan’s smile faded, his expression growing thoughtful. “Yes,” he murmured, “I suppose they do.” ----- Or, 5 Times Cody and Obi-Wan Followed Orders + 1 Time They Followed Each Other

I just remember reading this summary, and even before I clicked it I was like YES!!!! This person understands the characters and their dynamic and the prose is excellent, this fic is going to be freaking awesome. And I was right! It balances character growth and plot brilliantly, and the construction of each section is so thoughtful and combines into an incredibly crunchy whole. I was so disappointed when I checked the author's profile to find that this was their only codywan fic, but elwen has since graced us with many excellent works, and I recommend anything that she has written!

Thirty-One Sons, Thirteen Moons [32.7k] by sual

“This can’t keep happening,” Jango says despairingly. He’s said this almost every year for the past twenty-five of them. “Well,” Cody slowly replies, looking down at the squalling baby the witch has left on their doorstep, “what’s one more mouth to feed when you’re already feeding thirty?" - In Cody's latest attempt to sacrifice himself for his family, he finally learns how to want something for himself. Modern AU with magic.

Urban fantasy is my favourite genre, and this fic captures everything I adore about it - the inclusion of magic into the setting is so natural and informs the plot deliciously. I usually am a very hard sell on modern AUs and on relationships of convenience, but the excellent writing and Obi-Wan's gender fuckery got me hooked, and I'm so very glad I gave this one a chance. It's such a great idea, executed super awesomely and the smut throughout is sooo hot augh

Meg & Apollo's Highly Limited Roadtrip Playlist [3.2k] by Curioser [and the prequel as a bonus!]

Fourteen hundred miles. Four radio stations. Two friends trying hard not to kill each other, or to acknowledge the fact that in less than a week, they may never see each other again. And Lizzo. So much Lizzo.

Reading this immediately after finishing the TOA books made me sooooooo emo like you have NO idea!!! Meg and Apollo's relationship was the core part of TOA that I enjoyed the most, and this fic made me see that relationship in a different light, gave me a different view as this is from Meg's POV instead of Apollo's like the books are, and introduced me to a whole bunch of new music too. It feels far too short for the amount of gutpunches contained within - the comparisons between their fathers, their situations and lives, and how they're coping with that, all made me sooo overwhelmed like aaaaaa *insert screaming cat meme* they're best friends. They're best friends!!!!

shelter from the storm [3.1k] by @inkformyblood

A sandstorm means that Cody and Obi-Wan have to spend days inside. They find ways to pass the time. - Obi-Wan’s voice is low and Cody can almost picture his expression despite not quite being able to pick out his features; the incline to his head is almost hungry, his eyes half-lidded and thoughtful. “I’m sure you have several suggestions already.” “Only several?” Cody punctuates the question with a kiss, drawing Obi-Wan’s hand to his mouth rather than chance finding his mouth in the semi-shadows. The split lip hadn’t been worth it with the benefit of hindsight, regardless of how attractive the gesture had seemed at the time. Cody’s lips brush against the rough edge of a bacta patch, an old one worn and reused until it is more placebo than curative, but Cody still skirts around the edge of it, kissing the seams of Obi-Wan’s fingers and tasting salt.

This was another gift for me and it is just so so so good 🥺 I love how magpie writes codywan as the flow between them, their characters, their banter and their relationship is so lovely and amazing! Codywan on tatooine are my favourite version of codywan, and it is nailed here - the yearning and the grief and the closeness that comes from being the only two people in the galaxy. Plus trans Obi-Wan has my whole heart, which was the cherry on top of the rest of this excellent fic

Plus 1 - the favourite fic you wrote in 2022

Whaaaat a question, oof. This was hard, but I've picked the one that I enjoyed writing the most, as well as one I've reread a dozen times or so this year since I think I did a good job in it!

Stand By Me [34.7k] by Serie11

Cody and Obi-Wan renovate a house together out in the Dune Sea. Along the way, they discover something else worth keeping.

I wrote this in like 4 weeks as a gift for Emi, and the process came together to really deliver what I wanted, and Emi really enjoyed it, so it was just a really enjoyable process the whole way through!

#codywan #fic recs #codywan fic recs #Greensleeves is probably also in my top 5 but since it's deleted it doesn't feel right to speak to it :(#anyway this year slapped there was so much good fic!!!

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heartate · 2 months

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i finally finished reading the atlas six and i have so much to say like i think i could write a 30 page paper about it seamlessly without tiring or pause because there are not enough words that would suffice the summation of what i felt reading this book or the way it made my mind churn but.

first of all, the thing i've been saying from like, the first quarter of the book: i am in love with olivie blake's writing style. it's so poetic and yet informative and deliciously thought provoking that gets all the little gears and cogs in my brain working overtime as i try to wrap my mind around not only simple physics but astrophysics and cosmology and everything in between. she has such a way with descriptors and these juicy little adjectives that paint the society so vividly, but also that of everyone's faces, the way they look, the expressions they make, the things they feel, the thoughts that they think. her writing is intensely captivating in such an enjoyable way that's gripping with these nuggets of humor peppered here and there.

i've never been a large fan of multi-pov stories, really, but the way the atlas six demonstrated it was fantastic and i enjoyed every bit of it.

olivie blake has such a unique writing style, in my opinion, with such a distinct voice, and it's so fascinating and impressive to me how she manages to then create seven more distinct voices (nine, if you really want to get into it). everything is so beautifully blended and yet so separate at the same time in a way that was crystal clear. it was such an engaging and thought provoking book like. the writing was just uniquely mesmerizing and captivating and rich and intense and riveting.

it was so much fun to read, genuinely. it was so easy to discern the different voices and get a feel for each of them as people like i was sitting in their minds. this book would not have functioned as well as it did if it was told in a single person's pov and i just think it was incredibly well done. it has so much depth and is so incredibly nuanced and fascinating and detailed and it really tickled that inner part of me that once dreamed of being an astrophysicist, once upon a time, because i was so fascinated by space and physics and the relationship of reality and the universe and its ends and beginnings and time and i could go ON AND ON AND ON.

i think this is one of my favorite books of all time, for sure, and olivie blake is like, a top three author for me, truly. her writing is legendary and AUGH it's just so good. good doesn't even begin to capture what i feel like there are countless intricacies of this book and such depth to its writing and subject matter. like. truly. her writing is fascinating. mesmerizing. my mind is spinning but like, in the best way possible.

i was thinking about starting a different book series after i finished it because i have SO many books i'm dying to dig into, but now i want to read the second book immediatelyyyyyyyyy

#and thank you always to R for giving me the best book recs 🥰#i know you will see this eventually and i will be screaming in our dms posthaste #JKBSDKJCBS #if you havent read this book and care to at all i wouldn't click this #it's not spoilery or anything but #it may ruin the element of mysticism and wonder and surprise for you #ooc.

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afaramir · 3 months

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I love your posts about Denethor and Faramir. I'm always glad to see someone who loves both him and Faramir and gets that Denethor being this hugely impressive tragic figure makes Faramir so much better and more interesting. The relationship between them is so complex and I love it so much. The film versions make me angry as well.

oh man thank you so much...i find it kinda crazy that you're saying this to me bc im pretty sure i have a bunch of posts from your denethor tag sitting around in my drafts so i can look back at them later. many days i feel very much like an Amateur Denethor Enjoyer but i am thrilled that me just kind of being unhinged on the dash has brought you joy. and get ready bc here i go again LOL

yeah exactly what you said...denethor's tragedy informs and is informed by faramir so so so much and it's just kind of wild to me that on the tragedy enjoyers website so many people refuse to see it. on the second-best enjoyers website...the guilt-and-despair enjoyers website...the "the unimaginable has happened and i AM going to kill people and then myself" enjoyers website...i could go on! he is literally doomed by the narrative and just goes well ok fuck you i WILL die at the end but it will NOT be in the way the narrative wants me to.

it is truly the relationship of all time. faramir does love his father and yet because of the strength of his principles he is genuinely incapable of showing it in a way that denethor can understand. and denethor loves him too but after a certain point just cannot show it anymore because duty has to take precedence. he's not allowed to give faramir any quarter even in private. and YES that includes anything that would resemble a normal emotion. ngl i wouldn't be surprised if that's the only way faramir is like. LETTING him communicate with him. like i feel like the final assault on osgiliath is not the first time faramir's taken the "if you want to get me to do something you ARE going to have to order me to do it" stance. and yet denethor tries. at the end he takes trying to an unhinged level. idk it often feels like even in the general fandom insistance on one-dimensionally dickish denethor there's somehow also a lack of understanding that it IS a toxic expression of love but that doesn't make it not love. like He's Not Winning Dad Of The Year that is not what we're saying at all. we're saying is "it was born of love. it was a terrible thing yet born of love." thats all! that's why it's so tragic because it's all about love!!! augh...

ok i don't typically put quotations from my own writing in like real posts but also ive been thinking about the faramir goes to rivendell au 24/7 and i just. HAVE to pull this line bc it kind of captures exactly how i feel about the denethor-and-faramir mutual Character Honing.

Yet he [Faramir] cannot deny that each of them sharpens himself upon the whetstone of the other, and it is a debt he loathes to owe and yet cannot hope to repay.

i mean.......like are you picking up what im putting down! like! AAA! both in-narrative and out of it they are always ALWAYS making each other better (or worse. but worse in a More Interesting Way) but AT WHAT COST!!! he loves his father he would not be the man he is today without his father both in a good and bad way he HATES that these two things are true. faramir and denethor are not foils they're parallels they build each other's characters up when you put them next to each other!! faramir is who denethor wouldve couldve been without the war!! hey hang on a second is denethor who faramir would've become if he were the lord steward during the war of the ring? (this is a little reductive i think faramir's susceptibility to despair is quite different to his father's. and i wonder how long his gentleness would've prevailed / worked side by side with his duty instead of being diametrically opposed to it. but anyway. well i'll be thinking about THAT for the rest of the night. i cannot start another au i cannot i cannot i cannot). anyway you can't get one of them without getting the other and that is all...

man i always say like oh don't get me started on movie faramir and denethor and then the don't think of an elephant effect GETS me and it gets me started. last night i genuinely said like "well i won't get into it" and then three hours later it was 2am and it was so very clear that i had Gotten Into It. i had to tell our other roommate like "tell me when ur going to bed i am talking about denethor and i will be yelling." my roommate just came home and i told her about this post and then i had to explain a detail and she SET ME A THREE MINUTE TIMER bc she was like i have to go study. and that's fair

anyway i hope you are having a good night/day/whatever time it is for you. thank you for this ask it is always fun to see you pop up in my notifs whenever im denethorposting lol

#from the inbox #bretwalda-lamnguin #i always get so bitchy when im talking about the popular interpretation LOL #i had to like take some deep breaths and remove The Tone from this post. if its still there thats on me #i feel like you get it #Another 800+ Word Denethor Post From Yours Truly. when u become a denethor girl (gnc) there is truly no going back...#denethorposting

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shsl-fander · 1 year

Text

Midnight Stroll

Logince fanfic

Pairing: Logan x Roman

Word Count: 513

Genre: Fluff

Au: Human

Summary: Logan and Roman walk through the city at night together

A/N: Dialogue HEAVILY inspired by Butterfly Soup Chapter 2

@autisticlogankin @spacedouterri @milliesfavoriteinterests

The dim lit street lights grazed their path, shinning a blinding glare towards them as Logan and Roman slowly walked through the streets. The city surrounding them would have been a complete void if it weren't for the numerous tiny specs of light scattered throughout the city. The lights coming off buildings were almost like tiny stars, illuminating the dreary dark skies.

Logan sipped his coffee, holding it in one hand while the other was carefully intertwined with Roman's.

"Can I try yours?" Roman asked, his head perked up and eye wide with curiousity. "I'm almost done with mine sooo."

Logan sighs softly, rolling his eyes at Roman's begging once again. "You won't like it, Prep," he explains, simply shaking his head.

Roman's eyes widened, eyebrows raised before he scoffs in offense, glancing around in disbelief. "Jokes on you I take that as a challenge!" Roman declares eagerly, his voice coated with that oh too familiar dramatic flare. "Gimmie, Nerd."

Logan raised his eyebrows, a completely unamused expression spread across his face, however he hands his drink to his boyfriend. "I'm only doing this so I can once again prove you that I'm always right," he states matter-of-factly.

Roman groans, "My god I can't believe I found someone more annoyingly competitive than I AM," he whines, before slowly taking a sip out of Logan's coffee. The moment Roman tasted the drink, he was jolted at the bland bitter flavor that had just hit his tounge. "AUGH EW GROSS BLEGH!" he yelps, shoving Logan's back into his hands instinctively.

"HOW DO YOU EVEN DRINK THATT," Roman cries, throughly shaking his head."You're insane Nerd."

Logan just sighed, exhaling softly before gently rubbing his temple."and you're an idiot Roman, but alas I'm still here with you," he pauses in between his sentence, allowing his gaze to fall and meet Roman's eyes, which were glistening due to the light shinning on him. His eyes had an emerald shimmer to them, and Logan found himself captured by Roman once again, so easily just by gazing at him. "Because I love you."

Roman's expression softened, slowly moving himself closer to Logan as he places both their drinks down on the street so he could clutch both his hands. "I love you more," he smirks.

Logan clasps Roman's hands as well, gently rubbing his thumb over Roman's. He rolls his eyes, "you're impossible to please," he mumbles, "That is preposterous."

Roman scrunched up his nose, "No It's not," he corrects with a hum, "I love you times infinity so hah!"

"You can't multiply infinity, " Logan starts, pushing up his glasses as he spoke,"Infinity is a concept, not a number. So is love for that matter," he nudges.

"Well too bad, Nerd! I did it! Love you times infinity."

Logan sighs once again, but he doesn't bother hiding the tender half-smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"If you're going to speak nonsense then I love you times infinity, plus one."

#sanders sides #roman sanders #logan sanders #ts logan #tssides #logince #logince fanfiction #logince fanfic #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction

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righetousdude · 1 year

Text

Time for upgrades and strategies.

Part (2)

Discharge sans had gain the castle of nightmare. Once he gained full control of nightmare he said to killer, dust, and horror if they even trie to betray him they wouldn’t be alive to tell them how nightmare lost to Discharge.

Waiting

Discharge needed a stronger team that could with stand the full force of the guardian ink. He needed to upgrade his team for the better for his plans would fail without a team that could really pack a punch. He waited in the room which was once a throne room. Killer usually did a patrol around the castle ,but discharge gave killer a direct order to train with his blue magic. Horror wasn’t given any orders ,but hade time to himself. Dust was given a direct order to go into a au ,but not to kill anyone. To just observe the au and it’s frisk; dust hated doing nothing he wanted to kill someone and get some LV for his power grew more hungry.

Talking

Discharge had call a emergency meeting to explain something new to everyone.

Killer ,dust, and horror walked toward the meeting room were discharge waited anxiously to tell his big news.

Killer:(tired) I’m tired as heck discharge has been making me practice blue magic on a 1 ton rock. He says it’s to “increase my lifting strength and make you have more speed in throwing things” bull shit my arms feel like noodles.

Dust: (pissed) at least you did something I just watch a au and gather Intel on it that was …jut boring as heck I could have been doing something better.

Killer: yoy horror you’re being quite your usual pretty talkie what he make you do.

Horror looked at dust and killer with a blank expression.

Horror: (calm) nothing he just told me to do absolutely nothing it felt kind of good to just relax and do nothing.

Killer: augh he changed everything around he it’s a weird feeling that nightmare would ever fall to someone like him. I just can’t believe he won.

Dust looking at killer “ that’s for sure things aren’t going to be the same from here on out.

Meeting

The trio opened the door into the meeting room where 3 seats waited for them.

As they began to sit down discharge teleported into the room and pulled out a choke board.

Killer: what’s this suppose to be class.

Discharge: (clam) nope it’s something different.

Discharge: (yelled) may I have your attention real quick. Listen or don’t it’s your choice as I’m now your new leader.

They all looked at him

Discharge: (proud) I’ve made improvements in this au which I’ll be explaining to you guys. I’ve locked this au from every except for you guys. There will be a code which you’ll need to remember to get into the au.

The trio was quite.

Discharge: do you have any questions. There are no bad questions you can say anything as you please I’m not like nightmare which he will threaten you if you don’t comply.

Dust: what if they force us to give you the code. Won’t they be able to get in.

Discharge: (happy) that’s a good question. That’s a no the system which makes the au lock is alive and it will ask for the code while your code is scanned and your memories as well. Your code is unique it’s not like other versions there’s only one like you.

Killer: alright, so we will be able to enter this au without worrying about anyone trying to capture us.

Discharge: speaking of capture I’m going to give you guys a button in your pockets which will instantly teleport you to the base which you’ll be able to fully gain power.

Dust: then what if they steal that button from us. Won’t they just be able to get in here no biggey

Discharge: nope it’s like a finger print only it checks you code insanely fast. It can’t be destroyed either,but if it’s somehow is opened a instant evaporation will happen destroying everything.

Horror : I have a question.

Discharge: yes horror.

Horror: I’f these plans are going to be this big aren’t you going to recruit some new members. For a team

Discharge: great question.

Killer:(he’s acting like a teacher what exactly are you planing for us)

Discharge: I’ll be recruiting new members for sure or by force,but first I need to work on all of you first because you all are in a desperate situation for a upgrade. You guys aren’t that strong yet ,but with my help you’ll become the best killers in this multiverse. It won’t come easy, but with my skills I can create the best team in our multiverse.

Dust looked in curiosity.

Killer looked interested.

Discharge smiled at the good responses.

Discharge: (intense) we need these 6 members. Would you like to know there names because killer your going to try to convince them or by force. Dust you’ll take 1 and horror you’ll take one too. While I will take the biggest one.

Killer: wait why don’t we all just get 2 while you create more plans.

Dust: another question why do me and horror just get one while killer has two.

Discharge: (honestly) you two aren’t as strong as is killer ,so that’s why I’m giving you guys just one. I’m taking this one guy on because I’m your leader not your boss who just sits down on a throne.

Killer:( curious) who are out targets and where can we find them.

Dust: how strong are they.

Horror just sat there eating the food discharge had given him.

Discharge: I actually don’t know they are to be honest with you, but I do know the people you’ll be taking on. I’m after fresh and error sans.

Horror: didn’t you say 6 members.

Discharge: yes ,sorry about that I forgot about him.

Discharge paused for a moment.

Discharge: killer…

Killer: hmm you already got my targets.

Discharge: yay there names are abyss sans and hell sans.

Killer,dust, and horror where shocked at what they heard.

Killer: Hell sans are you crazy! I don’t stand a chance against that guy yet.

Discharge: I know that’s why you’ll be training under me so you can become stronger and have better control over your own power. That include you too horror and dust.

Dust:(interested) who will be my target.

Discharge: Mecha sans he’s located in a au not that far from here.

Dust: that doesn’t sound so hard.

Discharge: don’t get cocky arrogance gets you killed and horror you target is going to be delta.

Horror: who’s he?

Discharge: I forgot to mention all you guys will talk to me individually about you targets. Another thing we won’t start capturing untill you all are ready.

We continue later

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temporal-roar · 2 years

Note

im /gen OBSESSED with the tags you left in my gen 2 kids art omg thank u so much???? ;7;

HAKDJQKDJWLF NO THANK YOU FOR THE AMAZING ART ;w;!!!!

just seeing the caption you left and just how intense the drawings looked made the gears in head go so fast. i really like getting deep into the games and just analyze them JAKEJQLRKW

i know that the stakes get higher the newer the games are, but there's something about the johto story that is so good and you captured it so well with the scenes that you drew. AND THE EXPRESSIONS AUGH. they all fit so well with the situations they are all in. forgive me because im gonna go ramble again. it just that your drawings are so fucking good man /gen!! AND I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT THEM 😭😭😭!!! feel free to like skip JQKRJQKRJWLRKWLR

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your ethan art of him looking up determined climbing up the stairs IS SO AAAAAA!!! the intensity of his expression as he looks like he is bracing himself for the toughest battle he's gonna have. having the perspective be from downward angle makes it look like red is actually looking at him which to me makes the entire thing look so intense

the lyra drawing having the most unique angle of them all is amazing. it fits really well with how the ruins are an unexplored, unknown and practically a maze. being inside the ruins all by yourself and then just seeing these pokemon you dont recognize surrounding you is scary and lyra seems surprised as if this was sudden. her togepi is ready to fight the unowns and its so good because i assume it's to defend lyra

now kris's expression says it all, she is trying leave the leave the well as quickly as she can to bring the slowpoke to safety. i mean she's practically running away from a team rocket grunt and zubats. climbing an old ladder with one hand is hard, let alone avoiding getting hit by any pokemon attacks AND getting caught.

the silver one makes me go bonkers AUGH!!!! in both crystal and in hgss there are voltorbs that can be found on floor b1 and electrodes in b2. BUT i would like to think that team rocket has more of the much more dangerous electrodes protecting the machinery in b2. silver is put here risking his life against electrode that in reality are probably faster than sneasel (and sneasels are fastttt) and much more stronger. at this point in the story he battles lance too and he tells silver that he needs to love and trust his pokemon more. which really, pissed him off entirely. aside from that, team rocket as a whole, is something he absolutely hates because of giovanni. so no wonder he gets angry when the protag is out there beating team rocket, leaving nothing for him. silver is doing his part by defeating any voltorbs defending the machinery while the protag is battling the grunts somewhere else. i mean, silver must have been doing something in the hideout until you both meet at floor b3. im so sure he was battling grunts and loose pokemon out there just like the protag was. im so so sure that sneasel at this point in the story is a valuable member of silver's team (i mean, they are his ace after all) and that they trust him well enough to obey him bc silver did take sneasel from their previous owner (which imo good for him, fuck that dude lmao) not too long ago.so there's still a level of trust his pokemon have to him bc he still keeps them regardless if he loses to the protag AND lance. ANYWAS that silver drawing is my favourite, it's absolutely so cool and amazing!!!!!

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AGAIN SO SORRY FOR RAMBLING, the hyperfixation has gripped me. but also it's just that your pieces make me think so much about the johto story and how good it is!!! most people i know disregard the first 2 games for not having "story" that deep as the others but i disagree. i hope i made sense when i ramble i sometimes steer away from what im saying and go in a different path LMAO

if it wasn't any clearer, i LOVE your pieces and i will be rotating them inside my head for weeks now JQKEKQKEJWLR

#i am going back in my silly little corner to continue thinking about the johto quartet (is that how you spell it???)#THANK YOU FOR THE ASK TOO JAJEKQKEJW #i had so much fun thinking about this #rambles #ethan #lyra #kris #silver #johto

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birdiefw · 4 years

Text

JJ MAYBANK | NOT SO SNEAKY

Summary: You and JJ had been dating for a little over a month and have unintentionally made it your thing to kiss whenever your friends weren’t paying attention.

Warnings: swearing, drug use, sexual innuendos

A/N: It’s been some time since I wrote something like this so I’m sorry for any mistakes! I’d love to make more, though, so feel free to send in requests!

[not my gif]

It all started with a quick kiss late one night. You don’t know what came over you, but as soon as Pope turned his back to you and JJ, you were leaning over and planting a sweet kiss on JJ’s cheek. He was caught off guard by it as you’d both agreed you didn’t want your friends to know just yet, but he’d just smiled and returned the affection — seconds before Pope turned back around and continued to explain why he wanted to be a coroner. From that moment, you and JJ would steal kisses whenever you could when you were around your friends. When it was just you two, there were plenty of kisses, but doing it around your friends — it made it more exciting with the thought of being caught.

At the moment, you and JJ were impatiently waiting in John B.’s Volkswagen with Pope and Kiara while John B. was searching all through his home for his favorite surfboard. You and the Pogues were planning on going to the beach to catch some waves before the storm rolled in, but John B. was having trouble finding his own board. Pope was sat up front and reading a book you’d forgotten the name of already, Kiara leaning against the side of the van, leaving only you and JJ in the back. “Is he sure it isn’t already—”

“Do any of us look like John B. to you?” You teased Pope, cocking a brow towards the boy when he glanced over his shoulder to look in your direction.

“I’m just saying!” Pope defended meekly, shaking his head as he face forward. “It wouldn’t be the first time he forgot it was already on the roof.”

Kiara let out an annoyed sigh, rolling her eyes. It shouldn’t be taking him this long. “I’m gonna go help him look,” she stated, pausing to look inside the van towards you.

You raised your brows expectantly, unsure of what she was wanting. “Okay?”

“Are you sure you wanna be left alone with dumb and dumber?” Kiara asked, unsure as to why you were willingly remaining in the back with JJ as he was expertly rolling a joint you would/wouldn’t be taking hits of later.

You snickered, your smile widening by the offended expressions on Pope and JJ’s face. You nodded, ignoring the sharp glare you were receiving from your boyfriend when you didn’t defend him. “I think I can handle them,” you replied reassuringly. “Besides, this one needs two people watching him at all times to make sure he doesn’t do anything too stupid,” you said, nudging your head in JJ’s direction.

Kiara chuckled, backing towards the Chateau. “Suit yourself, Y/N.”

With that, Kiara jogged off towards the house so they could hopefully leave sooner rather than later. You let out a content sigh once she was out of sight and pulled out your phone to check your notifications. You were going to reply to a text, but you froze when you felt JJ’s breath fan against your exposed neck. You didn’t dare move, afraid it’d capture Pope’s attention.

Your eyes darted aside, but all you saw was a smug smirk on JJ’s face the closer he got closer to you. “Better be still,” he whispered, softly pressing his lips to your skin. Your eyes instinctively fluttered closed, tilting your head to give him more access — it only made his dimpled smirk widen proudly. “Don’t wanna get caught, do you?”

He pressed a gentle kiss to your neck, and you hated how he was affecting you so much with only the little pecks. He was such a tease, and though you enjoyed it at times, so were you. He hated it when you teased him, though. But after all, this was a game for the both of you, and you weren’t going to let him be the only one daring to do something with Pope so close to you two and within eyesight.

You suddenly moved so you and JJ were side by side, your hand going to hold the back of his neck. His eyes widened in excitement, your lips pressing to his lips before he had time to think. He kissed you back hungrily, one of his hands going to your lower back. You playfully bit his lip and he let out a huff, wanting more. However, you pulled away just as quickly and glanced down to your phone as if nothing had just happened.

Pope turned to face you two, noting JJ’s flushed appearance after he heard an odd sound come from the blond. “Dude, are you okay?”

JJ scoffed, clenching his jaw. He didn’t dare look at you, but you knew you’d succeeded. “Yeah, just peachy.”

You smirked to yourself and went back to scrolling through your phone. JJ finished rolling his joint with his heart still thumping loudly in his chest with an ache for more. He carefully placed it to his lips and went to light it, but it was swiftly snatched away by Pope. You winced, knowing JJ didn’t like it when someone did that — especially when he was wanting it to relax him after you’d started something you weren’t going to be finishing anytime soon.

“Bro!” JJ gaped, attempting to take it back.

Pope shook his head and held it further away from his friend, glaring. “Not in the van, bro!”

“I just want a lil taste! It’ll be so quick you won’t even smell it!” JJ defended, trying to grab it again. Pope slid out of the passenger side, daring JJ to make a move.

“Didn’t you already get a taste?” John B. replied instead, cradling his surfboard under his arm with Kiara walking beside him, something unfamiliar on her stunning features. Pope frowned while you and JJ had confused expressions etched on your faces. Surely they didn’t know. John B. rolled his eyes and pointedly glanced between you and JJ, causing your heart to sink. “Are you serious right now? You two aren’t very sneaky.”

Your face paled in realization, lips parting. They knew?

JJ remained calm, feigning further confusion. “What the hell are you talking about, man?”

Kiara moved closer to the van, her arms folded over her chest and head titled. “Cut the bullshit, JJ,” she said, faintly smiling. Then her eyes flickered go you. “Really, Y/N? JJ of all people?”

Your cheeks turned pink, a groan leaving your lips as you pushed your face into your hands. JJ grunted and threw his hands up in the air, eyes pinned to you. “We could’ve fooled them if you’d just tried a little harder, baby!”

“No, you couldn’t have,” Pope retorted, climbing back inside with JJ’s joint hidden in place the surfer boy would never find it; for now. You moved to sit closer to JJ, giving Kiara more room to enter the back of the van while John B. made his way to the drivers side so you all could get going. “I saw you guys at the movies.”

“Movies?” Kiara repeated, face scrunched together. “I saw them at the beach the week before.”

You and JJ briefly glanced to each other, slightly amused. You hadn’t intended for your friends to find out yet, or this way at least, but you were glad they didn’t seem to mind it; you hated the no pogue on pogue macking rule and feared that your friends wouldn’t approve of you and JJ. Thankfully, they felt otherwise. “Wait, how long has this been going on?” Pope wondered, eyes burning into you and JJ for answers.

You pursed your lips in thought, glancing down to your wrist that did not have a watch wrapped around it. “Five weeks, two days, and 16 minutes.”

JJ laughed under his breath, not having any problems with wrapping his arm around your shoulders and pulling you into his side to let everyone know you were in fact his. John B. faintly smiled, but it was suddenly replaced by a frown as he faced the crew. “Hang on,” he said, blinking in surprise, but his eyes were on Pope and Kiara. “You two already knew about this?”

Pope and Kiara nodded in unison. “Well duh. Didn’t you?” Kiara laughed.

“They’re weren’t very discreet,” Pope said, momentarily pausing. “No offense.”

“None taken,” you replied with a nonchalant shrug.

John B. scoffed, his brows knitted together. “I only found out today!”

You giggled, reaching forward to give him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “It’s okay, John B.,” you said kindly. “Despite what Pope and Kie say, we were pretty good at hiding it for a while.”

“Sure, Y/N,” Kie teased.

You gave her a playful shove, making her let out a loittke augh. Your body curled further into JJ’s side once John B. started up the Volkswagen and began heading towards the awaiting beach. You let out a content sigh as you relaxed in your boyfriends safe arms, smiling to yourself when he pressed a soft kiss to the top of your head.

“Hey, just because we know now doesn’t mean you can be all lovey-dovey whenever you want,” Pope playfully scolded when he saw the kiss.

John B. chuckled, stealing a look in the rear view mirror. “Save it for the bedroom.”

“Oh, we will,” JJ smugly said, grinning from ear to ear. You whacked his arm in disgust and Kie grimaced, facing the window. JJ only chuckled and tightened his grip on you, making you feel at ease with the world.

Though your friends now knew about you and JJ, you had a feeling that you and JJ would happily continue to try and get as many kisses in without your friends noticing the exchanges, and you didn’t mind one bit.

————

A/N: PLEASE DON’T HESITATE TO LEAVE OR MESSAGE ME SOME REQUESTS!

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blue-lions-baby · 4 years

Text

Operation Confession (Dimitri x Reader) [Ch. 1]

hi!! so sorry for the inactivity! i’ve been super busy preparing for college n stuff, so i didn’t really have time to write anything... but like i also didn’t want to go *another* week of not posting anything so lol

i’ve been working on this fic for almost a month now and as i was approaching the 5000 words mark, i figured it would probably be best to chop it up into more.... manageable sections ^^’ please enjoy~

spoiler-free and pre-timeskip fluff!

~*~

Oh, this was perfect.

Sylvain watched in pure amusement at the scene playing out before his very eyes. Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, future king of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, reduced to nothing more than a blushing schoolboy antsy with the love bugs and raging hormones. He weakly disguised his chuckle with a cough when he saw yet another quill snap in the blonde’s hand, most likely in reaction to that adorable pouting face you had put up. You had absolutely no idea what type of effect and the severity of said effect you had on the prince.

Which made it all the more entertaining.

You didn’t mean to-- in fact, you weren’t even aware of the raging feelings Dimitri held towards you.

But Sylvain knew.

And you could bet your ass he was gonna do everything in his power to help his longtime friend man up and confess to the girl of his dreams.

Dimitri’s cheeks, once dusted with only a faint pink, suddenly became a hodgepodge of every shade of red when he realized that was the third quill he broke in this hour alone. His mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water, helplessly looking to his teacher for help.

“Your Highness... Have you broken another quill?” Dedue murmured beside him, concern eminent in his voice. Dimitri looked down at the large splinter running down its side and mentally banged his head against the desk.

“It appears so... I will request a replacement from the Professor.” He muttered back, silently rising to his feet and making his way to the desk up front. He was suddenly stopped on his 4-step journey when Byleth (with a crinkle in their nose and a sigh) redirected their frazzled student to a whole box of spare quills behind the blackboard. Dimitri-- very much aware that this box filled with ludicrous amounts of quills were entirely for him-- bowed deeply to the professor, picked up the feathery thing, and hurried back to his desk.

You looked up from your work to give your eyes a break from their swimming lessons and accidentally made eye contact with the returning prince. You both paused for a split second before you flashed him a heartfelt smile; a gentle warmth kissed the surface of your cheeks and you averted your eyes back to your studies.

A resounding snap reverberated throughout the quiet classroom.

“Dimitri?”

“Y-Yes, Professor?”

“See me after class.”

“Yes, Professor...”

♠ ♥ ♣ ----------------------------------------------------------- ♣ ♥ ♠

While the rest of the class huddled outside the door and watched their house leader write “I will not break another quill” line after line on the blackboard, Sylvain looped an arm around your waist and winked.

“Hey, (F/N). Mind if I steal you for a bit?”

“Um... Sure.” Wary of his skirt-chasing tendencies, you were reluctantly led away from your classmates and into a more secluded part of the monastery.

“This better not be one of your tricks again, Sylvain... I already told you, I don’t like you in that way.”

“Ouch. That hurt.” Sylvain’s lips formed into an exaggerated pout and you couldn’t help but laugh a little.

“Nah, this ain’t about me for once. It’s about a certain... someone.” He continued rather vaguely.

“A certain someone? Sylvain, are you sure this isn’t about you?”

“It’s really not, I swear.” He put his hands up in surrender and seeing him genuine for once, you decided to believe him.

“Well, before I continue, I just wanna know if you... y’know.” Sylvain’s eyebrows wriggled very suggestively and a teasing smirk splayed his features. Your heart thundered in your ear, already knowing where this was going.

“If I...?” You whispered, taut fingers knotting the fabric of your uniform.

“Like, like-like anyone?”

Sylvain wished with all his heart that he had some way to capture the look and flood of colors that quickly took hold of your face. He watched in silent amazement as your face shifted from a barely-there pink to strawberry red in a matter of seconds. Gotcha.

“W-Well, I mean--” You took a shaky step backwards and your jaw clenched so tightly you were certain you were gonna chip a tooth. “There is this guy... Wait, why am I telling you this?! It’s none of your business!”

You rammed past the tall male with enough force to almost knock him over as you promptly made your way back to where the rest of your classmates were.

Satisfied with the laughable drop in quality in Dimitri’s penmanship, Byleth finally let the poor male join his classmates outside. His fingers twitched in an unsightly fashion and his wrist throbbed and cricked with every motion he made. He let out a guttural groan, making small, crackling adjustments to his neck and shoulder. The only thing he had left to do today was train, but he’d probably just go ahead and retire to his bed, at least for a little while...

Past the sea of heads crowding around him, he saw a flash of (H/C) streak across his vision, followed shortly afterwards by a head of shaggy red. (F/N)...? What were you doing with Sylvain?

Crippling exhaustion transfigured into searing jealousy and his eyes narrowed at his childhood friend with cold suspicion. Sylvain could easily feel the scorned prince’s hard stare like a knife in the back.

Was he at all fazed? Not in the slightest.

In fact, thought Sylvain as he sidled right up next to you, he wanted to toy with Dimitri’s heart just a little bit more...

“Excuse me everyone, but I must speak to Sylvain immediately.” He emphasized the last word sharply, gently pushing his way through the crowd. While he brushed shoulders with Ashe and waltzed around Ingrid, he spun around and ended up face-to-face with... Oh Goddess, his legs were turning into jelly.

“Dimitri...? Is something wrong?” You breathed, fumbling with your clammy digits.

“O-Oh!” Said male rubbed the back of his neck and looked away. “Nothing, Belov-- (F/N). Please excuse me, but it is imperative that I have a little... talk, with Sylvain.”

He left you no room for response as he quickly latched onto the toothy-grinned noble and practically dragged him away on his heels.

“What seems to be the problem, Your Highness?”

“Let us discuss the issue in my quarters.”

“Your quarters? Oh ho ho.~”

“Stop it, Sylvain. ... We’re here now.”

Dimitri watched Sylvain plop on the edge of his bed, his lips upturned in a carefree fashion. Dimitri lowered himself on his uncomfortable desk chair, his hands anxiously squeezing his kneecaps.

“So what would you like to talk about, Your Highness?”

“It’s about (F/N).” Dimitri spoke resolutely. “Sylvain... I know this will sound nothing short of mad, but--”

“Let me guess. You like (F/N).”

Dimitri’s bodily organs ceased to function; every ounce of blood in his body mutated into sharp, prickling icicles that seized his heart in a snare of terror and dread.

“I-- Wait, how--?”

“Your Highness. No offense, but pretty much everyone knows how you feel about her. You’re not exactly... subtle.”

Dimitri? Not subtle? Even after the extraordinary lengths he went through to make sure you remained ignorant of his true feelings for you? His brain filed through each and every interaction he’s had with you, combing through each word and shaky glance and awkward blush exchanged between either of you. Well, sure, he’s no master of disguise, but he wasn’t that bad... right?

While Dimitri’s thoughts remained in utter chaos, Sylvain coolly continued.

“Hey, about that lil’ act earlier... I was just messin’ with you, Your Highness. (F/N)’s a serious cutie, but I’m really not after her. I swear.” Sylvain winked. “Plus, she doesn’t even like me. She actually told me she likes--”

“WHO?!” Before Sylvain even had time to process-- well, anything-- Dimitri was on his feet rattling the poor noble to and fro, completely forgetting the crippling strength his Crest bestowed him.

“Gah! Stop it! That hurts!” Sylvain cried, trying with all his might to pry Dimitri’s iron grip from his shoulders.

Coherency finally returning, Dimitri immediately unclasped his digits from Sylvain. An expression of apologetic horror shot through his eyes as he stumbled back, back, back against his desk. The chest of both men heaved violently; raspy and hasty apologies slipped out of Dimitri’s lips while pain-stricken groans and a few obscenities raced out of Sylvain’s.

“I’m so-... I’m so sorry, Sylvain, I-- I’m so, so sorry--”

“Augh, Goddess... You’ve got quite a grip there, Your Highness...” Sylvain chuckled weakly, feeling his skin swell and bruise.

“Allow me to fetch a healer for you!”

“N-No worries... Ugh... Just, I need to talk to you.”

“Sylvain--”

“Please. Seeing you skirt about this issue is far more painful than any bruise you could give me... But I’m not gonna lie, this one comes pretty close.”

Dimitri drew in a deep breath and settled in his desk chair, its wooden legs creaking slightly from his weight. He planted his elbows firmly by his kneecaps and rested his chin on folded hands.

“Lemme ask you a question, Your Highness. Do you truly love (F/N)?”

“Yes.” Dimitri answered unfazed, but suddenly realized the gravity of his response and drooped his eyes towards the floor.

“Then tell her!”

“I... I can’t. I’m afraid I lack the confidence to waltz up to a girl and profess my feelings to her. Especially with what happened to...” Dimitri shivered at the awkwardly painful memory and continued. “Sylvain, what if she doesn’t like me in that way? Then I’d have made a fool of myself in front of everybody. But most importantly, her...”

“Well, since she didn’t tell me exactly who she liked, there’s no surefire way to know...” Sylvain acquiesced. “But I’ve got a real good feeling about this. Trust me! If there’s one thing in the world that I can help you with, it would be something like this.”

“Well, I suppose you’re right...” Dimitri pondered, sighing in defeat. “But regardless of whether she likes me or not, I am unable to simply walk up to her and tell her my feelings. That’s...”

Dimitri trailed off, dejection glossing his pastel blues.

“I don’t deserve someone like her.” He breathed out just above a whisper. Poignancy took hold of Sylvain’s heart after hearing the sincerity in Dimitri’s voice. One look at the despondent royal was enough to tell him how much he believed those words-- how much Dimitri believed that he, a beast stained by blood and vengeance, could never have a beauty as tender and loving as you.

“Hey, come on Your Highness... It’s not fair on your part to be giving yourself so little credit.”

“Sylvain, look at me.” Dimitri cupped his throbbing head in his hands and he growled. “I am a monster. I can not drag someone as pure, lovely, and beautiful as (F/N) into...”

He paused, choosing his next words carefully.

“She deserves someone else-- someone who can bring her true happiness. Someone who’s... not me.”

Sylvain gritted his teeth from the dark and pulverizing atmosphere. Dimitri was spiraling. Further, faster into the void.

“Cheer up, Your Highness!” Sylvain bubbled half-heartedly, desperately trying to reel his friend from the abyss. “You’re a great guy! Hey. Remember when we went out to cull some bandits outta that one village? And some bad guy almost got (F/N)? You managed to swoop in just before that happened! You saved her, Deems. The look of pure adoration and gratitude in her eyes after the battle... It felt good, right?”

“I... suppose.”

“Oh! And remember when (F/N) was having a hard time grasping the concept of that battle formation the other day? Who came in, and spent the rest of their afternoon tutoring her until she could explain why you needed to send the flyers in first?”

“... I did.”

“Yup! And who’s the chivalrous, hard-working leader of the Blue Lions that everyone looks up to?”

“I am.”

“Atta boy, Your Highness! See? You’re a great guy! And the fact that you’re a prince doesn’t hurt your chances either.” Sylvain’s eyebrows danced smugly.

Dimitri’s chest rose and fell in laughter; Sylvain’s eyes lit up like a star. He managed to save him-- at least for now.

“Thank you, Sylvain. I really needed that encouragement. I... I apologize for--”

“No worries, Your Highness. ... I’m just glad I was able to help.” Sylvain clasped a hand on his friend’s shoulder and squeezed reassuringly.

“Um, Sylvain...”

“Hm?”

“How do I confess to her? Properly?”

Sylvain clapped his hands together and rubbed them gleefully.

“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ve got a plan.”

#fire emblem #dimitri fire emblem #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #fe3h dimitri #dimitri x reader #x reader #x reader insert #x reader fanfiction #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem three houses fanfiction #part 2 coming soon!!#sylvain would make the best wingman ngl

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thegodshavehorns · 3 years

Text

Capture the Wind (2/5)

Chapter 2: Prophylaxis

The next week, you meet the Seer again. You’ve taken the bus home from school, skipping the weekly church group. You open your door, and there she is, smiling at you from the couch.

“Good afternoon, John,” she says. “Come have a seat.”

“Oh, hi,” you reply. “You came back.”

She smiles, and lifts a can of cherry coke in the air, as if toasting. You walk over to sit on the reclining chair, and you both sit there for several long moments, her sipping a coke and occasionally flipping a coin, and you twiddling your thumbs.

“So-” you start to speak, but she interrupts.

“John, you have never had any martial training, correct? Of course that's correct. The reason I’m here today is to address this lamentable gap in your education.”

You blink. “Martial training? You mean martial arts? Fighting?”

“Yes, John, that is what I mean.”

Your eyes widen. “You mean like The Karate Kid? That’s so sweet, so you’re going to be like Mr. Miyagi to my Ralph Macchio?”

“Like that, except real.” The goddess stands up and makes a motion that you can’t quite make out, and then there is a large duffel bag in her arms. It looks like something you could get at REI.

She puts it down and unzips it, and you see a sharp-looking metal edge.

“Because you have absolutely zero previous experience, I have selected a variety of potential weapons for you to take up.” She removes a sword from the bag and lays it down on the floor, then takes out an axe. “Of course, I know what you are going to choose. But the impression of free will is important.” She takes out several knives, then a long spear, then a heavy, spiked club, laying each one next to the other. “But keep in mind: you can only choose one. Just pick a weapon up, and it will be yours.” She reaches back in for another item and-

Oh shit. That’s a gun.

You’re staring. “You uh, want me to choose? Why? How do I know which would be best for me? Maybe I should try out a few first, to see what fits?”

“No, John. That’s not how we're doing this. Consider it a test of your resolve and perseverance.” She finishes arranging the weapons, straightens up, and steps back. “Now, choose wisely.”

You stare down at the assortment of deadly armaments. She said she already knew which one you’re going to choose, so why is she doing this? But she also said last time that you sometimes did unexpected things, so…

“Okay,” you say, after thinking a moment. “So whatever I pick up will be my weapon forever?”

The Seer smiles. “Yes, that is correct.”

You look at the vicious implements spread out on the floor, and then your eyes wander over to your dad’s toolkit. He must have left it out, after hanging up the latest clown painting. You take a step towards it. When the Seer doesn’t stop you, you close the distance and, with a broad grin, pluck the hammer out from the box.

You hold it up proudly at the Seer. “Ta da! There! I followed your instructions! You were not expecting that, huh?”

The Seer’s expression is impassive. “Very well, you have chosen your weapon.” She nonchalantly kicks the deadly weapons on the floor away, clearing a space. Then, she makes that motion again, and there is a long, tapering, wooden cane in her hand. “Time to see if you can use it.”

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

That night, you retire to your room early, avoiding your dad's questions and nursing the bruises on your back and sides. When you sit down at your computer, you wince.

That really smarts.

Land a hit on me, the Seer had said. Land a hit! As if you ever could, when she knows what you’re thinking of doing before you do it! By the end of the hour, you were absolutely sure that the Seer was attempting to sign her name onto your skin in bruises. Being taught martial arts by an ancient goddess isn’t nearly as awesome or non-painful as you would have expected.

You have a message on Pesterchum. It’s Anna.

-- harmoniusDithering [HD] began pestering ghostlyTrickster [GT] at 17:34 --

HD: sorry that you missed today's meeting, hope you're feeling well!

HD: and that you’re not sick or anything

HD: we signed up for the field trip today. I got a ticket! I’ll see if I can get the Sylph to autograph something for you.

HD: you like movies, right? I don’t have any movie posters, but if you bring me one at the next meeting I’ll see if she can autograph that!

HD: anyway I’ll see you next week. Take care.

You look at the messages for a long time, thinking of what to say.

-- ghostlyTrickster [GT] began pestering harmoniusDithering [HD] at 20:11 --

GT: i am sorry, but i can’t come to the youth group meetings anymore

GT: i told my dad about it and he said i can’t go at all

GT: i am grounded for life or something

You don’t feel good about this. This isn’t a joke. This is lying, to a friend, and you feel terrible.

She replies a few minutes later.

HD: oh that’s awful! I’m so sorry! Your dad is a jerk!

HD: you should call social services on him or something.

HD: I don’t know. I guess this isn’t illegal. But it’s so unfair.

HD: I can’t believe he’d do that.

GT: yes it is very dumb and lame

GT: i am not happy about it

HD: Well I’m angry about it!

GT: you don’t have to be angry

GT: he is my stupid dad

GT: i guess i will figure it out

GT: have a good time at the museum, i hope you meet lots of rad people

You sign off. You don’t like this at all, it makes you feel like you’re in the wrong. But you can’t be in the wrong if you’re doing what a goddess is telling you to do, right? Isn’t that kind of the definition of right and wrong?

You don’t know.

Bruises aching, you go to bed.

Next week, while practice-strifing in the living room, the Seer smacks your hand with her cane, and the hammer goes flying. You hear a crash, and you turn in horror to see pottery shards and Nanna’s ashes all over the mantelpiece and floor.

“Oh shit,” you say, and glance back at the goddess.

“John,” she says, and raises her cane. “Don’t turn your back on your opponent.”

“No, wait! Just wait,” you say. “Those are my Nanna’s ashes, I can’t just leave them there while we strife.”

And to your relief, she gives you a moment to get a dustpan and a broom and sweep up the ashes. Not knowing where else to put them, you get a mixing bowl from the kitchen and dump them in. “Augh,” you say. “How am I gonna explain this to my dad?”

The goddess takes a coin from nowhere and flips it. “You need to come clean and take responsibility.”

“But-”

“That is what is just, John. And if your father punishes you, that is also just.”

But it’s your fault, kind of, is what you want to say, but you don’t. You look at the bowl of ashes and pottery shards in your hands.

“John," she says again. “Learn from your mistakes. What have you learned?”

“Don’t strife inside the house?”

She smiles, and smacks her cane into her palm. “That, and protect your grip.”

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

“Son, I am disappointed in you.”

“I’m sorry,” you say. “It was an accident.” You do not look your dad in the face.

He sighs and adjusts his hat. “Sit and talk with me for a moment, Son.”

Oh gods, not a talk.

You sit, and your dad leans forward. “Is everything alright at school, Son?”

That’s not what you expected. “Huh? It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“You haven’t been getting into fights?”

You shoot a fearful glance in his direction. It hasn’t even been a month, this can’t be the reveal that the Seer mentioned…

“No.”

“Son,” your dad puts a very patriarchal hand on your shoulder, but you’re bruised there so you try not to wince. “What happened to your hand?”

“Oh, that was an accident,” you say, looking down at the swelling across your knuckles. Your dad would not be okay with ‘a living goddess hit me with a cane’ on several different levels.

You decide to go on the offensive. “It’s none of your business anyway, Dad. I’m fine.”

“Son, I only have your best interests at heart. You know that.”

“You don’t know what my best interests are! For, for all you know, I have some sort of destiny that’s completely different from what you think I should be!”

“Don’t give me that talkback, Son,” there is an edge to your dad’s voice now. “I can see you’ve been having a hard time lately, but don’t take it out on your old man!”

“You don’t see anything! You don’t know anything!” Your voice is rising high above your regular indoor volume. Your gambit at pretending to be angry has backfired, and you actually are angry now.

Your dad shakes his head. “I know some things, Son. Like the fact that you don’t actually go to bowling club after school.”

Your mouth goes dry, and you look away. “I- I quit.”

“Do you need more extracurriculars? I think piano lessons might not be enough.”

“Augh, gods, I can’t believe this!” you exclaim, and immediately regret it.

“Language, John,” says your dad, his voice low.

“Sorry, Dad, I’m fine,” you say, trying to calm down. You remember the breathing exercises you did in the youth group, and try to emulate those without the prayer part.

“Son,” your dad uses his patriarchal hand again. “I think more extracurricular activities would do you some good. Keep you out of trouble.” You are about to object, but he goes on.

“There are lots of good options, why don’t you look into it? Is there something you’d like to learn to do?”

“I’ll think about it,” you mumble.

“Good,” he continues. “Your chore load will also double for the next month.”

��Dad!”

He gives your shoulder a patriarchal squeeze, and you really do flinch this time. “You’ll survive, Son. What doesn’t kill you makes you a stronger man.”

You are not so sure you agree.

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

HD: and you won’t believe it, but this high school kid was totally flirting with me.

HD: I mean it.

HD: he was like sixteen or something

HD: so awkward.

GT: ok

HD: I dunno though, maybe I should have gone out with him?

HD: he was kind of cute

GT: ok

HD: or maybe I should have painted my face green and done the hokey pokey

GT: ok

HD: are you okay, john?

GT: huh?

GT: i am fine.

GT: if you had to learn some totally new skill, what would it be?

HD: inuit throat singing

GT: ha ha ha what?

HD: no it’s amazing.

HD: the inuit people can sing with like, their throats.

GT: what else would they sing with? their eyeballs?

HD: oh shut up

HD: i mean like, with their throat and their mouth separately. Two tones at once!

HD: isn’t that just amazing? I wish I could do that.

HD: well

HD: either that or something useful. Like computer programming.

GT: those are two very different things.

HD: so? People are allowed to have diverse interests.

GT: i guess so

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

“I would like to take a computer programming class,” you tell your dad. “And karate.”

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

The Seer of Mind cracks you over the back with her cane. You sprawl onto your belly on the ground, but manage to roll away before the second blow comes. You could swear the canes she uses are slightly harder and heavier each time. Thank goodness she never goes for your head.

The cane’s coming again, and you try to swipe with your hammer, but it’s really too short.

Her cane has a longer reach, and she can knock you four ways to Saturn before you’re close enough to even poke her with the hammer.

So she goes and knocks you four ways to Saturn, and while you’re gasping for air she flips you onto your back and points the tip of the cane at your throat.

“You’re dead again.”

“Augh,” you respond. “Can’t you use a shorter cane?”

“Your enemies will not use shorter canes just because you want them to, John.”

You sit up and push the cane away. “What enemies? I don’t have enemies!”

“John,” she says, her voice dead serious. “You have enemies you don’t even know about.”

You get to your feet. “Who, then?”

Her face is inscrutable. “You’ll know them when you see them.”

“Augh, this is so frustrating!” You are on the verge of tearing your hair out. She’s the Seer, she knows everything, so why isn’t she telling you anything? “I don’t even know what my ‘Grand Destiny’ is! You said I was going to save comedy, but all you do is strife with me!”

“John.” Her voice is incredibly condescending. “This is all an important part of your training.”

“But what am I training for?”

“You are training for your destiny, John. You will need these skills I am teaching you, in order to succeed.”

“What, ‘how to get beaten up 101’?”

She nods. “Endurance in the face of pain and damage will serve you well.”

You really want to know what you’ll be doing that requires you to be beat up so much, but then the Seer is swinging her cane at you again, and you have to pick up the hammer to block before she thwacks you in the stomach again.

“You must become hard and unyielding,” she says, and takes another swipe. “When I am through with you, John, you will be like steel.”

You have no idea what that means, but it sounds cool.

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

At school, in the gym’s locker room, the other boys notice your bruises. They whisper and gossip at the cane marks across your back and sides.

You’re a freak.

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

-- harmoniusDithering [HD] began pestering ghostlyTrickster [GT] at 18:54 --

HD: hey! I haven’t heard from you in a while!

HD: i thought you would ask about the museum trip.

HD: because that is a thing that happened.

HD: it was pretty awesome.

HD: they didn’t have any movie posters for sale.

HD: but I did think of you.

GT: what do you mean?

HD: what do you think I mean? :)

GT: i do not know what you are talking about

HD: you can be really thick sometimes

GT: that’s what she said!

HD: that is not a proper thing to say to a lady

GT: bluh

HD: kidding!

HD: so are you still grounded?

HD: John?

-- ghostlyTrickster [GT] has signed off --

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

It’s been a month now, and you think maybe you’re getting better. That you can maybe go 30 seconds now without getting whacked by the cane. You want to think it’s the karate lessons, but all your fellow students are like, eight, so it's not like you're a karate master yet.

The Seer has been coming more often, three times a week now at least. But at least her “lessons” are relatively short in duration.

“John,” she says, and her cane disappears into wherever the objects she carries always go. “Let’s take a break.”

You put down the hammer with a sigh of relief, then quickly shoot a look in the Seer’s direction to see if she heard you. But, of course she heard you.

She’s sitting down, and you wonder for a moment if you’re going to meditate, the way you did in Church. But instead, she takes out a chessboard.

“You know this game, John.” It’s not a question. “Play it with me.”

It’s less painful than the strife, but just as humiliating. She trounces you, then again and again. Of course she does. She can read your mind. This whole thing is an exercise in futility.

“Are you trying to teach me to give up?” you gripe, after the fifth defeat in a row. “This is not exactly great for my self-confidence.”

“You must learn to lose, before you can learn to win,” she says. “Learn when you are outclassed, and when you can turn your situation into an advantage.”

The Seer alternates your lessons between strifing and chess, and beats you every time. You play white. She plays black. After a few lessons this way, though, the playing gets… weird. The Seer seems to think that the pieces have their own personalities and motivations. She even names them.

“Watch out for the Black King, John. He is more powerful than you might think.”

“Take shelter in the castle, sure. But that rook is going to turn on you if you’re not careful.”

“This pawn is Jack. Don’t let him, or his allies, take your queen.”

The Seer changes the board up, when you play. Sometimes you play with nothing but queens and pawns, sometimes with nothing but rooks and knights. She sets up the board in specific arrangements, ahead of time, and makes you play.

“You can win,” she says. “But you must make no mistakes.”

You don’t know anything about chess. You look up strategies online. You still lose.

You can’t strategize against her, you can’t plan. So you move your pieces erratically, and lose every time.

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

About two months after meeting the Seer, you get a package in the mail. For you. You never get packages, unless you order something online. You don’t recognize the return address, but your name is on it. Handwritten.

It’s a long, skinny tube. Maybe it has a golf club in it or something. You wouldn’t put it past your dad, getting you a golf club even though you don’t play golf.

You open the tube, and there’s a paper roll. A poster. As you unroll it, you can see it’s some kind of abstract artsy print, with streaks of red and yellow paint over light brown. On the bottom, white text reads “Northwest Museum of Art and Culture.” You can only imagine that it’s some kind of famous painting, but you don’t recognize it.

And as you finish unrolling, you see in the upper corner, written in jade green ink:

To John,

Keep The Faith. We Are Here For You.

Kanaya Maryam

The Sylph of Space. You have the autograph of the Sylph of Space. Her true name and everything.

There’s a letter.

Dear John,

Surprise! Sorry it’s not a movie poster, they only had art prints for sale in the museum gift shop. This piece is called “Welcome to Denmother,” and it’s by an Enfleífrit artist from the Norma Arm of the Milky Way. I have no idea what it’s supposed to represent, but I think it's a really important piece in Enfleífrit culture? Like the Mona Lisa or something. Go figure. There’s more info about the picture on the back of the poster.

And I’m sure you’ve seen the signature already! She was really nice, said “what’s your friend’s name” and signed it! There were like a BAZILLION people, I was waiting in line for hours!

Did you know the Sylph really glows? You can’t see it so clearly in the daytime, but it makes Her shadows very weird.

Anyway, I hope you get un-grounded soon. I miss you seeing you in person! Let me know, and maybe we can hang out sometime? Like, not in church, I mean.

Best wishes, and Gods bless!

-Anna

Aw, crap.

You can’t keep this. If your dad found out, he’d FREAK. And if the Seer found it? She’d freak too. You have to throw it away.

It’ll be easy, just go up to the trash can and throw it out.

Just go.

John. Go.

You don’t go. You can’t. You look at the letter again.

Everyone else in the youth group forgot about you, but Anna still cares. Even though you barely talk to her anymore. You have a friend. You can’t just throw that away.

You don’t hang up the poster, but you don’t throw it away, either. You fold it up and tuck it, with the letter, under your mattress. It’s a perfect hiding place. No one will ever find it.

#revision #john egbert #dad egbert #terezi pyrope #godstuck #godstuck fic #capture the wind #homestuck #homestuck fanfiction #tw: abuse

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fuwafuwamedb · 4 years

Text

Teaching An Enkidu Pt 2 (Enkidu, Hakuno, Gilgamesh)

Previous Part : One

___

Gilgamesh Bilgames.

Writer. Philanthropist. Bachelor.

The man owned more of the city than the city council. He ruled over more of the area than anyone wanted to admit. He was someone who rivaled with Councilman Solomon and Mayor Ozymandias. The man ruled from atop his building.

He was allegedly behind several companies, but there was no evidence that people could find for that. He was someone who would dabble in this and that, seeming to be like a god with the way he could simply touch and make the work turn into gold.

What was he doing with a child?

“Miss Kishinami!” Enkidu tugged at her sleeve, holding up their game system for her to see what was going on. “I caught another eevee!”

“You did! Well done!”

They were so happy. Their face warming as their smile grew.

Once again, a week had come and gone and she was still stuck waiting on the bench after school each day for the man’s secretary to come pick up Enkidu.

After the first day, he hadn’t bothered to come to the school.

This was a problem though. Gilgamesh needed to be picking up his son or handling having his assistant come on time. She couldn’t be forced to wait here each and every day. Her hand ran through her hair, her eyes drifting to her car nearby.

It was against policy for teachers to take their students home. The sheer number of lawsuits that could come from such a thing…

At least waiting on the bench underneath the cameras was fine.

She turned her attention to the paperwork in hand, beginning to mark up mistakes that the students had made in writing their letters.

“Miss Kishinami?”

Hakuno paused again, glancing over to Enkidu. “What’s wrong?”

“…Am I a bad kid?”

Oh no.

This is what I was talking about! He can’t just be leaving Enkidu behind like this!

“You’re a wonderful child, Enkidu!”

“Really?”

Those eyes turned away from her, their game system lowering. “…Then… I don’t understand why…”

“I’m sure your father is just running late again. He writes a lot of good books. Writing good books takes a lot of time.”

“Really?”

The child glanced over to her.

“Writers are very…” How would she explain in a way that would not make Enkidu dislike Gilgamesh? “Writers are required to be very unbiased.” The boy frowned. “It means that they can’t take anyone’s side. When they work on their writing, they have to think about what everyone in their story is thinking about. They have to be mean because one character is mean and they have to be polite because other characters are polite. It makes them have a lot of trouble when they need to step back from their work and do real life things. That would mean sometimes being late or missing things.”

Enkidu nodded. “That is right.”

She nodded. “I’m sure that your father is going to be hurrying here or having Miss Siduri come get you quickly.”

Or, at least, she hoped that was what would happen.

Her grading was done. The parking lot was getting really dark now.

8:45 p.m.

Where the hell was that man?!

“Miss Kishinami?”

Hakuno glanced over at the child. “I’m really hungry.”

They couldn’t leave the camera. She’d already talked to Da Vinci about this. She needed to either call the police to take Enkidu home or stay here.

Augh, but this shouldn’t have been her problem!

If it hadn’t been for the fact that she just… she just couldn’t have Da Vinci call the cops and make Enkidu lose their good housing situation. There was no doubt that the child was loved. The child was carried whenever she saw them with Gilgamesh. She’d caught sight of them out together over the weekend, playing around in a wrestling place together.

There was no doubt that Gilgamesh cared about Enkidu.

Which was why he needed a plan! He needed someone to watch Enkidu that wasn’t her!

“Miss Kishinami-“

I’m going to be fucking arrested.

She ran a hand over her face, glancing up at the camera nearby and groaning.

She grabbed her tablet, turning on the camera and beginning to film.

“Come on, Enkidu.”

“We’re leaving?”

She pulled out her phone, dialing as she led Enkidu towards her car. “Yeah, we’re leaving. I’ll drive you home today.”

The child happily grabbed the tablet as she handed it to them. She could hear Gilgamesh’s voicemail going on and she took a moment to explain that she was bringing Enkidu to his home.

It wasn’t far to get to the building. She would have Enkidu record the whole way there and then she would hand the video to Da Vinci directly tomorrow. She would take tomorrow off as well, avoid the trouble of staying after school and maybe Gilgamesh would learn when someone else caused the trouble for him.

She couldn’t bring herself to call the police, but someone else could do that.

“Can we stop for food?” Enkidu asked.

“You can ask your father when we get to your home.”

“Okay…” Enkidu smiled at the tablet camera a little as they stopped at a stoplight. “Your car is nice.”

She doubted it compared to the great Gilgamesh’s collection, but she still smiled. “Thank you.”

They didn’t listen to any music. The moment they made it to Gilgamesh’s building, Hakuno held the door for Enkidu and let them carry the tablet all the way into the building.

“I have Enkidu Bilgames,” she explained to the security men.

They all waved her towards the elevator.

“They think you’re here to make Gilgamesh really happy,” Enkidu told her.

God, I’m just burying myself in trouble.

Making sure that Enkidu made it to their father was the goal though. Handing the child to anyone else other than him or Siduri was out of the question.

Damn it all though…

Enkidu pressed the elevator button for the top floor.

They waited, listening to the buzzing and hums of the elevator as it climbed up the heights. Enkidu was happily turning the tablet around to capture video of the entire elevator.

I probably will look very tired in that video.

The door binged.

Hakuno watched Enkidu press a code into the elevator a moment before the doors opened.

Gilgamesh looked up from the table by the windows, a slew of women strewn about the room. His eyes narrowed as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Enkidu.”

“I’m back!” Enkidu hurried forward, dancing around the bodies as the women stirred here and there, greeting the child.

“Are you kidding me?”

Gilgamesh caught the child and hoisted them up, exchanging a grin before Hakuno stepped into the room.

“You can’t just be doing this! Enkidu needed picked up!”

“Hmm?” Gilgamesh glanced over to her, snorting. “I could have sworn I sent Siduri out to fetch them an hour ago.”

“Did you send her for food first?” Enkidu asked.

The man blinked, looking at the being a moment before grabbing his phone.

It was ringing as he answered.

“Siduri… yeah, the teacher brought them home… Yes, still bring dinner…”

Hakuno grabbed her tablet from where it was dropped, quickly turning off the footage and sighing.

“I’m not getting involved in this. Tomorrow I will not be at work and whomever is substitute teaching for me will not be lenient in waiting for you, Mr. Bilgames. Along with that, I think Enkidu would benefit from having a different teacher.”

Those red eyes met hers a moment before Enkidu was set down.

“Enkidu, head to your room for a moment.”

Hakuno pressed the button for the elevator.

“Miss Kishinami.” Gilgamesh was moving forward, walking around the slumbering women around them. “I think it’s about time that you and I spoke about what you will and will not be doing while working with Enkidu and I.”

“I don’t think we need to say anything to one another. Enkidu will be in Miss Gudako’s class by Wednesday morning.”

The man pressed a hand to the wall, blocking her path as the doors opened.

“Enkidu trusts you.”

“They do. It’s a shame I had to tell them to trust you this evening.”

The man paused. “What?”

She slipped underneath his hand, pressing the button for the main floor of the building and nodding. “Pick up your child when the others are picked up more often, Gilgamesh. The relationship between you and your child is more important than these useless women. None of them has the backbone to help you in raising Enkidu. And none of them seem to do a damn thing for you either.”

The doors closed on his surprised expression.

Safe at last.

#drabble #drabbles

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durrzerker · 4 years

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Taskmaster: The Line. Chapter 2: Babysitting

Hey everyone! As promised, I’m releasing a new Chapter of my Taskmaster fanfic every Tuesday. This week’s Chapter 2: Babysitting can be found at Archive of Our Own, but I’m also releasing it in text format below for those who don’t want to go to AO3:

Chapter 2: Babysitting.

The pouring rain was battering the roof of the toppled APC with enough force to echo loudly throughout the interior, but Taskmaster didn't even notice. His eyes never left the group of children huddled within, and when Black Ant started to speak, his voice was only a distant droning in his right ear. It took nearly ten seconds for the senior mercenary to snap himself out of his fugue, regarding his partner with something akin to shock.

"...Tasky--TASKY! Hey! Damn, buddy. We lose you for a second?" Black Ant looked confused, and Taskmaster couldn't blame him. In all their time working together, the size-shifter hadn't ever seen his former mentor so stunned. "What are we gonna do, man? We're in the middle of Bagalia's most dangerous district, and there's a bunch of brats stashed away?" Turning his head to the kids, Eric lifted a hand. "No offense, brats." Unsurprisingly, they didn't respond; they just kept regarding the pair with wide eyes and shaking bodies.

"Waterfall's dead, right? Not trying to...I dunno, crawl away or nothin'?" Taskmaster asked. There must have been something in his tone, because the normally snarky Eric actually took the time to peek around the back of the truck at their fallen enemy.

"Well, he's smoking and not moving. I'm gonna say yeah! Probably dead."

"...Gimme a sec. Watch the kids." Circling the vehicle until Jason's body came into sight, Tony reached down to his hip with his left hand. He didn't like guns; found them not particularly sporting, far too loud, and a little inflexible when it came to live captures. Right now, though, he was glad he had one as he drew it in a blur, emptying twelve shots into the body on the ground. Each bullet tore another piece out of the dead man, leaving him visibly riddled with holes and bleeding out by the time the skull-masked killer was finished. Reloading the gun, Tony seriously considered emptying another clip inside of him...but this was his last one, and you never knew what the day would hold. Reluctantly, he re-holstered the pistol and approached the APC again.

"Hey, kids...don't worry about those sounds. My partner's just working out his deeply repressed anger issues, you know? I promise--augh! AUGH! TASKY, HELP!" Eric's voice rang out in a panic.

Taskmaster broke into a run, nearly slipping on the wet road as he flung himself around the corner of the armored truck. "What is it, lil' buddy?! Reinforce--" Well, he was not prepared for what he saw. No sooner did Taskmaster return to Black Ant than he saw four of the five children they had just found jumping him, assaulting Eric with their small fists and feet. Eric was holding them off, flinging one away and shielding his face before lifting his knee to block another, but Taskmaster didn't need photographic reflexes to realize what was off here; these weren't normal kids. They were -trained-.

"What is that...is that fucking -Red Room-?" Taskmaster asked, shocked. One of the children, a mousy-looking girl who had to be maybe seven or eight, caught sight of Taskmaster. With a fearless howl of anger, she lunged at him, assaulting the mercenary with a kick that he immediately identified as the martial art of Savate. "Hey, watch it--" Taskmaster replied as he nudged his shield to intercept. She had good technique, but she was so small - and clearly starved - that there wasn't much power behind it.

"RED ROOM, BLUE ROOM, ONE FISH! TWO FISH! I DON'T CARE GET THEM OFF ME! I don't wanna hurt these kids, but I wanna be hurt by them even less!" With two of the children battering the red lenses of his mask and a third pummeling at his groin, Eric wasn't having a good time of it. To his credit, Tony could tell he wasn't actually fighting back, at least not seriously.

"Quit panicking and just grow, O'Grady!" Taskmaster barked to Black Ant. "They're already half yer size; make 'em even smaller! Or get small yerself...heh; talk to them on their level -- ow!" He winced as, while he was distracted, the girl who had been assaulting him punched him square in the stomach - right where Waterfalls had cracked a few of his ribs. "Hrgh...you lil' shit! I'm on YOUR side here!"

Glaring up at him, apparently suspicious but judging it worth exploring, the child stepped back and lifted a hand. She was apparently the leader of the group, because as soon as she did so, the others leaped off of O'Grady - who was now nearly ten feet tall and growing in an attempt to get them off him - and fell into line behind her. Even battered and all skin and bones, they looked intelligent, focused, and deadly; the 'wide-eyed terror' from before was gone; clearly nothing but an act. "Only five of you jumping us like weird little gremlins," Tony remarked. "Where's the sixth?"

The brown-haired girl jabbed a thumb over her shoulder towards the APC as Black Ant shrank back to normal. "Hurt in the crash, broken leg," she replied. "Your doing, I assume." Taskmaster didn't get a hint of a Russian accent, but those were pretty easy to hide for Red Room trainees. He'd have to ask if he wanted to know the truth. Rubbing at his ribs, he tested the damage with a series of small pokes. One definitely broken, another cracked; the rest just felt extremely bruised.

"Yeah, it was. Sorry; we didn't know they were transporting...live cargo." Just the words made him feel sick to his stomach, but even worse was the fact he knew that he'd considered using a bigger arrow for this task. What if he'd pulled a wide-band particle explosive, like that one he'd used years ago when dealing with The Thing? He could have killed them. He could have killed all of them. Would that have bothered him? The fact he legitimately didn't know certainly did.

"...Look, you kids are clearly trained to fight. You mind explaining the situation? I happen to be SHERIFF 'round these here parts--" Using his sword, he tapped at his badge. They couldn't see it, but he was smiling with genuine pride behind his mask. Then again, the skull face he wore did have a strange flexibility to it; at times it really did seem to reflect his expressions beneath. He chalked it up to good craftsmanship.

"--Oh my god," Eric interjected.

"--And I consider it my responsibility - no, my PRIVILEGE - to aid you in these dark and troubled times."

"I will tell you nothing. You are The Taskmaster," the girl said, jabbing a thumb behind her. "And that is The Black Ant. Gun-thugs for hire, loyal to nothing and nobody."

"Hey, we're famous!" Eric chirped, planting his hands proudly on his hips.

"...And you are to be TRUSTED with nothing and nobody, least of all my people. Get out of our way. We will escape on our own." Snorting authoritatively, the girl started back towards the APC. "Akeja! Load Sven up for transportation, fireman's carry." A slightly larger girl with half-ruined braids climbed into the vehicle, grabbing the wounded boy inside. "Got it, Commander!"

Exchanging a look, the two mercenaries watched the children methodically address their wounded comrade. "God, it's like an Oompa Loompa war film," Black Ant mused.

"Yeah, wait - that girl, Akeja," Taskmaster commented. "That was a Wakandan accent. Now I -really- gotta know what's going on."

"Better figure it out quick, they're leaving."

"To hell they are." Taskmaster set out to block the path of the children, who unanimously regarded him with threatening looks; even little Sven, blonde and blue-eyed, hanging across Akeja's shoulders like a limp weight.

"Look; I get it. You don't trust us, and I don't blame you. But if you know who we are, you know -where- we are. This is Bagalia; you can't go two blocks without stumbling onto supervillains, and they aren't even the worst people in this town. You think whoever was paying Waterfalls to transport you is going to let this go? He was high-end muscle; you all represent a significant investment."

"And you want to collect on us yourself," their 'Commander' responded. "You'll have to kill us all! We're NOT going back! Not for anything!" Her voice, which had made such an attempt at cool arrogance only a minute ago, was starting to break. She looked and sounded legitimately scared, and with Taskmaster's ability to read body language, he could tell that as she tensed up, she wasn't preparing to attack; she was trying to keep from collapsing.

Taskmaster greatly preferred to speak off the cuff. He had an extremely poor memory and he didn't like to come off rehearsed, but right now, he felt the rare need to choose his words carefully. He didn't bother squatting down in front of the kids; it felt disingenuous, plus he was pretty sure they were still thinking of jumping him and he didn't want to be off-balance. But he DID place his sword back at his belt; he'd just been using to to show off his badge anyways. "Look, I get it." He could do this. He could, just this once, actually take this seriously. "Yer wounded, tired, hungry, and scared -- don't gimme that look, there's no shame in it -- Ya been through a lot, and now you got someone who's famous for doing anything for money extending a helping hand. It ain't right, is it? Havin' to try and figure out what to do, not just for yourself, but your people? Being a leader sucks; trust me, I've been there. But I ain't asking you to follow me through the mean streets of Bagalia and hide out at my safehouse so I can turn ya over to someone else, alright? Wherever you six are from, whatever happened to bring you here; I wanna fix it. I -do- take my duties as Sheriff seriously, even if ya might not think I should. Just because this place has no laws don't mean it can't have -ethics-."

The children regarded him for a moment, then turned to their commander; then, they all turned inwards to whisper to each other in a language that even Taskmaster didn't recognize, and he spoke almost a dozen himself. There were hints of African, Chinese, Russian, and South American dialogues - but it all fused together into something that he suspected only these six kids could understand. This was -their- tongue. While they conversed, Taskmaster glanced up to check the skies. All grey, and the rain wasn't letting up. This was unpleasant, but it was also useful. Rain was easier to hide in.

So easy, in fact, someone else was doing it too. If not for the fact he was cycling his mask's thermal imaging systems out of sheer habit, he would have missed it. Next block over, in a sedan that had parked around the corner. Interesting.

Finally, their leader turned back to him. "...I am Mara," she said after a moment, "And we are the Scions; refugees from programs all over the world that exploit children as soldiers and killers. I will not explain more in public like this, but as you can likely surmise, we are highly sought after by the respective organizations that are pursuing us. We are placing our trust in you - however unwisely - at least until we can escape Bagalia. Will you help us, Taskmaster?"

"I will, but I'm gonna need some help. I gotta contact The Hub. They'll have an idea for how to do this quietly. Wait...Wakanda's training child soldiers?" He asked.

Akeja stiffened. "How DARE you! Of course not; I was stolen away from my home!"

"Yeah, yeah, just checking."

Mouthpiece and organizer for The Org, the mysterious criminal organization that facilitated mercenary work worldwide, The Hub served in many ways as Taskmaster's handler. The enigmatic woman was nothing more than a voice on the other end of the earpiece he was always wearing inside of his mask, the only number he always kept in his phone, and yet he trusted her more than anyone else alive. Even Tony wasn't sure why; she just...made him feel something, and he'd learned long ago to trust his gut.

"This...Hub can be trusted too?" Mara asked warily. "Will they not sell us out to other mercenaries?"

"No, no, Hub is good people. Promise. Come on, let's get out of this fucking rain while I call her." He ushered the children to follow him, but when Black Ant began to join them, Taskmaster intercepted him. "Eric, I got another job for you."

"What? You're cutting me out, old man?!" Black Ant threw his hands up. "You better not be about to sell these kids behind my back. I put up with a lot from you, but -- OW!" He doubled over as Taskmaster socked him in the gut. "You son of a..."

"Shut up," Tony hissed, leaning down. "Someone's watching us, two streets over. Probably backup for Waterfall's crew. I'm gonna hit you again, like I'm screwing you over here; I need you to go down. After we leave, they'll come to try and collect you. Surprise them and figure out who they're working for."

"...Okay, but you owe me for this."

"Yeah, sure."

"I mean it, you 'new car' owe me for this!" Eric whispered before collapsing as Taskmaster kneed him savagely in the stomach. "Too...real."

"Thanks, little buddy." Taskmaster turned and pursued the children with that, joining them as they ran into a nearby alleyway. It was still pouring, but the awnings of the adjacent buildings meant that the soaked kids were at least not still getting rained on. Taking the lead, Taskmaster crossed the alley and pointed at a large, black building a few blocks away. "We're heading there. Used to be Zemo's mansion before Punisher ran him out of town. Hub will likely want us to meet her people there to get you extracted."

"Fine," Mara replied. Taskmaster pressed a button on his phone, a 'hotdial' for The Org that connected to his mask. In the distance, he could hear the car approaching where he'd left Black Ant. He hoped he hadn't put Eric up against someone who was too much for him. Waterfall had been no joke, despite the name.

"Taskmaster," came the familiar female voice. Immediately, he relaxed despite the situation. She just had that effect on him. "Looking for work? Things are a bit slow right now, but for my best operative, I always--"

"--Sorry to cut ya off, Hub, but I'm actually already busy. I need an extraction." He felt weirdly guilty interrupting her.

"An extraction from Bagalia? I'm surprised anyone could drive you out of that hive."

"It's not for me. There's some...kids. Bunch of them."

"Oh, no, Tony," The Hub replied. "You didn't have anything to do with this, did you? Are your memories acting up?"

"What? No! NO!" He barked, offended. "I -saved- them! Jeez! You know I don't take work without running it by you. And I didn't -- look, don't worry about it. It's related to the King Shark gig. They were the...'cargo' he was overhearing." Wait. Did she just call him Tony? They never used names.

There was a pause, the kind he never expected. As professional as she was, The Hub almost never hesitated. "...Okay. I'll look into it, and I'm sending someone. Get them to Zemo's old helipad...stay safe, Taskmaster."

"Yeah, already on the way. Thanks." Cutting the call, Taskmaster glanced back over his shoulder to the children. "Alright, let's go back out. Try to move, but not -too- fast. That damned Hydro Man wannabe busted up my ribs somethin' fie--er...hi."

The children had already scattered, fleeing back towards the street. They were hiding behind another figure who'd just appeared, a small woman who nonetheless had the strength to hurl an unconscious Black Ant at Tony's feet.

"I knew you were low, Taskmaster...but this is bad, even for you."

Laura Kinney, the Wolverine, was blocking the only way back out of the alleyway, and wearing an expression of complete disgust.

#Taskmaster #Marvel #Tony Masters #Eric O'Grady #Black Ant #Marvel Comics

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invertedeidolon · 4 years

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The Longest Library #4: The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle (Or, Eidolon feels their OTHER age just a little too clearly and needs a nap now)

(This is a series in which I attempt to read and review all (or most of) my library of 297 books.)

Rundown: A unicorn gets lost in that thing that happens where you exist in a weird, neverending pocket of time and when you finally leave your room your family is like 'oh my god we haven't seen you in three months! The dog died while you were gone!' except for her she doesn't look like hell because she's a Fucking Unicorn, but she does figure out that literally every other member of her race has gone missing from the world. She travels with a baby-faced magic man and a bitter but not yet broken older woman to find out where the hell everyone is. 5/5, makes me feel ancient and tired but no longer lonely.

So as a reader, almost all of these reviews (more like reflections) are just that: reflections of myself. So I'll be talking a bunch about the things that spoke to me and my soul. It might not necessarily speak to others in the same ways, with the same words, however, my ratings are based on how enjoyable I think others might find them, and I hope that in seeing that something could speak so richly and deeply to me, that others might give it a chance in the hopes that it might speak to them too.

This is a book that speaks in my language. It's a way of describing things that's a step to the left of your average descriptions, but the images they invoke are visceral and heavily textured.

From the very first page:

"She did not look anything like a horned horse, as unicorns are often pictured, being smaller and cloven-hoofed, and possessing that oldest, wildest grace that horses have never had, that deer have only in a shy, thin imitation and goats in dancing mockery"

God damn. God DAMN. Mmm. Tasty.

"The door did not swing open, and the iron bars did not thaw into starlight. But the harpy lifted her wings, and the four sides of the cage fell slowly away and down, like the petals of some great flower waking at night. And out of the wreckage the harpy bloomed, terrible and free, screaming, her hair swinging like a sword. The moon withered and fled."

AUGH. FUCK. YES. FUCK ME UP, PETER. MMM.

"The magic knows what it wants to do, he thought, bouncing as the horse dashed across a creek. But I never know what it knows. Not at the right time, anyway, I'd write a letter, if I knew where it lived."

So, Schmendrick (the baby faced magic man I mentioned before) has the same feelings about his magical talents as I have about my own, magic or no. My own magic comes and it goes. It's incredibly intuitive in nature and almost refuses to yield to order, logic, or ceremony. Same with my art, my writing, or anything that comes from the spirit. Even things like expressing my emotions feel this way. It's there when it's there, and it's not when it's not, and it's not when it's there. It doesn't feel like a part of me at times, despite being the purest description of my own soul when it decides to take form. Like an absent parent that never once hugged you but knows exactly what kind of candy bar you currently like and that you're nervous about your first boyfriend and the way he talks to you sometimes and how lonely things are getting. I grow resentful for it's absence, and have not grown welcoming to it's presence. It's something that needs to be worked on soon. In fact, Molly's sentiments on first seeing the unicorn kind of describe it pretty well:

"And what good is it to me that you're here now? Where were you twenty years ago? Ten years ago? How dare you, how dare you come to me now, when I am this?" With a flap of her hand she summed herself up; barren face, desert eyes, and yellowing heart. "I wish you had never come, why do you come now?"

That has always been a powerful moment that whenever I see it in the movie (and especially having finally gotten to read it in the book), I've come to understand it deeper, and deeper. Only now realizing that I've lost an entire decade of my life to a violently interrupted life and feeling like if my talents weren't stifled by years spent crying, in pain, and not really wishing to be dead but wishing I Weren't, I could be ten years ahead. And only now does it come to me, in fits and starts, when I've been displaced and scattered and turned to half-a-person, not when I called desperately to it, needing something, anything stronger than me, and being given nothing. Why now? I've gone far enough without you. Molly forgives her. I myself become pale with a feeling of unworthiness.

"The rind of the country cracked, and the flesh of it peeled back into gullies and ravines or shriveled into scabby hills."

There's just so much TEXTURE in a lot of these descriptions. I feel like the background artists in the movie could have done something a bit darker and grimier, although the movie did skip over the fact that the land was in a magically induced famine, to technically it wasn't relevant. Although I feel like the land itself being so scarred makes the king and his whole atmosphere come into sharper focus.

"Drinn opened his eyes and gave her an angry look. 'WE earned nothing," He protested. "It was our parents and grandparents whom the witch asked for help, and I'll grant you that they were as much to blame as Haggard, in their way. We would have handled the matter quite differently." And every middle-aged face scowled at every older face.

Boomers.

"The magician stood erect, menacing the attackers with demons, metamorphoses, paralyzing ailments, and secret judo holds. Molly picked up a rock."

Not going to lie, this part made me laugh.

"No hooves could have made these, Molly thought dazedly; the earth had torn itself shrinking from the burden of the Bull. She thought of the unicorn, and her heart paled."

"The Red Bull did not know her, and yet she could feel that it was herself he sought, and no white mare. Fear blew her dark then, and she ran away, while the Bull's raging ignorance filled the sky and spilled over into the valley."

The descriptions of the Bull especially capture just how heavy and menacing and seemingly mindlessly terrifying it is, not just physically (which is very effectively communicated mind you) but psychologically. The unicorn's terror is my own. There's no fear like the root of you realizing the person in front of you is intent on soul-murder, yet wholly ignorant of their own deeds. Being run down and forced to submit, forced to die, and realizing the blind, animal nature of your attacker. It's how they are. Like blaming a wolf for eating cattle. It can't be reasoned with.

"If she would try one more time to escape- but she was the Bull's and not her own. The magician had one glimpse of her, pale and lost between the pale horns, before the wild red shoulders surged across his sight. Then, swaying and sick and beaten, he closed his eyes and let his hopelessness march through him, until something woke somewhere that had wakened in him once before. He cried aloud, for fear and joy.

What words the magic spoke this second time, he never knew surely. They left him like eagles, and he let them go; and when the last one was away, the emptiness rushed back with a thunderclap that threw him on his face. It happened as quickly as that. This time he knew before he picked himself up that the power had been and gone."

You know, doing anything that has to do with having a soul is exactly this exhausting sometimes. I get excited and talk about my interests more energetically than none? I feel like I just shouted it at the top of my lungs and violently shook the person I was talking to by the shoulders. They say I was even toned, quiet even, but I'm out of breath and my heart is in my throat and I feel a little sick in the arms from it.

"For a moment she turned in a circle, staring at her hands, which she held high and useless, close to her breast. She bobbed and shambled like an ape doing a trick, and her face was the silly, bewildered face of a joker's victim. And yet she could make no move that was not beautiful. Her trapped terror was more lovely than any joy that Molly had ever seen, and that was the most terrible thing about it."

*sips the words like fine wine* *inhales through their teeth* MMMmm fuck yeah~

"I am myself still. This body is dying, I can feel it rotting all around me. How can anything that is going to die be real? How can it be truly beautiful?"

See, I have the opposite problem, where I feel like I've been long dead, and people keep digging up my corpse and forcing me to walk on broken, stringy legs, the moist, forgiving soil not even yet dried. I can feel it living all around me. How can anything that is going to live be unreal? How can it be truly horrific? I'm supposed to be a memory by now.

"Prince Lir's face bent toward her: older by five dragons, but handsome and silly still."

I love impactful but unconventional measurements of time and space like this. More of these please. 'You've been gone since seven arguments ago! And you know how slow the old man is to anger.' 'I've aged by three national crises in the span of two weeks, please help.'

"...holding her voice together like the edges of a wound."

*licks the goddamn wine glass like an animal* MMPH

"There was too much to hold, too much ever to use; and still he found himself weeping with the pain of his impossible greed. He thought, or said, or sang, I did not know that I was so empty, to be so full."

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"I have been mortal, and some part of me is mortal yet. I am full of tears and hunger and the fear of death, though I cannot weep, and I want nothing, and I cannot die. I am not like the others now, for no unicorn was ever born who could regret, but I do. I regret."

I have been small, and some part of me is small yet. I am full of terror, and hunger of death, though I cannot utter a noise, and I cannot die.

Please read this book.

Have a song that I really like and will likely make an old-fashioned AMV out of it at some point.

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4 down 293 to go.

#The last unicorn #peter s beagle #book review #thelongestlibrary #origin1 #wri1

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no-hetsplanation-for-aa · 6 years

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full thoughts on the ace attorney anime/a review under the cut. if you don’t want to be spoiled you can skip this but i just wanted to ramble for a bit:

i didn’t hate it as much as i had thought i would, maybe save for the farewell my turnabout episodes (you already know how i feel about those lmfao but i’ll elaborate more later). it was okay; a fun watch, but i have a lot of criticisms. since i’m better at lists i guess i’ll start doing things in list format now, let’s go!

pros:

-MAYA IS DRAWN REALLY CUTELY, LITERALLY ALWAYS. THE STAR OF THE SHOW

-the second opening honestly is pretty badass

-franziska is here, what more could i want

-characters like phoenix, maya, mia, oldbag and lotta have REALLY fitting voices, imo. maybe because they’re close to my headcanon voices for them but i think these five sound excellent

-after the first half of the series the characters start to look a lot more consistent. i was unhappy with how they were drawn and animated in the first 12 episodes but they got better, i think

cons:

-on the whole, despite the progression of the art from the first cour to the second, the show is pretty visually unappealing. the animation is choppy in parts and some characters (notably adrian) get renditions of themselves that are inferior to their game counterparts

-court breakdowns are INCREDIBLY underwhelming. i honestly cannot remember a single one that was handled or transitioned well

-adrian’s entire fucking arc oh my GOD i am NEVER going to shut up about this i’m just so MAD i don’t see how ANYONE COULD DO TH

-i know it’s hard to fit these stories into 24 episodes but the pacing felt rushed at points i feel it shouldn’t have. it glosses over or leaves out entirely plot points that were more emphasized in the games (see the above point for an example) and jumbles around dialogue that was meant for other parts of the story that were cut. the latter part is understandable, but it’s jarring if you’ve played the games

-speaking of breakdowns, i already mentioned this (in the tags of another post tho whoops) but franziska’s breakdown in 2-2 should have been much, MUCH more significant. i’m gonna talk about this for just a brief moment, if you will. remember her fist banging animation from the games?

-yeah, so you may think this is a pretty small, not-so-impactful animation, right? well, the anime manages to capture none of the character, the anger or the expressiveness of it. it’s so underwhelming it may as well have been cut too cuz you know they like to do that. all she does is stand over the bench and pound her fist a bit while talking to herself. no whipping, no lashing out, NOTHING. and i think that’s pathetic!! this is her first loss EVER since becoming a prosecutor; it’s a MAJOR event in her life and she’s PISSED and they just failed ASTRONOMICALLY to convey that

-speaking of franziska, again, would it kill them to have made her more expressive? i mean, it matches with the range of expressions she has in the game, i suppose, and she is supposed to be composed and refined.....maybe this one is more subjective though. i’m a person who regularly consumes and creates cartoons and it just made me kind of sad to only see basically one or two types of faces on her. augh

-another subjective thing but i really hate how much they emphasize lips on women. like yeah, people be out here having lips, but i guess there’s something that irks me about them having to be so....pink and prominent in anime (and this isn’t just a problem with this show. it’s a problem with media as a whole, tbh). gonna pull up some game sprites once again to show you what i mean:

(yeah i know i use franziska and adrian a lot as examples but my blog centers around them mostly i don’t know what to tell you)

then....you have the anime:

uggggh

again, very subjective. whether or not franziska for example wears lipstick in canon depiction really depends from appearance-to-appearance, and it’s not as if these characters can’t wear lipstick-- that is not at all what i’m getting at. the reason it irks me is that it just reeks of a creative decision made to emphasize beauty, or to say “hey! these characters are girls!” et cetera, which BOTHERS me on a personal level. you don’t have to be RADIATING FEMININITY to be a girl. end of story. you’re in no way obligated to agree with me on how much i hate this part but that’s just.....how i feel about it

the psyche-lock segment that was present in the games is completely gone in the anime, which is strange to me seeing as it’s still a major part of the series well past the second game. probably was cut to fit into the episode limits

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in sum: it was enjoyable, but there is quite a bit of room for much-needed improvement. honestly i feel that you may enjoy it better if you’ve never ever played any of the games in your life because you won’t have the same expectations of someone who has. if you have played the games, i still think it’s a worthwhile watch, but be warned you may or very likely will be disappointed

and.....to touch upon the last few episodes (case 2-4) briefly once more, since i’ve already screamed about it beforehand: this was a major letdown for me. i was expecting it because i had heard things about it, but it still kicked me in the shins with more disappointment i did not expect. in addition to changing celeste to be her sister (euugh why), they left out the bits about adrian’s mental illness ENTIRELY which...is a HUGE part of this case, and i don’t know why they did that. it feels that in this iteration she’s more of a throwaway character than anything--even in what bits they did leave for her after all the changes, her backstory and motives feel unimportant. they’re just thrown at you for a brief moment at the beginning at the case and only brought up once at the end. you don’t feel like she’s fighting for celeste; you don’t feel like she’s trying to hide her past, you just feel like there’s.....nothing there. this is not adrian, this is, ironically, a hollow husk of the character she is supposed to be, and honestly, how dare they

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that’s it thank you for reading this all if you made it this far lmao, you get an honorary attorney’s badge and an oatmeal cookie. toodles

#ace attorney #ace attorney anime #SPOILERS /#big SIIIGH well despite everything that was fun

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minijenn · 6 years

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Universe Falls Preview

Heyoooo looks like this chapter is turning out to be pretty easy so far. Mostly cause my desire to get past it is fuckin strong. Either way, have some fun shenanigans in trying and failing to capture a meme dorito. Enjoy!

“Aha! There she is!” Pearl exclaimed, excitedly pointing to Peridot afar on the other side of the warp. “I was right! My plan worked perfectly!”

“Wow, and it only took five minutes to find her this time too!” Mabel said, duly impressed. “That’s a new record.”

“Good,” Dipper said with resolve as he drew the Sword of Seasons and set it to its flaming setting. “That means we can use the rest of our time actually catching her instead of looking in all the wrong places like we usually do.”

“Well, yeah, we can do that, but don’t be rude, you guys,” Steven frowned briefly before turning to Peridot with a bright smile. “Good morning!”

Of course, the green Gem’s response to this warm greeting was anything but warm itself. “Ugh! I can’t believe this! How did you know I was here?!”

“We found a secret way to track you, and we’ll never tell you what it is, even if you ask nicely!” Steven proclaimed with bold confidence as he taunted the green Gem out by sticking his tongue out impishly.

“And this time, you’re goin’ down, Peri!” Mabel quipped, brandishing her grappling hook.

“Peri?” the green Gem raised an eyebrow, apparently confused.

“Oh, you know, its like a fun little nickname!” Mabel smiled cheerfully. “Luckily for you, you have a very nicknamable name! I’ve already gotten so many out of it! There’s Peri, Dot, Dotty, Peri-D, P-Dot, Peri-do, Per-”

“Hey, Mabel, here’s an idea,” Dipper swiftly interjected, annoyed by the inappropriate timing of his sister’s rambling. “Maybe you could not give our enemies silly nicknames? Just a suggestion?”

“Aw, but where’s the fun in that?” Mabel pouted playfully before Garnet finally interjected.

“Peridot!” the Gem leader shouted, her gauntlets already at the ready to strike. “We’re here to-”

“And you’ll never get away with it!” Pearl suddenly interupted her apparently out of nowhere as she raised her spear high.

“Don’t you Gems and your pesky pet humans have anything better to do than annoy me?!” Peridot growled, stomping her foot down in obvious frustration.

“Nope,” Amethyst remarked, stretching out her whip in her hands. “We’re gonna-”

“Prepare to be annoyed!” Pearl cut the purple Gem off as well, quiet pointedly too, much to Amethyst’s confusion, as well as the kids’.

“Uh… ok…” Dipper exchanged a rather bewildered glance with Steven and Mabel at Pearl’s odd behavior before he turned to coldly address the still rather irritated Peridot. “Well, we’re not about to let you escape this ti-”

“Admit defeat now and maybe we’ll go easy on you!” the white Gem once again cut in, just as much verve in her manner as every before.

“Uh… Pearl?” Steven spoke up, somewhat concerned in light of his guardian’s over the top mannerisms.

“Ugh, I don’t have time for this!” Peridot seethed nonetheless, her free floating fingers forming themselves into a blaster that was rapidly charging with a ball of growing energy. “This planet has an expiration date and I’m not gonna stick around to find out when!”

At this, the green Gem let her blast fire, the unexpected force of it knocking her back as it went flying towards the Gems and the kids. The attack completely missed its mark, steering clear of the group on the warp pad and instead smashing into the large stone pillar directly behind them. While initially disappointed by her misfire, Peridot quickly perked up as the bulk of the pillar began to fall upon the Gems and the kids, however, they were thankfully saved from its crushing force by Steven, who summoned shield large enough to cover them all just in the nick of time. Though her attack hadn’t worked completely as expected, Peridot still let out something of a small, nervous chuckle as she picked herself up off the ground right as Pearl fiercely turned to face her again.

“That’s it!” the white Gem hissed, gripping her spear tightly. “I’m taking her out!”

“Pearl, wait!” Garnet ordered, but her teammate didn’t listen. Instead, Pearl charged, her weapon at the ready, towards Peridot, intent on finally putting an end to her longstanding nuisance. Even so, the green Gem countered her with her tractor beam, easily catching Pearl in its pale verdant glow and effectively immobilizing her as she began to spin her around freely.

“Ha! Sorry, but you’re going the wrong way!” Peridot exclaimed, flinging Pearl out of her tractor beam and back towards the group on the warp pad. Before anyone could really do much, the white Gem collided with Steven, knocking him off the pad and disabling his shield altogether. Fortunately, Garnet managed to catch the pillar that had been pressed against it, keeping it steady with her impressive strength as she urged Amethyst and the twins off the pad and out of harm’s way.

“Get her!” the Gem leader shouted, struggling to rid herself from the burden of the heavy pillar. Amethyst complied first, the twins not too far behind her until the purple Gem broke into a fast, rapid spin dash, zooming towards Peridot at a frightening speed. The green Gem barely managed to leap out of the way, leaving Amethyst to crash into the ruined remains of the Homeworld warp as Peridot made her ‘escape’, skittering across the Galaxy Warp on her disjointed fingers alone.

“Ha! You missed!” she laughed triumphantly. Her levity was cut quite short as something hard and metallic latched around the fingers of one of her hands, breaking their bizarre gravity and leaving Peridot to fall face first into the ground below her.

“But I didn’t!” Mabel happily proclaimed as her grappling hook zoomed back to her. “Your turn, bro-bro!”

Dipper didn’t even respond as he instead rushed forward, the Sword of Seasons charged with strong electricity in his grip. Peridot gasped in apt fear at the sight of the electrified blade and quickly scrambled to her feet, dashing as fast as she reasonably could to get away from it, but even so, Dipper was relentless in his pursuit to take the green Gem out once and for all.

At the same time, Pearl and Steven were both finally regathering their bearings after their rough landing off the warp pad. The white Gem herself was a good bit more dazed than her young ward, even as he began to quickly pick himself up and get back into the fight. “Pearl!” Steven exclaimed, somewhat exasperated as he nudged her weight off of him.

“O-oh, sorry!” Pearl exclaimed, flustered as she hurriedly stood as well, though by then, Steven had already taken off to peruse Peridot right alongside Dipper. The green Gem had managed to reach one of the relatively unscathed warp pads, only to receive the frustrating news that, much like all of the other pads throughout the worn-down collection, it would also be getting her, completely nowhere.

“Augh! Doesn’t anything work on this cruddy planet?!” she shouted, incredibly vexed by her very bad luck.

“I do,” Dipper said with a very satisfied grin as his ice-enhanced sword suddenly rammed into Peridot’s lower legs, not only knocking the green Gem off balance but effectively freezing her feet to the ground.

“And so do I!” Steven chimed in, summoning another shield as he ran forward. The young Gem tossed his weapon like a frisbee, and much to his luck, it hit its mark, striking Peridot squarely in the face hard amidst her trying to break free from the ice encasing her.

“Ow!” the green Gem cried, rubbing the sore spot near her nose and failing to notice Steven and Dipper wisely pull back as Garnet carried out the next attack.

“Amethyst, catch!” the Gem leader grunted, finally lifting the pillar she had been holding onto enough to send it flying at the purple Gem. Right on cue, Amethyst lashed out, her whip coiling tightly around the massive rock, which she wasted no time in hurling it towards the warp pad Peridot was currently frozen to.

“Destroy!” the purple Gem roared, the whip’s hold on the rock breaking as it crashed down almost directly on top of Peridot. As a result, the ice on the ground shattered and the green Gem was sent freely flying into the air, much to her noisy alarm.

Given Peridot’s vulnerable position, Pearl saw this as the perfect opportunity, which was why she wasted no time in rushing forward to catch her when she inevitably fell. “I got her!” she exclaimed, almost excitedly, the hope in both her voice and expression clear as she kept her sights on the green Gem and nothing else. “I got her! I got her!”

Unbeknownst to the white Gem, Garnet had the exact same plan as she did as her gauntlets disappeared and her arms stretched out to apprehend their green foe. As focused as they both were in catching Peridot, neither Garnet nor Pearl noticed each other, however, until they ended up ramming into each other, knocking them both to the ground roughly.

“Pearl!” Garnet snapped angrily, especially as, right above them, Peridot narrowly avoided landing on top of them by converting her floating fingers into rapidly moving helicopter blades. “Get off me!”

“Ah!” Pearl gasped anxiously, quickly getting up after Peridot swiftly flew away from them. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Knowing that her footing was still unsteady with the Gem leader, Pearl attempted to do her a kindness by helping her up, help that Garnet coldly refused as she sent her a fierce, frustrated glare, one that only deepened as Peridot safely landed on the warp pad they had all arrived on.

“Wow, this is just sad,” the green Gem remarked smugly, confident in her escape, even as the kids tried one last effort in rushing forward to catch her. “I almost feel sorry for you… Not!” Peridot let out a triumphant snicker, mimicking Steven’s teasing expression from before as she warped away, leaving a defeated, downcast group of Gems and kids behind in her wake.

“…Have a great weekend!” Steven called cheerfully after her after a beat of silence, only to quickly take it back as the twins and the Gems gave him a shared glance of annoyance for his amicability towards such an aggravating foe. A foe who, for whatever reason, seemed all but impossible to finally catch. “I mean… I hope her weekend is… not so great?”

#long preview is long #ah well #i liked how this scene turned out so dont fuckin blame me #jen writes #universe falls #uf preview #friend ship

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