#[ace proving once again to be that kind of sibling friend]

[blotlcss]

@huiyins asked: ❛ hey you need a… hand? ❜ and ace uses a realistic fake hand that comes off when pulled

𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬. || Accepting

Now they didn't scream, but the shear panic in their eyes as they stumble with the hand before throwing it at his face in a blind panic was enough to prove that the little brat definitely spooked them.

"Not cool!!"

#huiyins #|| ask || #[ace proving once again to be that kind of sibling friend]

[alyjojo]

December 😚 2023 Monthly - Capricorn

Whole of your energy: Ace of Cups

Your meditation was two parallel lines, like two train tracks, with enough distance in between that two people can see each other, but aren’t really close, you on one and someone else on another. You’re both walking your own “track” and different things are coming to each of you, like you got handed a bag of money, and the other person gained a spouse. Kinda like the board game, LIFE. There was a constant comparison of what was going on, on the other person’s track. Jealousy. No matter what you were given, you wanted what they had, or wished you were on their track. They never looked over to yours once. And your own track was pretty good! You moved farther and farther away from each other, but far ahead (close enough to see on the horizon though), there was a point where the two would meet, intersect, and switch.

I got a heavy like…internet friend or sibling energy from that, a competitive vibe. The Lovers came out to clarify Ace of Cups, this could be a Twin Flame reading too, because of the switching paths, if it applies. The preshuffle referred to PRESSURE. It won’t be the same for everyone, except that this is some kind of soul tie with another person, a contract, and the feelings aren’t always friendly with them, at least on your side. There’s a new beginning in love for someone, and you could be feeling bitter about that. I’m definitely getting some pressure to ACT is all in your head, or you want to impress someone. Flex?

What’s going on in December:

4 Wands:

This could be a relationship, a literal home, the area you grew up in possibly. There’s talk here of some spontaneous action, like “I’m getting the heck out of this place”, and then you DO. King of Wands takes action, and there was probably not a whole lot of thought put into whatever this was, could’ve been part of a conflict with 5 Swords following. Proving someone wrong. Someone acted or spoke impulsively. Maybe even getting married. Run off to Vegas? For the U.S. folk. For some of you, this King is someone else you’re watching do this, and it causes conflict, competition, you want to one-up them or take them down a peg. I don’t get that’s *their* energy, it’s yours. Once someone takes a leap, they may be regretting it, especially if it caused arguments or sadness somewhere - 5 Cups. This could be within the family or romance.

5 Swords:

Clarified by The Hierophant, definitely a marriage involved for someone, and now it’s like you’re pissed off because you’re single and you don’t want to be single. I’m definitely picking up on a sibling here. Like say it’s your younger sibling getting married at like 20 with some fairy tale story and you’re the oldest at 35 like “wtf I’m supposed to be first” or something like that, it irritates you that you don’t have what they have. King of Wands again at the bottom. If you’re in a connection, you could be trying to push for commitment because you don’t want to be single anymore, and your person is not as motivated to do that, they’re happily independent. There’s a lack of balance in a connection, you could feel is unfair to you, and it’s causing you to be in 5 Swords. Mean, petty, kinda bitter, arguing or saying things you probably don’t mean but could be personally attacking someone, or you could feel personally attacked by someone else that’s comparing the two of you (your parent?), something like “Jeez Capricorn, they’re only 20, you ever going to get married or what?” Which doesn’t help & would explain the pressure.

For the love story, some of you don’t want to be alone. Some of you don’t want to get married. Either side has no desire for what they don’t want, period. You could move in with someone and then regret that, or do now, because they want to get married and you’re like fkkkk *regrets*, or switch it. Pressure is on at the holidays. It could be their family doing it.

4 Pentacles:

For those comparing paths, you’re feeling narrow minded and kinda possessive or jealous of this other person and what they have, possibly because you’ve lost them in some way. If they’re married, they’re not right next door anymore, and the vision did show the paths leading farther away for awhile. You could be bitter about that, and also going back and forth in your own mind on why these same things don’t show up for you. Why didn’t you do that, why do you have to be left behind, why can’t they be left behind and you get what they have? It’s like you’re stuck and you have no choice here.

For the Lovers, you’re holding tight to your view on things whether they like it or not. They could see you as greedy, overly possessive materially, whether that’s true or not I don’t see you giving a damn. It’s not even an option to you, and you could be telling them they can take it or leave it, you’re unbothered either way. Your views are yours and if they want to combine 10 Pentacles, go find someone that wants to do that, you don’t. With Ace of Cups being the main energy, this person may have found someone else. Or it’s possible *they* were this way with *you* and are now getting married to someone else…thaaat explains it. They’ll do it for someone else. I like the examples, they humanize your irritation, anyone can relate to this.

The Hanged Man:

Clarified by The World, now a major cycle has ended between you & another person, King of Wands actually came out this time. You may not talk anymore, some of you are just watching from afar, maybe online. You could’ve held out to see if things would pick back up and they haven’t, the relationship that you’ve had with this person is done with - in the way that it once was - no matter who this is. 4 Swords at the bottom, though you’ve felt angry, bitter, jealous, whatever the emotion, it’s because you’ve needed to heal, it’s hurt. You’re trying to gain some perspective on this, or trying to see things from their perspective even, because whatever it is, it’s out of your hands to do anything about it.

The Magician:

You’re creating distance with this person, no matter which story it is. Moving silently away, maybe literally moving away. This person brings up conflicted emotions in you, much of which is negative - whether their fault or not, and you just need to get away from that and them, on towards something new - Ace of Cups. Could be a new love, new passion, new something that makes you feel good, not ick, not competitive or comparing or looking at someone else’s path like “why not me?” It’s like you’re realizing you have all of the tools to create *something* that you do want, so you’re going to go after that, and leave any ick behind you. Quietly. In the vision I did see the paths come together in the future, far enough away to prepare, but not so soon that it’s tomorrow. I’m not sure if the paths switch, could be, there’s definitely a Twin dynamic being played out for someone. For those where it’s family or something, it’s just “not now, but eventually”. Because Aquarius energy is so strong here, you could be dealing with one, or this could be showing the upcoming change in Pluto from Capricorn to Aquarius (again) in January, and it’ll go backwards again for a couple of months in 2024 before moving on gone for good in November. Whoever you’re “competing” with internally may have just had easier astrological transits, unconsciously to you, and you’re almost off the hook & towards smoother sailing ⛵️ Some of you may literally switch, walk in the other’s shoes for awhile. No matter the connection it’s definitely a soul tie.

Signs you may be dealing with:

Aquarius 💯, Gemini, Virgo, Capricorn & Aries

Oracles: ✨

20 Healing Energy 🤕

Drawing this card guides you to work with energy on a healing level. Take a class, go and receive a Reiki healing, or just sit in meditation and concentrate on mindfulness. With the healing energy of Divine love, you do not have to “know” how to do anything. Just sit quietly, set your intention and let Spirit’s love fill you up. When you are living in a vibration of healing, you not only affect yourself, but those around you. Others then can connect with your energy and their vibrations can rise as a result. There is no force to this. This is basically how energy works. Your vibrational change will effect change in the ones you are close to. Alternately this card signifies healing is taking place within a relationship.

We enter into December as:

Canary Yellow 🐤

“If you talk and do not do, you are like the Canary in his cage; beautiful but useless.”

It is suggested that you move beyond what you believe to be right and accept what is. You may not be doing your true calling. Are you living in a fantasy that you would rather pretend with? This is your opportunity to do it, or let it go. Others will soon see what you are either hiding or denying. Time to wake up or you may find yourself quite embarrassed when your true motive is revealed. Like Canary - he would rather impress than do! Be careful of working too much and neglecting the reality of your life. Do not be the person who feels that he or she will never receive what they are entitled to, and it is easier to pretend that everything is fine. Canary indicates that things are in place for miracles to happen, but they may not if you dissipate your energy. Things are built up in our minds and we are imprisoned by the story we tell about what we are doing. Do not take yourself or the project you speak of so seriously any longer. Stop and consider if you intend on doing what you say, or if you are only talking.

This is a card of realizing we own nothing. We are given inspiration from above, if we dissipate our gifts than we are not fulfilling our promise to Spirit. If you resist your voice, why have one? What in your heart do you know you could do “if you wanted to”?

What is to be learned in December:

Cherry Heart 🍒

“When you accept yourself, you find love.”

Cherry Heart reminds us that we may not be accurately assessing ourselves. If you are drawn to Cherry, consider that perhaps you are being given signs to see, hear or feel a truth, but have yet to accept it. It is also a reminder that you may be distorting your reality in a self-defeating way. Short-changing ourselves is how we hold ourselves back. Cherry Heart is at the core an issue of self-acceptance and seeing miracles in everyday life. Cherry wishes to tell you that prosperity happens with acceptance. She invites you to see yourself as complete just as you are.

Red may be a lucky color ❤️

#Capricorn #monthly tarot reading #December 2023 #tarot #tarotblr

[ilovelotsofthings]

Capybara headcanons

××

Mr. Mustard is the smallest of all the Capybara 

Then Pozolito is the next smallest 

Then Abuelito, Seu Madruga, Elisangela, Gaming, and Senhora Neide is the largest.

×

Age headcanons. All are adults just the order I think they are!

Gaming is the youngest

Then Elisangela, Pozolito, Senhora Neide, Mr. Mustard, Seu Madruga, and then Abuelito 

(Like think of them like 18 to 20s in human ages. Yes including the one called Abuelito haha)

×

Queer headcanons for them!

As per canon Elisangela and Neide are lesbians. Neide is trans (at least I believe that is canon)

As I said previously Mr Mustard is Demiromantic and Ace

Pozolito is aromantic to me and unlabeled in sexual attraction

Abuelito is Bisexual and Ace ♡

Gaming is Ace and questioning romantic attraction

Seu Madruga is unlabeled 

Pronouns I think they all use (Like canon Pronouns & Headcanon ones)

Seu Madruga: They/Them & It/Its (Enby)

Mr. Mustard: He/Him 

Pozolito: They/Them 

Senhora Neide: She/Her

Abuelito: They/Them & He/Him

Elisangela: She/Her

Gaming: He/Him

×

Seu Madruga is just living their life on their planet 

They are having parties on said planet 

Its kind of an asshole but a loveable one

Probably someone who eats lemons over all other citrus fruits 

That 1 friend you text once every year but never hang out unless a special occasion 

^^ All just vibes though as they are actually the friend who never stops texting you.

Say goodbye to peace and quiet haha

Is best friends with Mr. Mustard and Pozolito.

Is a very protective friend though. In the 'only I can Bully them' way.

There is so little content I remember for them so kinda hard to give headcanons for it

×

Mr Mustard is not so secretly a menace

He is after all best friends with Seu Madruga who annoys people and Pozolito who loves mines 

Acts kinda like an ambassador as he the most chill of the original 3

Is genuinely friends with Foolish 

Oranges are his favorite food but more specifically Cinnamon rolls with the orange frosting 

A would be writer if he actually wanted to write books

×

Pozolito is enjoying being on the run. They are just causing chaos in their wake no matter where they're at.

Probably chilling on a beach they blew up.

They give the vibe of someone who would eat cereal with water just to be a menace 

Truly their favorite food is Lemon & Orange with Banana smoothie 

×

Senhora Neide is amazing. Probably would take over the world if she wanted

Loves her Girlfriend and Brother 

Definitely was crisis control and the new ambassador to use what I called Mr Mustard 

As I said before Games with her brother every weekend basically 

She has started to bring Elisangela along to at least watch

Neide beats Gaming is about third of every game they play. She mostly plays for fun with him.

One of her favorite foods is pistachios. She also loves cake

×

Abuelito is in canon one of the sweeter Capybaras and I adore that

He is everyone's best friend and loves to help whenever he can

As in canon he loves building but I also think he makes those miniature figurines for fun

Like people who collect "toy" trains!

Probably is a closer friend to Senhora Neide then the other capybaras 

Also one of those people who like to eat cough drops (me I like to eat the lemon cough drops) as a treat.

I think he is one of the brownest Capybaras of all the known ones

×

Elisangela is mute. 

Would be a writer but proves (to herself) that weapons are mightier than the pen… not really but she does love weapons 

She collects the for both fun and to use.

One those introverts who are really sociable and loves to hang out is groups.

Really in love with Neide ♡

Finds Gaming annoying but in the "My girlfriend's younger brother" as she does like him well enough 

Truly a Warrior Artist. 

Would be the person to eat an entire carton of ice cream and get sick from it only to do it again

Also vanilla ice cream fan

×

Gaming is the introvert who prefers smaller groups of people

As I said previously teases Neide as they are siblings 

She would tease him in return if she could.

If he isn't playing video games he is swimming.

If he put his mind to it he would become a video game developer! Probably games similar to Fortnite though.

I never specified ages be he is only 2-3 years younger than Senhora Neide 

Says gamer juice is his favorite food. Really his favorite food is pop corn 

×

All the Capybaras are friends just some are closer than others

Like the first 3 as I said are best friends 

Senhora Neide is the bridge friend between the separate groups 

Also Gaming is sadly just known as Niede's little brother 

Which is fine to him as again he doesn't actually care for groups but still. No friends outside your sister's groups

All the Capybaras are biters deep inside. 

Watch your fingers /J

They all have parties on their planet every once in awhile. All just for fun.

Pool parties are the best though 

They live in a non serious world so taxes never matter 

Pozolito is the cryptid friend to everyone because of the insane stuff they get up to.

No one believes Mr Mustard can do any wrong except his closest friends.

The Capybaras could be a sitcom!

I don't have many more headcanons 

Hard to remember canon facts when the appearances have been kinds spread out over months from June to now 

The wiki isn't much help.

Anyways my favorite Capybara is Senhora Neide 

#headcanons

[jamiedc-they-them]

I got you (Platonic)

Requested by @emcon-imagines

“Jemma --” Daisy said, as much as she loved her friend, she knew that she still wasn’t at the top of her lying game. To be honest, she hoped that Jemma never made it there, as if that would signal some sort of end to the Jemma Simmons she knew.

Still, back on point, “Daisy...I promised Y/N…” She said. And, that did get her attention, she had promised you something.

“I just wanna help her, Simmons. I mean, you’ve seen her...Tired, not herself. Not the bubbly person we all know. Something’s going on…” She knew how this would seem to anyone else; someone interrogating someone, almost gaslighting in some way to get some information.

But, the two women knew better; it was two friends trying to help another.

Besides, the three had formed their own group; the term “power puffs” being thrown around a lot. Still, not the point --

“I didn’t just swear and drop my concern, Daisy. I wanted to help too…” She trailed off, and Daisy nodded for her to continue, “I did to her that she would probably get yelled at...but, she brushed it off at the time. I don’t think Fitz’s sarcasm helped it either.”

“What’d he say?”

“‘What’s the worst thing that could happen? I mean, yeah, you’ll probably get yelled at, but it’s not like she’s going to kill you.’ And I said, ‘Not helping’ and...Oh, sorry.” She said, catching herself.

Daisy smiled, “It’s alright, Jem. Just, tell me, please. I’ll stop after that.”

Jemma could never say now the puppy dog expression Daisy Johnson could pull off, “...That’s the problem, she isn’t stopping.But, she told me to not bother you about it. She knows how you can be with this and...she doesn’t want to worry anyone else. She says she can handle it.” The Brit said, almost in one entire breath.

“Famous last words, sadly in some cases.” Daisy said, looking out the window before back to Jemma, “Where is she now?”

As Jemma went to answer, her gaze changed; she looked alert, “Well...there.” She said, nodding her head behind Daisy.

The woman turned, seeing you walk in, bag over your shoulder from yet another assignment...yet another few months undercover.

If you were good at hiding the strain of the work before, this was not one of those times; with the heaviness in your eyes, worn down expression and posture of your body.

It was getting to you.

Daisy then looked to Jemma, giving her friend a pat on the arm, “I got this.” She promised, before taking her leave.

She wasn’t one to break them.

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

You had put the weapons away, and was getting ready for the ebrie. Just ready to get that ticked off, then wait until the next job comes your way. You had to keep going, SHIELD was always cut throat, but especially now; you were on the back foot and what not. You had to prove yourself to Coulson, he brought you and Daisy in and kept you in despite what you had done to them.

That had to be worth something.

You went with your bag, a bag mixed with your own things and the contents of the sting. Smart? No, not really. But, you were working with limited time. So, you know.

Besides, Coulson had cleared it and said it was fine.

So, you went into the kitchen, gonna go upstairs to get it all done with, when you paused…

There, on her laptop, was your sister, just typing away.

Given the fact of the bottle of water she had was only just opened, you had to guess that she had only just set up.

“Hey.” She said, looking up at you from the table, smiling as if you hadn’t caught her in the act.

“Hey.” You said back, dropping the bag to the floor. You both held each others stare for a moment too long; you had been in each others lives for forever, so you could read each other like a book.

“Been there long?” You asked, hands going in your pocket. You knew the answer, but still…

“Nah, just waiting for you.” She said, moving to sitting on the table, legs dangling off of it, “Just wanted to see if you were ok.”

You held your arms out to your side for a moment, a kind of “here I am” gesture, before letting them slap against your body as you let them drop, “I’m ok...Just want to get up there.” You said, pinching your nose as you closed your eyes for a moment; a rare moment of letting this toll be known to the world in a way that was intentional.

Daisy saw a way in there, “You tired? I mean, sleep deprivation and mental health issues don’t really go hand in hand...You’re gonna snap.”

You nodded, same posture as before, “Sure. Just wanna get up there and do this, D.”

“Coulson doesn’t need it right now.”

“He does.” You argued.

She sighed, the Johnson gene of stubbornness surely rubbing off on you, “Look, Y/N/N, I get it. But, AC -- Well, DC, is more than ok with this. Trust me.”

“Yeah, well, I’ll do shit like that when you do.” Ok, fair; did it hit? Yeah, but she wasn’t a sunken battleship yet...that phrase was weird.

Anyways, “Y/N,” She started, getting up and grabbing your hands in her own, looking you right in the eyes, “You’re tired, ok? Actually tired….I mean, look, you can barely stand right now. What you need, is rest. Ok?”

Out of the siblings, you weren’t as open as she was. But, as said before, she knew you better than anyone else. And, because of that, you could be yourself with her. You let yourself nod, eyes dropping to the ground. She squeezed your hands, smile coming onto her face.

It was like that Skye part of her, the inner child of her’s that needed healing was alway there; the optimist that refused to see the dark.

Still, she grabbed your bag, putting an arm around your shoulder, and leading you to your room.

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

Your room was a fucking mess. Jesus, was it a mess. Now, Jemma had told Daisy that she had no one touch it; no one go in or even put their hand on the door knob.

But...it was messy, to say the least.

The two of you stood, silently looking at the state of your room; clothes everywhere, doors left open, bed sheets unorganised.

She heard your breath shudder a bit. It seemed you had forgotten that the room was left like this. Then again, she was sure you were almost leading two - well, now really more than two - lives at once; SHIELD, your own, and the many undercover personas you had to adapt to.

Hunter’s lecture about SHIELD not being a lifestyle but a job was true; granted, it was a belief in the world and the good that laid in it, but he still had a point.

It seemed for you, those two had fully blurred into on destructive, stress filled life. And it was slowly killing you.

You entered first, grabbing some clothes from the floor and going into your bathroom, locking the door.

She, meanwhile, went to your bed, smelling them and groaning at the stink that came from them.

She put the bag down, picking up some of your other clothes - less yours, more SHIELD’s clothes that they gave to operatives.

There was no style, only a branded shirt (some actually were, but that’s not the point) to say “Shoot at me, I’m with the people you guys at HYDRA hate!”

She put them away, the clothes coloured black. She remembered when you used to have a more colourful attire, an expression to who you were.

No, it was just SHIELD.

After the clothes had been sorted, she then sat on the floor, opening the bag. She looked up at the sound from your bathroom, a shower being turned on.

She looked back to the bag, seeing bags of cocaine, some files...and your clothes. One of the bags had a hole in, and some of the contents had gone from the bag and onto your own clothes. These ones were yours...now stained with coke.

With work…

The shower was still going. And she knew that you were devoted to these people...but what had you lost in the process?

She went further into the bag, digging deep into it. It took a few moments, but she found something, her fingers brushed against something…

Removing her hand from the bag, she found a necklace; she smiled, this one more nostalgic. It was a necklace that you had both gotten together with some money you had both saved. Inside there was a photo of the pair of you…

You’d kept it, you were still there.

She looked to the door, the shower was still going. She looked to the clothes...she could make a quick trip…

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

She came back, clothes in her possession, but no bag. The bag was with Coulson, but the clothes and necklace she kept.

She came back in, putting the clothes on the bed. The door opened, and you emerged, now in sleep gear.

“Hey.” You said.

She smiled, “Hey.” She said back.

“Can - can you uh, can you stay for the night? Just...after all that, and what you said...I think I could use a break…?”

Her smile softened, “Of course.” She said.

You were still you...you still had your own life.

SHIELD wasn’t your lifestyle, just a belief in the world and a job.

#daisy johnson imagine #daisy johnson x reader #agents of shield x reader #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d imagine #agents of shield imagine

[rosyk]

Clichè

pairing: lee minho x reader

genre: heavy or light angst, fluff, marriage, misunderstandings

warnings: light curses, situations that involves deep anger or sadness, mentions of disease, death(?)

word count: 5.2k

a/n: Hi it’s your gal, rosyk. I’m back with writing fanfictions and it’s like 4 in the morning. I haven’t slept yet so there are many grammatically incorrect sentences or spelling errors. Hope you enjoy this one though! (Inspired by Dear John- Taylor Swift)

I sat by the car, the same old one he and I used to drive in. This was a simple car but we swore to use this for our wedding since memories are still stuck. It made me wonder what could’ve happened if everything went right? What would’ve happened to us if there were no obstacles in life? It then made me realize that indeed there were no obstacles, none other than you.

I drove the car to meet your sister who desperately needed to talk to me. She said there were secrets I needed to know but I get the gist of what she’s trying to do. Set me up? Trap me? Convince me? So I could be tempted to get back into your cage? I don’t want that to happen, never again. I’m sick and tired of this one-sided relationship I never noticed because I was blinded. Aced all my tests, I am smart. But when it comes to you, I look like a whole fool trying to fall in love with a guy who gave up. This is why I wanted to show her that I’ve moved on, at least based on my view. Wearing both of my earphones and played our song, I sighed deeply and continued to drive along Cornelia street. My days only revolved around you but what exactly went wrong in between us? Scratch that, what happened to you?

Back then, all I could do was love you. Not less but everything more. I could never stand loving you lesser each day. It’s not on obsessing but to the point that I recognize your feelings though still, I try to force myself. You know how I do grow tired from time to time, but that’s all because I care for you. There’s not much positivity from that though. The downfall happens when I love you much more than you feel for me. It was never equal no matter how I try to persuade myself, desperately needing your affection.

My mother used to tell me how crazy I was to fall for a guy like you. How was I supposed to tell her you were fine since then? Yesterday, you rained me with care. On Friday, you sucked it all up and acted as if nothing happened. All I could do was pray that the guy I used to know, is the one I’ll meet today and greet me in front of the door with wide gentle hugs.

You give me hope, then take it back all at once. I remembered a sunny sky in blue that suddenly turned grey after you decided to shrug me off several times. I was in your tiny piece of chess game. Though you change the rules every day, hoping I would give up until the end. What’s funny is that typically families opposing would be the ones who would give tests to both of the couples to prove their love. And yet, you were the one who was trying to give me a hard time and when I was lost in the thought of giving you up, you decided to save me at the end of the day.

You were a puzzle I couldn’t solve. Little did I know, there was a missing piece I could never find until then. Just like a whole puzzle, you were complicated but due to my drive and need, I had to hang on to my aim. I had to do it because I was convinced by all your “sorry“. Or maybe it’s just me trying to change my mindset to find a reason to stay because I knew there was no difference between all your other sorrys before.

“Which Minho would I be able to talk to on the phone?” It runs through my mind each Sunday of my life and gives me anxiety. But every time I hear the phone ring? I never hesitated to pick it up. No matter what kind of guy I am faced with, I wanted to know deeper why you were acting so confusing. But on that single day, I didn’t pick up the phone. I cried and had sleepless nights. My worst nightmare just came and here’s why:

“Don’t you think this is a good improvement? We’ll sit by the couch and place a big screen tv.” You placed your arm above my shoulder and I continued your lovely story.

“Then we’ll watch your performances?” I looked at you in the eye, grinning as you smirked at my idea. You hummed in question and tilted your head. “Lee Minho, the most famous kpop idol who reached internationally and was supported by his lovely fans” I placed both of my hands above, imaging a billboard banner with your name and face on it. Thousands of people watching and idolizing you.

“Really?” You shifted your position into a more comfortable one as I leaned on your chest. Nodding at my suggestion, you pressed your lips together and listened to me, getting all happy after trying to predict and set goals in our lives.

“Of course! Why not?” I turned my head to face you and gave you a slight hit. “I could feel the energy of the universe as if it's trying to tell me that was our fate” You playfully laughed at the girl in front of you who is telling such an exaggerating fairytale. “Besides, ” I went back to my position and grabbed your arms around my waist. “Your number one fan is just a surgeon anyway” You responded with an oh? as you began to get amused with my statements. “A surgeon who never failed to help people even in a situation full of pressure. The best surgeon in the district” I smiled in a bragging manner, lifting my hand to flip my hair.

“I like that” you nodded in approval. “But don’t you think it’s much better with the title, the best surgeon found around the world?” My eyes lit up with stars because indeed that was a better match. I grinned and raised my eyebrow.

“That’s better” an idea popped up and so I turned back once again. You looked at me in confusion and waited until I would continue what I wanted to say. “But how about the dating ban? Does that mean we have to keep it low?” You looked at me concerningly and so I did. Panic arose in my mind. “Or maybe we-“

You placed your hand up my lip and shushed me. Everything is going to be fine, you tried to assure me. Lifting up your hand and caressed my face, you continued and stared at my pouty lips. “Of course not. It’s you,” with a silent pause, you pointed directly at me with a lovingly stare “and I” you did the same back at yourself and held my hand, enclosing it together. “against the whole world”. You chuckled whilst you tipped your forehead on mines.

“Too cliché” I laughed at you but no doubt that made my heart flutter. Oh, how I wish he knew how much I love him.

[MONTHS LATER]

“Do you have everything packed?” I sighed deeply the minute I rummaged through the closet. I stopped as soon as I saw the yellow hoodie hung inside. “You forgot the hoodie!” I chuckled though scared, deeply hoping this isn’t what I think it is.

“That’s your favorite. Keep it” he smiled but those words pierced straight through me. I felt what he meant. My last token for our relationship, isn’t it? What happened to all those you and I against the world? Were all those just things to make me feel relieved?

“Oh” I responded dryly and gulped, pressing my lips together to stop these drops from falling. “Mhm, ’kay” I closed the closet and faced the guy who’ll soon be leaving. “Go” You looked at me with pity and everything I didn’t want to see in your eyes. I’m okay, at least that’s what I like to believe. As I was busy trying to act tough because I don’t want you to see me being vulnerable once again, you gave me the warmth I needed. A necessity in my dark days.

“I’m sorry. I won’t leave you alone, maybe quite busy but I’d never wanted to split up with you” I finally cried after everything. It was a big wash down of emotions and you felt sorry again. It was a painful sight for you, I know.

“But those hoodies..” sniffs went in between those sobs. As usual, you tried to assure me by caressing my face. It was an act to show that we’ll still stay the same.

“I want you to return this to me after I become an idol. I want you to promise you’ll hold on to us. Wait for me okay?” That was the first and last time I’ve ever seen you cry. It hurts deep bad, but I didn’t want to be an obstacle to your goal as well. I’ll wait no matter how many years it may take.

[DECEMBER OF 2018]

Hey, I’m not sure if you still received my letters. It’s been long, don’t you think? I feel like you don’t remember me anymore but I was your first love haha. Would you still be able to know me after I come back there? I’ve heard you all over the news. Minho, the guy who brought K-pop internationally and broke the Billboard charts. I told you that you’d make it. Me? I’m now a surgeon. Not internationally, but definitely in the district. I’ll get there soon, right? One more question, can I return the hoodie? I did wait for you, hoping you did as well.

I sighed for only God knows how many times for this day. The more I’ve been sending letters, the less I’ve been receiving.

I held on to the letter and got up from my bed after hearing a call once again. The last time I was able to sleep was decades ago and so I had to go back to work. Luckily, it wasn’t a heavy operation but I just had to check-in by the hospital to get the patient’s results.

“Good afternoon, Mrs!.” My patient joked and I could clearly see my best friend smirking.

“Maddie! Stay safe when you get home alright?” I smiled greeting the patient who joked before getting ready to leave

“Hey, hey it’s not too safe to go outside yet. Call someone to assist you. Take care!” Another response of mine was said after a boy who was operated on and took rest for three weeks passed by me.

Beaming from ear to ear, I squealed and hugged my best friend tight. “ALICEEE!” It’s been years since I’ve seen her. She accompanied Min on his way to Korea. And before any of the readers misunderstand, they are siblings. Quite awkward at first if I must say but it’s great to know lots of information about him.

“Hush, we’re in your workplace. You told me that, right? Alice, don’t scream or get hyper whenever you’d come back here.” She mimicked the way I talked in an insulting manner, not that I’m offended by it. We just like to mimic one’s tone as a sign of sarcasm. “Well, look who’s talking?” She furrowed both of her eyebrows as I laughed and took my hands off her.

“So how was Korea, Lisa? Did you find someone? Maybe that guy who you friend-zoned at?” I started chuckling after seeing her blank face. It was honestly funnier to see her reaction. Her stop-it-kind-of-face made my laugh gradually get lower but never failed to make a remark soon after. I thought of someone and so I tried to casually ask her about it. “How are you and Min? Was Korea that good? Just wanted to ask because I’m scared to get into their hospital” I shrugged it off but saw her eyebrow raise. Of course, she always knows what’s up.

“So is this why you’re called Mrs.? Mrs. Lee?” Now it was her turn to laugh. I playfully pouted and narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?” I acted all offended, placing my hand to my chest as if I took it to heart “It’s miss for you, Mrs. friend-zoned” Rolling my eyes and entered my room, her never-ending saga of teasing me continued.

An hour came by after packing all my things left in the hospital room and we talked about our lives. She still never told me a single thing about Min because of her chattiness. We got in the car and went to the airport. My flight has been called and so I had to leave.

“Wish we could’ve spent more time. I’ll come back soon anyways after visiting the hospital” she hugged me so tight causing me to be so confused.

“Min.. I tried to talk to him” I looked at her in the eye asking for some problems that happened years before. Though no words that came out of her were expected.

“But he didn’t want to hear anything about you”

Hours came by like a flash but my thoughts filling out my mind went by for years. I arrived at my destination but is this truly where I am destined to be in? I knew there was something much more than her words because her voice was shaky.

I didn’t leave a single minute to go by my hospital though. Work always comes by my mind. But usually, I would hang by the café in your building hoping to see you pass by. There were no people because I was busy studying late at night after the closing time. It was scary, but I was too busy to notice.

“I miss you! I’ll come by soon, okay? You better wait for me, sweetie. Love you, take care!” I smiled after hearing my patient’s voice. She was a lovely kid and it seems like I wasn’t the only one missing her as well. It had just been a day yet Yeina has been panicking through the whole call.

“Got a boyfriend now?” The one who talked suddenly came up near my seat and giggled. It was cute but I was busy closing all my documents. Besides, it was not that important. I responded unknowingly but was cut after hearing the voice.

“No, it was my patient. She’s a cute kid” I looked up and God-, was that the biggest thing I regretted but enjoyed at the same time. The guy I waited for years was the same guy who didn’t want to hear anything that involves me. The guy who didn’t want to talk, approached me first with the same smile as if nothing happened. I don’t know what to feel nor what to say. It took whole 5 minutes of me trying to smile awkwardly.

“So, no hugs, internationally known surgeon who cured people around the world for the guy who is loved by his lovely fans?” You looked at me shocked but smiled as soon as I got back to my senses. Everything still remained vivid in your head when I thought it wouldn’t be.

I went up to you and cried in your embrace. The same warmth, it never changed even after all those years. “I thought you had forgotten” I tried to explain though it came out as short phrases because of my sobs. You held my head to nuzzle near your neck and caressed my hair, patting in between.

“Thank you for waiting even in tough times. You did good, doctor”

[WEEKS LATER]

Yes, it just had been weeks. Everything was good but turned downhill soon after. I don’t know what’s hitting on you because you just turned.. off.

“ARE YOU CRAZY?” I yelled after you constantly trying to ignore me. “Wow, so now you’re deaf?” I exclaimed as I held on to your arm and making you turn around and face me.

“You wouldn’t understand anyway!” Loud shoutings were just everything that was heard in the room. I am patient but was frustrated that moment you took on that dumb decision.

“So now I was wrong here? YOU QUITTED THAT FKING JOB OF YOURS BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T FEEL LIKE IT? YOU FELT BORED? The world doesn’t adjust for you! It’s not like you are the reason why the Earth revolves! It’s not easy to find a new goal and get it as soon as possible!” I expressed all my thoughts because things weren’t matching up. Who the hell leaves something just because he or she was bored? I felt like there was something more to it but why do you seem so nonchalant about it? It was that easy of a decision to make?

“SHIT!” You grabbed the vase and smashed it on the floor. That shocked me. I was clearly shaking yet I tried to stand by my point.

“Why did you come back here anyway?” I felt the world stopped. No, because he was actually true. Why did I come back here? Expecting that the love of my life would be the same even when it had been years he didn’t bother to call? Even after all these years, the guy I waited for would remain the same? After all the dating issues, he would stay irrelevant and think of me every day? I was just a surgeon not even known worldwide. Who am I to him?

“You’re right. I’m nothing to you anyway.” I packed up quickly placing all of my clothes unorganized. It was easy to get into someone but how is leaving not the same?

You tried calling me out but I left due to my blind optimism over the week. I came back to Korea but you soon got me with all those sorry. That was just a single moment that left a scar on me deeply. But now that I think of it, I was used to it because you were an on and off switch

The first day of a week you asked me out on a date then suddenly you claimed to have forgotten about it. You’d tell me how much you loved me, yet add me to the list of traitors who wouldn’t understand a single thing. It was basically just a love or leave me game of yours. It went on for months that I was tired of it. Sick of everything else but you suddenly turned nice again. I waited for the moment you would hate me as usual but it never came by. Was it because you finally realized how much you had hurt me or were you trying to be nice because you were planning a sudden break-up. Maybe a Dear Jane letter? I was scared because I feel like it was more of the latter.

But after all the overthinking, another unexpected thing came by. You spoke the words:

“I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through after everything I’ve done. It hurts so bad and I don’t want to see you taking all that pain anymore. I never had forgotten about you not even a single bit of my life. I made decisions that could lessen your pride and was also close-minded with all your opinions. But my love for you stays true which is why I wanted to stop seeing you cry. The only tears I’ll ever allow you to shed is the one I needed all my life. The words I wanted to wait for you on. This might be the most clichè thing you’ll ever see, but will you marry me?”

I could never get over that preparation of yours. Because who’d knew you were actually into those surprises? I looked at the ring and smiled at it. How precious this is to me. But time surely passes by fast.

Looking at myself in a white gown, we passed by on lots of obstacles but it felt like yesterday even though it took even years to convince my mother and bless the marriage. She allowed but was forced to.

I still remembered how my mom used to hit me several times every day just to understand if there was something wrong with my head, but apologized soon after because she believed my father was watching from heaven. Mom had many beliefs and one of them was to ask my father whether to accept me. She used to tell me with not a missing day left aside, “run as fast as you can”. Up until now, I find it too hilarious.

“Aren’t you rushing too much? You’re still nineteen” the one who placed my natural makeup on, whispered in my ear.

That was what I was scared of. I was anxious about getting hurt at 19 what more if I was getting married then it went downhill when I was 19? But you were a risk I was willing to take every day, so why not? I know you’ll stay true to your words, I just know so.

“No” I responded short and smiled at myself for acting so brave with my thoughts. I went out of the hall and looked up to my mother who was dressed up so nicely. Sure, the girl who took time dressing me up, definitely did not say she wouldn’t attend if I marry Minho. I sarcastically remarked at her logic.

“So where’s that guy? It’s been 15 minutes since the guests have arrived!” She placed her hand on her hip and tapped her feet on the floor impatiently.

“Ma, he will arrive” I assured my mother and hugged her after I saw a glimpse of tears on her face. Of course, she raised me, and to finally see me with a guy who will take care of me then, she would be brought into tears. She told me once, before the wedding starts, all her thoughts including how she was sad about me leaving but happy about me finding and receiving the love I am willing to fight for. She doesn’t show it as much but she knows how much of a good guy Min is.

“You’ll be Mrs. Lee minutes later!” I found Lisa near the entrance and hugged her. “I told you we would have the same last name years ago!” she continued

Minutes came by and indeed you look handsome in a tux. Everything was worth the wait. You were worth waiting for. We’ve said our vows that express our love would remain until forever runs out, and it was truly you and I together against the world.

[PRESENT]

At least that is what was supposed to happen.

Your dumb-ass mind left me hanging and crying on the white dress. Everything was prepared and you suddenly decided not to show up? You were claiming you had forgotten? What kind of excuse is that? You were no doubt an expert on saying sorry. Just because, you were an exception when it comes to me not being forgiving. Just because, you’d know how to get me back. With a single smile, sorry, that’s it! My mind would start to revolve once around you, playing hide and seek or chase. I was always the one chasing and I’m tired of having to run a hundred miles just to get that love I wanted, which you never wanted to give anyway. It’s all you and your sick need of giving love and taking it away.

Don’t you think I was too young to be messed with? The girl in a white dress who was supposedly having fun on her grand day, went away and started crying? I should’ve followed what my mom said. You should’ve known and I should’ve seen. I was played, you were the one who controlled the game.

“Where will you take me, Alice?” Truly, it’s hard to have feelings for a guy who is the brother of your best friend. If things go wrong, then clearly your friendship is over.

“To him” you responded shortly, tightening your grip on my wrist.

“Stop. I don’t want to go.” I forced her hand off me and whined in a frustrated manner because clearly, you screwed up Alice.

“Could you please stop?! I’m sick of this! He doesn’t have to hide it forever!” You looked away and continued dragging me as soon as I stopped. Hiding what now?

I don’t know what to say when I meet you. Scratch that, I didn’t even want to meet you anymore. Because what if this habit of mine comes up and actually accepts you? I’m tired of it but there’s just something that makes me want to hold onto the love or something that isn’t in you anymore.

You took me in a place so questionable as you stopped and cried. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and yet you say it was the right place. That can’t be, right? How did this happen? Shaky hands, dry throat, words don’t come out my lips. “I’m sorry” I didn’t know why that was the only thing that escaped from my tongue. I did not accept it yet because I belived that wasn’t reality.

Lisa took me to a hospital in which I saw you laying down, unconscious.

I could do nothing but curl down. I was hurt but I never did ask for this. “Alicia, since when?”

“The doctor told me he had cancer way before you went back to Korea. This is why he didn’t want me to talk about you because he gets hurt and couldn’t even imagine what you would do in lengths just to cure him. He used to joke about how you loved him the same way he did. Side effects? Memory loss, sudden mood swings. You know, he was the same guy you knew in the past. Except, he had gotten braver of leaving you behind just so you wouldn’t get into more pain as to seeing his condition. He was very open but he thought of decisions way better when it comes to you than of himself. He loved you every single day of his life and I do know how he misses your touch, crying himself to sleep. He faced a much harder life, missy. As to the wedding, he said he had forgotten about it but it was more due to the reason of having a husband that wasn’t able to take care of until the end of the world, when he promised you to. It was because of a guy not being able to see you getting known worldwide nor exposing you in all medias, when he wanted you to. It was because of a man who simply wanted you to be happy, because he needed that too.”

This is the point where my world started to crash. It wasn’t you who should’ve known. It was me. I should’ve been there at times you need someone to rely on. I based on my selfishness and need for love, not knowing that what I need was the thing that kept me from hurting. I’m sorry for misunderstanding. I’m sorry for making things harder for you. I’m sorry for not opening up all my thoughts about you. I’m sorry because I left you fighting against the world, and I stood by just watching. I felt as if I was the person who was miserable and yet it was you who was trying to act tough.

Lisa continued to tell all those hidden words of yours “I even remembered the time he continued blaming himself for hurting you but concluded that it was everything that he could do. His situation isn’t something that can be fixed and he knows about that even if he wasn’t told about the months he have left. He told me that once you come back and see how bad of a person he is for leaving you all alone and asking you to wait, I am allowed to tell you everything once you’ve moved on.” The girl I’m talking with continued crying filling out the silence I make.

It was a shock and seeing you were the only thing that made me cry deeply. I couldn’t breathe as my chest weighed heavily. I grasped my shirt as I was desperately needing to calm down. But none of this sight made me calm down. I understood the situation I did, but it was too far, in reality, to keep it in check. You were unconscious and Lisa wanted to let me see you before your last breath. Standing up, I cried up to you.

“Idiot” I sniffed, Trying to act strong and let it all out but that’s everything I could only say. “You said our story was cliché. What happened to the true love’s kiss that wakes one up?” I kneeled down and held your hand with the ring that was encircling your fingers. I felt the cold air as tears continued flowing. I kissed your hand and gulped, crying helplessly. Is there really nothing I could do?

“The last time he saw you were way back you were able to smile again. He said it was a blissful sight to see and he would be happy even if that were to be the last time.” Lisa explained and cried her heart out as well after seeing such a painful sight.

“You do know you can see me every day right? Wouldn’t that be nice?” I tried to persuade an unconscious body who can’t hear my words. “Hey, wake up” I clasped our hands together and entwined both. “I’m here, so wake up. I’ll be with you until the end okay?” The volume of my talks gradually decreases but I still believe you can open your eyes up. I know so. I know that at this very time you could still see me and hug me, letting me feel the same warmth I needed once again. “I’ll be with you and it’s still going to be you and I against the world. Cliché right? I know you’ll never miss a chance to tease me when I take that cheesy statement. So please do. Please wake up and talk to me once again. I am here for you.. always and forevermore”

I closed my eyes and heard the beeping of the machine. I looked at you and the monitor that showed a single, straight line. I sighed deeply and my heartbeat is everything I could hear. Repeating your name, demanding you to wake up but all I could do at the end of the day is being so helpless. Even my optimism couldn’t change my mindset yet I was hopelessly begging to see your loving eyes as Lisa and the other staff held me out of the ward for the doctors to take care and clean up everything.

I wished to see those eyes I never noticed years ago. I didn’t know whether it was my selfish act or optimism that kept me not noticing all those details but if only I could see those once again, I could’ve lessened your pain before you disappeared. I was wrong but even up to this end, I hope you know that I love you and forever will do, Min.

I see it all now that you’re gone, don’t you think I was too young to be messed with? The girl in the dress cried the whole way home

#stray kids scenarios #bang chan #seo changbin #han jisung #lee know #lee minho #hwang hyunjin #lee felix #kim seungmin #yang jeongin #stray kids imagines #stray kids angst #angst #minho #skz lee know #stray kids x reader #kpop angst #stray kids masterlist #stray kids fake texts #stray kids fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #stray kids ff

[alethiometry]

thinkin about an alternate take on odyssey’s cult of kosmos storyline that may culminate in a blatant ripoff of valhalla but bear with me here lmao

instead of deimos continually antagonizing you the entire game as you try desperately to convince them that the cult is simply using them, deimos is actively trying to recruit you to fight alongside them. you are both demigods descended from sparta’s greatest hero, two sides of the same coin, etc. etc. as you go around killing cultists you get those cutscenes where each cultist gets to have one final say (just like all the other ac games) and while many joined and profited from the war for selfish reasons, there are enough of those who had lofty ideals that maybe you start to see that the two warring nations are both truly broken beyond repair. people are suffering because of the war, and for every callous profiteer that joined the cult to make a quick buck there’s also someone who joined just to survive, or because if you can’t beat em, join em -- at the least, they could then maybe stand a chance at protecting the people they love, even if it means others will have to pay that price. that’s just the way the world works, right?

and so after the battle of amphipolis and after killing the rest of the cult, you return to the cave of gaia in delphi and find not only deimos but also the ghost of kosmos down there, in front of the pyramid. deimos is still nursing his wounds from where kleon shot him, and the ghost finally unveils herself. both get their villain-y monologues about how it’s all for the greater good, everyone who died along the way was sacrificing themselves for a better world and the world will remember what they did -- but that will only happen if you join them. if you’re there to make sure they mattered. and the pyramid with its weird little artifacts still draws you in like it did that first night you infiltrated their meeting, and you and deimos and the ghost all touch it and you all get teleported via videogame magic or isu technology or whatever the fuck who cares it’s just a stupid scifi game let me live to...

atlantis?

it’s the exact same look and feel as the dlc: humans and gods living in (apparent) harmony, people are happy, families are together, there’s laughter and music and plenty of food and leisure. the buildings are gorgeous, there’s like fountains and gardens and aquariums and other cool shit, and if not for the weird isu tech all over the place you’d almost think it was elysium. but it’s not elysium, because you’re not dead. deimos isn’t dead. and you’ve never felt more at peace. the ghost tells you that this is all perfectly achievable, if only you join them in helping construct this world from the ashes of the old. deimos tells you that they’ve seen this in their dreams; the world was truly like this once, and it could be again.

there’s no war to be fought here; no pain or suffering or loss. deimos sheathes their sword and tells you that they cannot just go back to being family in the real world, not after everything that has happened and all the suffering you both have experienced -- out in the real world, you were both doomed to be nothing more than shattered bones and streaks of gore at the foot of sparta’s sacred mountain. you don’t matter out there, and you never did, and they know you are tired of trying to prove that you do, because they’re tired too. but in here, in this world, you could be together. you could be the siblings you never got the chance to be. this is what they were fighting for all along. they gave their name, and their life, and their innocence and their pain -- all to achieve this. and with your help they can finally stop calling themself deimos and reclaim their old name. or the two of you could find new names. you could be gods. you could slaughter the old gods, the ones whose prophecies doomed you both to die at the foot of mount taygetos (deimos still doesn’t know the cult orchestrated that lmao listen the brainwashing runs deep). you could be anyone you want here.

all of this feels so real. you feel like you could stay here forever.

deimos extends their hand. you reach out to take it. to join them.

and something tumbles out of your pouch.

it’s a little wooden eagle, a child’s toy, battered and all scratched up with most of its defining features worn away. you know it well. you know every contour of it because a little girl gave it to you when you left the island where you and she once lived, to go make a name for yourself in a war that never seemed to end, until suddenly it did. you know this toy eagle because you folded that little girl’s cold, dead, still-bloody fingers around it one terrible night in athens. you were told, later, that the eagle burned with her on the pyre your friends constructed for her. and so the only reason this eagle is here now, the only reason you can run your hands along its outstretched wings and trace the whorls of the woodgrain with your fingertips and feel the slight weight of it in your palm is because none of this is real.

what is real is this: the cult existed, and phoibe died. leonidas died. perikles died. brasidas died. and you cannot live in a world where the very act of dying for the world they didn’t know they were helping to shape is the one thing that becomes the defining feature of their legacies. where their lives become nothing more than some kind of grotesque buttressing to prop up the very people who got them all killed.

there’s some kind of bossfight against deimos, who, despite their appeals to you to join them as a battlefield companion and true siblings after too many years lost between you, still doesn’t hesitate to turn against you as they always have the moment things do not go their way. because that’s the way it is between the two of you: they push, and you push back.

and the more you fight, the more atlantis crumbles. the others don’t seem to notice; they simply sit there and laugh and sip wine and dance and sing as stone after stone falls from the vast turrets and crushes first their companions, then them, into blood and bone and gristle. there’s a gate up on the highest tower of the city, and you know instinctively that without it you’ll be stuck here in this strange dream-limbo, fighting your sibling for eternity as both worlds, dream and real, carry on with or without you. and as you make your way to it (maybe there’s some sweet parkour opportunities here with like falling debris and such) deimos gives chase and as you draw closer to the gate you start to see that it’s not empty at all, but full of people crowing in to take a peek at all the commotion.

there’s sokrates and hippokrates and aristophanes. alkibiades looking uncharacteristically worried, and [insert any npc lieutentants you’ve recruited like roxana or odessa]. xenia is there, and so is anthousa. kyra and/or thaletas, too (depending on the outcome of the mykonos questline). and a gang of plucky little kids, all cheering you on: khloe, the girl with the clay friends; arsenios, the tour-guide-turned-con-artist; ardos and his caretaker. (and i guess nikolaos and stentor if they’re still alive lmao) (maybe pythagoras is allowed too but he’s on thin fucking ice)

and, of course, myrrine. standing at the forefront, shoulder to shoulder with barnabas and herodotos. all three of them -- alongside everyone else you’ve ever allied with, fought beside, or helped out -- everyone who loves you, everyone you’ve ever loved -- they’re beckoning you home. back to the real world, where they matter. where you matter.

where you have always mattered.

you’re so close to taking your mother’s hand, you can feel the warmth of her fingertips -- and then you hear a scream below you.

it’s deimos, and they’re falling. maybe they tripped in their haste to catch you. maybe some of the falling rubble knocked them off-balance. it doesn’t matter. the only thing that matters is that your sibling is falling to their doom. again. and there’s nothing you can do about it.

except this time there definitely is.

so you leap from the ledge with all the strength you have, the roaring in your ears drowning out myrrine’s shouts. you’ve fallen from greater heights, after all, and lived to tell the tale. this is nothing. and this time you’ll catch your sibling, because this is your dream, too. and in your dream, you can do whatever the fuck you want.

you catch deimos, the both of you still falling, the ground rushing up to meet you -- and you both wake in the cave of gaia with a jolt. each of you still have a hand on the pyramid, and you make eye contact. they give you the slightest of nods, as if to say i’m okay. i’m awake.

the ghost is still asleep, head bowed, eyes flitting to and fro behind closed eyelids, both hands still on the pyramid.

you destroy the pyramid with your grandfather’s spear. this wakes the ghost. she’s furious, and tells you that you’ve made a terrible mistake. the cult of kosmos may be extinguished, but the ideals she worked toward are not. (basically this kind of mirrors the whole spiel about the philosopher-king or whatever tf the ghost said at the end of the actual in-game storyline that foreshadowed the order of ancients and eventually the templars)

deimos looks to you and mutters that it’s your choice what to do next. the ghost tries to appeal to them but they’ve run out of fucks to give. they leave.

[kill the ghost] what it says on the label. you get a nice little ac-esque assassination cutscene and it’s actually got some emotional weight to the decision/scene, unlike the game.

[walk away] leave the ghost in the cave. the pyramid is gone, the cult is dead, your sibling is free. the ghost will live the rest of her life looking over her shoulder, knowing that the grandchildren of leonidas have seen her for what she is. knowing that whatever she does next, they’ll be watching closely.

when you leave the cave, you see deimos, pacing as they overlook the view of phokis from mount parnassos. it’s high noon and the sun glints brilliantly off their gilded armor. they glance at the temple of apollo and remark how strange it is to be standing here together, so close to the place where both your fates were sealed with just a few words from a puppet pythia a lifetime ago.

you ask what they’re going to do, now that the cult is gone.

the peace of nicias isn’t going to hold, they tell you. the war will start again soon enough, and when that happens both athens and sparta will be looking for champions to fight for their side.

dialogue choices:

[i’ll see you on the battlefield] you and your sibling part ways. subsequent conquest battles have a chance of spawning a bossfight against deimos who is fighting for the other side -- neither of you can perma-kill the other so you can encounter/fight them over and over again. at the end of the conquest battle, no matter who wins, you can see them walking up and down the battlefield and you can have some silly little sibling banter, which changes depending on who wins/loses the battle

[join me, fight with me] deimos joins your crew just like in the game. unlike the game, you can interact with them at any time while they’re walking up and down your ship and have sibling banter because i just want some decent fucking sibling banter in this game

no matter which option you pick, the first time you return to sparta after finishing this storyline you’ll have the option of entering your old family home and triggering the family dinner cutscene with all the surviving members of your family because goddammit even after all this wishful revisionism i still love that silly little family dinner

anyway in conclusion this is what i want out of odyssey, thanks for coming to my TED talk, don’t forget to smash that like&subscribe the way the eagle bearer definitely smashed brasidas’ fine spartan ass offscreen bc ubisoft were too smoothbrained to give us the romance we deserved

#tuserautumn #userbryn #assassin's creed #ac odyssey #cool story charlotte #can u tell i listened to 'leaving valhalla' one too many times on loop tonight and have been cryin in the club @ that doorway scene #idk fam i just want a remaster/retweaking of odyssey #where all the art direction and the characters and music and general story beats are the same #but with a more coherent narrative that doesn't disintegrate the moment you start prodding at the plot holes #yes i'm fully aware that deimos dies in novel/wiki canon NO i do NOT care. FUCK that. in this version deimos lives #anyway ub*s*ft hmu there's way more odyssey-reboot ideas where this came from and they're all WAY hornier + involve pegging spartan general #better yet just let me buy the fucking franchise already cmon #i've got IDEAS #i mean they're not GOOD ideas but like. #must ideas be good??? is it not enough simply fulfill all the desires in my selfish little gremlin heart????????

[unfunny-quips]

Of all the many people in the world who wanted him dead, All For One had to admit that he was rather surprised by the person who actually managed to both track him down and get past his impressive security.

He knew someone was there the moment he opened the door. Could sense the presence of another person in his high rise apartment that shouldn’t have been there. A steady heartbeat, unflinching and unafraid. Brave or stupid, he wasn’t sure, but they’d be dead either way once he wrung out of them how they’d gotten in and which of his security detail he was going to have to kill.

He shrugged off his coat - it was new and fit him well, he’d rather not get blood on it - and hung it up carefully by the front door. Slipped off his shoes and rolled his shoulders with a sigh. Though that particular apartment was not homey per se, there was something oddly comforting about returning to a living space that was entirely his own at the end of a day. Though centuries ago, a childhood fraught with uncertain living situations and inconsistent care had left marks on him that time and power had not fully been able to shake.

All the more reason to make the intruder’s death slow, as insignificant a threat as they were, they’d at least been able to find him. Which meant finding a new luxury apartment, perhaps even in a new city. And he despised moving.

He kept his steps light on the polished wooden floors, stopping by the oversized and little used kitchen for some water before he meandered his way towards the living room where his uninvited guest waited. Perhaps he’d throw them out the window, eighty stories up would make for a rather long time to think about their impending death. Or maybe tear them apart inch by literal inch so they had to languish in their suffering.

Setting his glass down on the kitchen counter he stepped into his spacious living room and paused at what sat waiting for him.

All For One, Emperor of Darkness, King of all Villains, Boogeyman of the Boogeymen found himself...uncertain.

There was a woman seated on his couch. Casually dressed and relaxed looking, knees drawn up and tucked beneath her, an open book bag on the floor beside where she sat and a law textbook in hand. She finished highlighting a section carefully before capping the marker and turning her gaze on to him, letting him see her face properly for the first time.

Green eyes were the first thing that struck him. Clear and bright and intelligent, set in a kind face. Her hair, also green, was swept down a little past her shoulders with half of it pulled up in a fluttering little bun at the back of her head. He was struck by two thoughts as he took her in.

The woman sitting before him was entirely unintimidated by him.

And...

She looked a bit like Nana Shimura. 

The woman tilted her head, seeming to take him in while he’d been observing her. She shifted on the couch a little, shutting the book softly and setting it down. Her heartbeat was steady, her gaze unflinching but not combative. Purpose seemed to flow off of her, as resolute as her steady gaze. He understood that she knew exactly who he was and felt no need for fear nor sense of unease in his presence. A strong will, he knew the aura he carried around him well and it was someone interesting indeed who could face the overwhelming killing intent that drifted off him in waves without so much as a flicker of uncertainty. 

“Hello.” She said with a soft, clear voice. The kind of ease one has with an acquaintance or a friend not often seen, not a stranger whose house she had invaded. “I’m sorry to have broken in like this.” She started, with the appropriate level of apology one would save for knocking over a stranger’s drink. “But I was hoping you’d be able to help me.”

He should be irritated, he should just kill her and get on with his evening, he should make her an example for anyone else stupid enough to think they could waltz into his home without consquence. 

He wasn’t irritated though. And he didn’t kill her. Instead he found himself oddly...charmed by the stranger that sat before him.

“Indeed?” He asked blandly, slipping his hands into his pockets before leaning against the wall casually. “I’m afraid you’re rather lost if you think this is a police station.”

The woman broke into a small smile, a soft huffing chuckle leaving her. Shaking her head she dropped her gaze for a moment and he saw the faint pink of a blush on her cheeks. He was, he realized. He was absolutely charmed by her. And it wasn’t even her Quirk doing it, hers had the feel of a gravitational telekinesis, not a mood altering ability. The woman that sat before him, who had broken into his home and casually asked him for help as if searching for her stray cat, was oddly endearing. And it had been a long time since he had found himself endeared by anything, let alone a person.

“Sorry,” She said, shifting on the couch. “I’ve probably done this all wrong. But I wanted you to know I was serious.” Green eyes met his own and he was struck again by the intelligence he saw in her gaze. “I don’t know why I thought this would be the way to do it but…” She gave a shrug, then slowly got to her feet. Careful not to topple her bag or trip as she untangled from her comfortable position on the couch. “Here, let me try again.” 

He watched as she gave a short, polite bow, hands clasped before her. A neat and polite introduction, complete with a soft smile as she rose to meet his gaze again. “My name is Midoriya Inko. I’m a graduate law student at Kyushu University, and I was hoping you could take my Sensei’s Quirk.”

Well. 

How on earth was he supposed to kill such a charming, polite young woman when she came to him with such an interesting request such as that?

He couldn’t, of course, was the answer.

---

Inko always had trouble with authority.

Even when she was very young she’d been prone to doing what she was told she shouldn’t just because an adult told her not too. Her father - in what faint and blurring memories she had of him before his death - used to call her his little revolutionary and would laugh over the hijinks her stubborn nature would produce. Then again, her father had his reasons to support the wholesale refusal to bend to the whims of authority. 

Trying to take down the corrupt system the government had put in place had been the cause of his death, after all.

Her mother had been far less amused by Inko’s acts of rebellion for rebellion’s sake. Always begging Inko to please just follow the rules just once honey with a perpetually exhausted look on her face. Inko’s only picture of her mother - a snapshot of the entire family at a park, her small frame held in her father’s arms a month before he would be killed - showed Nana Shimura with a wide, infectious smile in place. It felt odd looking at it in years to come, as Inko could only recall her mother looking mournful and sad in those last days.

It had been Kotaro that was the well behaved one of the two of them. Thirteen minutes older than her, he took the responsibilities of the eldest sibling with a seriousness that was almost frightening at times when they’d been children.

He’d been the one to tell her not to get into trouble, the one to reprimand her when she misbehaved. The one to tell her not to sneak out when they were teenagers in one of their many foster homes after their mother had given them up. Rule abiding, strict and, as they’d grown, more and more obsessed with control. Of her, of their situation, of whatever he could. A strangling, grasping bid at a control that had only led their already rocky relationship to splinter even further.

Her last conversation with him before she’d stopped speaking to him completely he’d told her that she should be a quiet housewife. She’d gone and applied to law school the very next day.

She still found herself wondering if that had been Kotaro being clever. Using her own contrary impulses to make her commit to something she’d always wanted to do but been too uncertain about to try and follow. It would have been the kindest he’d been to her in years if it was true, and she’d been too afraid to reach out to him to find out for fear that it wasn’t.

Instead she focused on her studies, focused on being the person she wanted to be instead of the person she’d been forced to become over the years. Not the abandoned daughter of a hero that had to retire too soon, but someone who was able to take the rules she’d been so long rebelling against and reshape them. Twist them under her hands until they settled into something she could believe in. Something she could follow.

At nineteen, after careful consideration and one less-than-helpful conversation with her friend Mitsuki she changed her name to Midoriya. On her twentieth birthday enjoying the fact that she could - legally - drink herself into oblivion, she cut her waist long hair off in a single ugly cut with the kitchen scissors. The next hour was spent in laughter as Mitsuki’s shy fashion student boyfriend Masaru fixed the mess as best he could. At twenty-one she clutched her best friend’s hand and gritted her teeth as a tattoo artist brought to life a stylized kitsune on her shoulder. A mark of the trickster she wished to become. And in between all of that, she proved herself to the academic world at large and earned herself a full ride to Kyushu University’s much lauded law program.

The work was challenging, equal parts exhilarating and mind-numbingly boring. She spent her days working hard to get top marks in every class, to ace every test, and impress every teacher with her sharp wit and unbending will. Her nights were filled with studying and working whatever jobs she could pick up to cover what her scholarships didn’t cover. Mitsuki teased her that she would get wrinkles from squinting at so many books, but her friend was always supportive. 

Years passed, semesters flying by in almost a dream at times, whisking her closer and closer to graduation and her dream of reshaping the system into something she could believe in. Despite her exhaustion, she’d found herself happier than she’d ever been in her life.

Which of course was the exact moment that it all started crashing down.

It started with one of the girl’s in the same program as Inko suddenly dropping the ball on her studies, the other woman’s grades began plummeting at an alarming rate. The girl -  Shibata Aiko - looked ragged and exhausted, unable to focus and eventually being dropped from the program entirely due to the issues with her academic performance. 

A few weeks later it was another female student shutting herself away in her dorm room for an entire week. The girl finally left her dorm looking haggard and sick, refusing to speak to anyone as she walked barefoot out into the wider world and immediately attempted to throw herself in front of a bus. 

Then one of Inko’s senpai’s - kind and serious Hanako who had mentored Inko briefly when she’d first joined the school - had what could only be called a breakdown in the school library. Screaming and crying as she began tearing up law books and flinging chairs.

Each incident was quickly handled and waved away as young women not suited for the high expectations and difficulties of such a high ranking university. Most of Inko’s classmates had been, if not content to accept that information, at least too exhausted by their own heavy workloads to question further.

But Inko never was good at accepting the will of authority.

#My writing #Fic snippet #bnha #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #Inko Midoriya #kotaro shimura #all for one #all for one is midoriya hisashi #dad for one #inko x one for all #inko is nana shimura's daughter #rebellious inko midoriya #all for one is completely smitten #bnha au #all for one: this is the story of how I met your mother

[volvolts]

trying again. im gonna talk about my ocs. its pretty long and kinda incoherent idk

first start with robin

idk how to make the picture smaller so im sorry

- her name is robin wright and she’s 17

BACKSTORY

- her mom is a cyberneticist and her dad is a neurosurgeon. they do research on cyborg’s disease and have a company that makes prosthetics. they’re really rich because if it

- robin also had a twin brother named ronan (she’s the younger twin btw). he died when they were 15 because he had a rare case of cyborg’s disease in the brain. his death was so traumatizing for her that she doesn’t remember the months surrounding his death. she doesn’t even remember the funeral

- after ronan’s death, robin’s parents put her into isolation for two years. they pulled her out of her classes and activities and she barely got human interactions during this time

- eventually she had enough and begged to be allowed out which they do--as long as she has a bodyguard with her at all times. the problem? robin had a hard time getting along with most of them. in fact, ryuji is kind of a last resort. if she doesn’t get on well with him, she’ll most likely be isolated until further notice

random facts

- she’s really smart, a natural genius you could say. she was on her third year in college before she was pulled from it (she’s studying to be a neurosurgeon like her father). she’s one of those organized highlighter/color coded note takers too

- robin is a very compassionate person and is compelled to help others as much as she can. 

- stubborn and determined, she’ll pursue nearly everything and won’t back down until she has answers. sometimes she doesn’t know when to stop and accidentally oversteps her boundaries. it’s not because she’s needlessly nosy but because she wants to know the whole story before she can help them

- she has a overactive imagination and would end up thinking up outlandish ideas to fill in the blanks of things she doesn’t know

- robin is one of those people who’s polite and reserved if she doesn’t know you but will talk your ear off when she’s comfortable with you

- she closer with her father, which is why she’s studying the same subject that he works in

- both of her parents are incredibly successful and she’s expected to do something similar so she has a lot on her shoulders

- she hasn’t worked a day in her life but she has unusually strong endurance and stamina

- she has a dog! he’s a golden retriever and his name is beck. he’s an old dog and she loves him very much 

next is ryuji

- his name is ryuji lor and he’s 22

- he also goes by “ryder” (technically he’s supposed to go by that throughout most of my half-baked story because he never told anyone is real name but that’s beside the point)

- he’s a quarter japanese and three quarters se asian (not really sure what kind yet but im thinking somewhere within the vietnam/laos area)

BACKSTORY 

- a bit of TW: FAMILY ABUSE in this passage so skip if it bothers you:  his mom got pregnant with him while she was in college and because her boyfriend bailed on her and stress of the pregnancy and burnout she dropped out and went back to her family. she was seen as “the good one” of the family and was expected to get a good job to get her family out of poverty however when she came back they were incredibly bitter that she “failed” and would verbally and emotionally put her down. They also blamed ryuji because if he wasn’t born then she wouldn’t have dropped out and he was often ostracized because of it. 

- fortunately he and his mom left when he turned 5. they lived in a small apartment and had to get lots of help from neighbors and friends to make ends meet (mostly to babysit ryuji while his mom worked). ryuji vowed to get smart and get a good job to give his mother the life she deserves (and partly because he feels a part of her really does hate him and he wants to make it up to her somehow because if he doesn’t, was he just a parasite like what his aunts and uncles said?)

- when he turned 10, his mom got married and how he has two moms. they’re hard on him but it’s from a place of love so he tries his best to be a good son by studying and staying out of trouble

- at 17, ryuji has a bit of hope ahead of him. he has a part time job, good grades, and maybe a scholarship if he could qualify. suddenly he’s diagnosed with cyborg’s disease in his eyes and arm. they can’t afford either of his surgeries, let alone one. and that’s not going into the prosthetics and rehab afterwards. at night when they think he’s asleep, ryuji hears his moms arguing about how they’ll be able to afford any of it and what they’ll have to do to pay for it. 

- he can’t take it anymore. he runs away

- he ends up in a city he doesn’t recognize and is just allowing himself to die but he gets saved by irving, a back alley repair doctor. he gets prosthetics thanks to her but is now in a massive debt so he works as her assistant and also finds other jobs on the side to repay it

- his backstory is getting really long so things happen in ryuji’s attempt to make money and he ends up also working with ace, who leads an organized crime group, as a handler whose job is to fight/intimidate/kill whoever. 

- a sudden coincidence also ends up working as robin’s bodyguard which starts everything. honestly he’s didn’t want to do this job at first but robin’s parents are willing to pay a good amount of money and it allows him to have time away from his jobs with ace

random facts

- he’s left hand but learned to be ambidextrous, however he’ll usually default to his left hand

- he wore glasses when he was younger (near sighted; it was super bad but he didn’t like it)

- he’s afraid of dogs. it’s not a full on phobia but they make him uneasy because of a childhood thing. (he’s more of a cat person and maybe pets a few stray cats that come across his house every once in a while)

- he doesn’t like people staring at him. he feels self-conscious because of the scar on his face and the shadowed bags under his eyes and people staring at him don’t help

- ryuji is really good with prosthetics repair and can go into in-depth discussions about the mechanics of it all; he actually really enjoys working on it and actually helped design his own arm

- he’s really smart but he had to work really hard to get there and because he never finished his education, he doesn’t really think he is either

- ryuji tries to give off a “i don’t care about anyone” bravado to try and distance himself from everything. but he really cares. like a lot. the few people he has in his life right now, he’s ride or die for them

- ryuji works himself to death to ignore his problems. he’s afraid if he stops moving, he’ll buckle under the pressure and stop forever

- he has a knife hidden in his prosthetic forearm which he will use if he feels threatened. (it’s probably a stiletto knife or something idk yet)

- ryuji is an early riser; waking up at 9 am feels like sleeping in to him. he’s not even that much of a morning person, its mostly out of habit

then there’s castor

- his name is castor oda and he’s 24

- he’s japanese

BACKSTORY

- he lived in a really strict and controlling family who owned a business where he had his entire life planned out for him up to who he was going to marry. he’s always been angry about it because he has older siblings who will take over the company and it’s clear that more of a control and image thing than anything else

- when he went to college, it was his first time actually be away from his family and became friends with a guy named ben. 

- ben helped castor when his family kicked him out at 19 and gave him a place to stay until he could get back on his feet

- castor loved ben like a brother and is forever grateful for him

- ben mysteriously disappeared when they were 21 and everyone is pretty sure he’s dead but no one knows why

- castor wants to find closure on what happened because he’s definitely sure there’s something shady going on and he’s going to find out what.

- he’s an information broker, occasionally crossing paths with ace to relay and gather info but for the most part, castor has been working alone

- when he’s not doing that though, he works as a barista at a coffee shop

random facts

- he has cyborg’s disease in his right arm and when he lived with his family, he was deeply self-conscious about it

- he hasn’t spoken to his parents since they kicked him out but he still talks to his siblings sometimes; he’s the youngest child with two older sisters

- he always had an inkling that ben had romantic feelings for him, which was unrequited, and castor always felt a little guilty that he never reciprocated or that they never got to talk about it

- castor always wears his red scarf no matter the occasion or weather; he has more scarves but he just likes the red one the best

- people think he’s like calm and collected but in reality he’s an impulsive, emotional driven idiot just like the rest of us

- however he is the master of the polite business smile because of his strict upbringing

- he’s a rather disorganized person

next is irving

- her name is ellie irving and she’s 35

- she’s half black, half white

BACKSTORY 

- i don’t have that much solidified for her backstory yet so it might change fyi

- irving had been doing cybernetic research back in college but someone plagiarized her work and submitted their paper before she came forward

- because the paper was published before she published hers, SHE was initially hit with backlash of plagiarism

- eventually they try to sort it out but in the end, while she proved she didn’t plagiarize the other, she couldn’t prove that she came up with the research first and they just terminated the both her and the plagiarist

- she was barred from going into higher cybernetics research and honestly she’s still a bit bitter about it

- she went into prosthetics repair instead but still struggled to find work because of her alleged reputation, which many still believed she stole another’s work

- eventually she manages to open up a shop that specializes in prosthetic repairs and replacements

random facts

- she’s really harsh and aloof, however she cares in her own way

- honestly irving doesn’t believe herself to be a good person due to how she feels she let herself to bitterly sulk in her anger for so long

- she smokes a bit but she’s trying to cut back lately

- irving won’t pry if you come to her with a broken arm and you need help; she’ll fix you up and leave it at that and allow you to come to her yourself

- she’s incredibly observant and can tell if your lying with just a glance

- she doesn’t know that ryuji works for ace; she’s concerned when he seems more tired than usual but she doesn’t know how to pry

last one cuz im tired

his name is ace (i don’t have a last name for him) and he’s 32

- he owns an organized crime ring; im thinking he’s connected to something bigger and possibly something with the black market

- not much is known about him but he’s a charismatic man and has the intimidation factor 

- he flips his demeanor a lot. one minute he’s jovial and kind then the next he’ll give you thinly veil threats. he mostly does it to keep people on their toes so it’s a power thing

- begrudgingly he’s the closest thing to a father figure ryuji is gonna get

- also the jacket ryuji always wears? it’s a gift from ace

and that’s all i got so far! i have a lot more ocs but i don’t have have a lot of backstory for them yet. let me know what you think of these guys and feel free to ask questions!

#talkin #my ocs #my art #robin wright #ryuji lor #castor oda #ellie irving #ace

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #84: Arjuna

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re making the Hero of the Endowed and one of the leading players in the Mahabharata, Arjuna! Arjuna is, of course, the perfect hero, so he’s a great pick if you want to be good at just about everything except dealing with your crippling impostor syndrome.

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: The hero we need right now.

Race and Background

Arjuna’s human, but he’s also the son of the lightning god Indra, so it’s a pretty good excuse to make him an Air Genasi. This gives him +1 Dexterity and +2 Constitution. He also gets Unending Breath, because you can’t prove Arjuna can’t hold his breath indefinitely while conscious, and Mingle with the Wind, which lets him levitate when it’s time to use his NP. You can only cast this spell once per long rest, and it uses constitution as its casting modifier.

The Indian caste system probably doesn’t map 1:1 with D&D backgrounds that well, but it’s pretty safe to say Arjuna’s a Noble, giving him History and Persuasion proficiency.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be Dexterity, archers tend to be pretty good with a bow. Well, Archers don’t, but you do. Second is your Charisma, you’re the most popular sibling in a family with two kids who are exclusively called “the beautiful”, and you somehow convinced everyone that the upstanding Krishna keeps telling you to do bad things. Third is Intelligence, you have to be pretty smart to keep your book straight, it’s dense reading. Your Constitution’s a little low, but it got bumped up by racial bonuses. We don’t need Strength, but we’re dumping Wisdom- you’re not known for your ability to resist temptation.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: First level fighters come pre-packaged with proficiency in Strength and Constitution saves, as well as two fighter skills. I’d go with Intimidation and Perception, just make sure you don’t pick any physical skills, we’ll get those later.

At first level, you get to pick a Fighting Style, and the obvious pick here is Archery for an extra +2 to all ranged attack rolls. You also get a Second Wind (ha ha, air puns), letting you heal up as a bonus action once per short rest. Sadly, this doesn’t charge your NP like Hero of the Endowed, but we’ll work on it.

2. Fighter 2: Your Action Surge lets you add an extra action to your turn once per short rest. If you try again before the turn’s over and you succeed, it’s like you never failed in the first place, right?

3. Fighter 3: I know a lot of people are probably expecting arcane archer, but Arjuna has tons of magic items, not magic skill. We’ll make our weapon fancy in a minute, but first we have to get a solid foundation with the Champion subclass. When you take this option, you get an Improved Critical, letting you score critical hits on 19s and 20s. 

4. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to become a Sharpshooter, letting you fire at long range without disadvantage and take a -5 penalty to a ranged attack to gain a +10 bonus to that attack’s damage. You can also ignore all but full cover.

5. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack with each attack action, letting you make two attacks per turn, or four with your Action Surge. Now that your basic attacks are covered, let’s have a chat with Agni about getting a worthy bow.

6. Warlock 1: Continuing this build’s metaphor of Genasi = elemental demigod, elemental gods would be Genies, which just became official warlock patrons in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. Agni would be an Efreeti, and striking up a deal with him gives you a Genie’s Vessel, a tiny object that you can use as a spellcasting focus, and has an AC equal to your spell save DC (8 + proficiency + charisma modifier), HP equal to your warlock level + proficiency bonus, and is immune to poison and psychic damage. You can spend an hour while resting to replace a lost or missing vessel, and you’ll want to keep it with you because it comes with plenty of benefits. While touching the vessel, you have access to a Bottled Respite, spending an action to enter the vessel, with an interior space that you can store items in. You can enter the vessel once per long rest, and stay in there a number of hours equal to twice your proficiency bonus. You can also invoke the Genie’s Wrath once per turn, adding  an amount of Fire damage equal to your proficiency bonus to anything that involves an attack roll. This means you can add it to your arrows or spells. Versatile!

Speaking of Spells, you get pact magic from your patron that uses Charisma to cast, and your spell slots recharge on short rests. For cantrips, Eldritch Blast gives you some magical arrows before you even get your magic bow, and True Strike helps you aim better but not really. For spells, Detect Evil and Good will let you know when the Kurus are up to something (they always are), and Charm Person will keep your ridiculous disguises from failing.

7. Warlock 2: Second level warlocks get Eldritch Invocations. Spend one on Armor of Shadows, because you’re clearly not wearing plate mail, and save the other for next level. Also pick up Cause Fear, because who wouldn’t be afraid of you?

8. Warlock 3: The Pact of the Blade gives you a magical melee weapon that you can summon as an action, and the invocation Improved Pact Weapon lets you pick a longbow as your pact weapon, gives it a +1 to attacks and damage, and makes it a spellcasting focus to boot!

Now that you have Gandiva by your side, grab Scorching Ray for more fiery arrows.

9. Warlock 4: Use this ASI to improve your Dexterity for better AC and accuracy. Also pick up Friends and Suggestion as your spells this level. A fun thing about the Mahabharata is that if someone of sufficient power says something will happen, it happens. We can’t make it so you’ll definitely win against your brother, but you should be able to apply this to smaller scale events.

10. Bard 1: If you want to be good at everything, you have to become a bard sometime. At first level, you get another set of Spells that use your Charisma to cast. Unlike most casting classes, multiclassing in warlock doesn’t mess with your spell slots, so just use whatever the books says at each level. You also get Bardic Inspiration, a number of d6 equal to your charisma modifier that you can hand out to allies to improve their attack rolls, checks, and saves. Finally, you get proficiency in any one skill. I think it’s safe to assume that living in The Forest for over a decade would help anyone’s Survival skills.

For your spells, Light and Message help you put on a light show and communicate on the battlefield. Animal Friendship will help you get that cute monkey friend of yours. Command continues the Speak and It Shall Happen effect from last level, and there’s enough talking animals in the Mahabharata that Speak with Animals should be a given. Also, you disguised yourself as a eunuch named Big Dick for a full year and no one called you on it, so I assume Disguise Self was in effect somehow.

11. Bard 2: Second level bards become a Jack of All Trades, adding half your proficiency to all checks you’re not proficient in. It’s not Anime Protagonist levels, but it’s still pretty good. You also learn a Song of Rest, adding a d6 to healing done over the course of a short rest.

For more of a healing factor, pick up Cure Wounds.

12. Bard 3: For your first and only round of Expertise, double your proficiency in Perception and Survival. You’re a pretty good archer, and you didn’t die in those twelve years. I think. Please don’t spoil it for me, I just got to their exile. You also get to pick a college, and the college of Swords lets you add some extra effects to your arrows to make them even more magical. When you take the attack action, you can add 10′ to your movement speed for the turn. When you hit with an attack, you can expend an inspiration die once per turn to add a Blade Flourish to that attack. Add the inspiration die’s roll to your damage, and then pick one of the following: a Defensive Flourish adds the roll to your AC until the start of your next turn, a Slashing Flourish deals the same amount of damage to another creature within 5′ of you, and a Mobile Flourish pushes the creature away, and you can react to move up to your walking speed closer to the creature. Amazingly, despite being called Blade Flourishes, none of these require a melee weapon, so have fun with them.

You also get another Fighting Style. You probably won’t use it, but Two-weapon Fighting will let people know you’re ambidextrous.

For your last bard spell, Enhance Ability will make your skill checks even better, giving you advantage on one kind of skill check for up to an hour. There’s also a couple extra bonuses for choosing physical checks, but this level’s already dragging on.

13. Fighter 6: Back in the fighter levels, use this ASI for higher Charisma. This gives you better spell saves and more flourishes per long rest.

14. Warlock 5: Bounce back to one last level of warlock for the third level spell Fear as well as the invocation Eldritch Smite, which adds 4d8 Force damage to a weapon attack by eating up one of your very limited warlock slots.

15. Fighter 7: Okay, back in fighter for real this time. At seventh level, you’re a Remarkable Athlete, adding half your proficiency bonus to physical skill checks you’re not proficient in, and adding your strength modifier to the length of running long jumps. By combining this and Jack of All Trades, you’re now pseudoproficient in every physical skill, plus initiative, without any of the effort.

16. Fighter 8: Use this ASI to finally max out your Dexterity for the strongest AC, arrows, and initiative.

17. Fighter 9: Ninth level fighters are Indomitable, letting you reroll a failed saving throw once per long rest. Failure is for people without the weight of the world on their shoulders.

18. Fighter 10: Tenth level Champions get an Additional Fighting Style, and the new Superior Technique option from Tasha’s lets us grab a battle master maneuver and pick up a d6 superiority die at the same time. The precision attack lets you add that d6 to an attack roll, for when you really can’t afford to miss your shot. You regain the die on short rests.

19. Fighter 11: At eleventh level, you get another Extra Attack, letting you nock a third arrow in a single action.

20. Fighter 12: Use your final ASI to strengthen your Charisma even further for better skill checks, stronger spells, and more flourishes.

Pros:

You’re good at ranged combat, with the ability to attack from afar with your longbow or medium range with spells like Eldritch Blast and Scorching Ray. Being able to use flourishes from 600 feet away also opens up opportunities for messing with enemy placement from a safe distance.

Thanks to Jack of all Trades and your plethora of social spells, you’re very good at dealing with problems outside of combat as well, opening up new opportunities for your party.

By having flourishes and smites on standby, you can deal a lot of burst damage when you deal a critical hit, which should happen often thanks to your increased chances and extra attacks.

Cons:

Your damage types mostly focus on normal arrows and fire, which tends to be resisted by a lot of enemies. Considering most of the Kurus are technically part demon, this could be an issue for you.

You have a few spell slots per rest, so you have to make your spells count. This is a similar problem for your flourishes, but you’re still better off than arcane archers.

Your low wisdom means you’ll fall for temptation pretty easily. Keep a good friend on standby to help you through the hard times.

#fgo #fate grand order #D&D 5e #Arjuna #Fate and Phantasms

[samsoleil]

3 17 23 for the spn asks. Please tag me @boykingsofhell so I see your answers <3

ask game

Thank you sm @boykingsofhell !! Putting question 3 at the end so that I can put my essay under the cut.

17. What’s an aspect of SPN people often point to as a flaw that you really enjoy?

the finale was good actually

Okay so. a lot of the flaws that people see in spn have been resolved in various posts about hbo spn but. something specific that people tend to want to resolve in hbo spn that I actually enjoy as-is is how the relationship between characters and religion. There is something to be said about religious trauma but there is also something very powerful about creating the space to analyse it without braining the audience with it. Cas off-handedly saying "Sam is, of course, an abomination" has stuck with me since age 13 (7 years!! heck!!) because it's casually said once and then almost never again, and we the audience are able to extrapolate the effects of that ourselves. Yes, it could be explored more, but I fear what it could have been in the wrong hands.

On a similar track, Supernatural suggests parallels between Sam and Dean and faith in an absent father, one for Dean and one for Sam, where

Dean has blind faith in John while Sam demands autonomy

Sam has desperate faith in God while Dean rejects the concept

but it doesn't demand that you Look at it. Sam doesn't need to carry a rosary to communicate his faith. He doesn't need to beg on his knees in the mud to demonstrate that he wants to be saved. Faith and doubt are integral parts of their character. The change in their faith and their doubt is interwoven in their character development.

23. If you could forget all of spn, would you watch it again? Why/why not?

Yes. Partly because I only have one brain cell and I share it with a friend of mine, partly because, despite everything, Supernatural has brought me a lot of joy at points in my life where I have had very little of it.

3. TFW: Sam, Dean, or Cas stan? I wanna hear your dissertation :)

I am a bitter Sam fan since (at latest) June 2015 (at earliest, mid 2014) and I will not apologise. I actually had to take a break after season 10 because seasons 6 to 10 made me so mad!! I couldn't do it anymore! 

Quick explanation for this is because I relate to Sam a lot and am also an eldest sibling, which means I can both project onto Sam and feel ridiculously affectionate towards him. 13yo me saw this 22yo and thought, is anyone gonna love this? and didn’t wait for an answer.

Long explanation below the cut.

Sam is my fave for a great deal many reasons but I'll try to summarise it in three points:

Excellent narrative

Relatable character

Wonderful to watch

1. Narrative

Sam has the most compelling storyline and character arcs of anyone in Supernatural. His storylines are compelling, multifaceted, and incredibly interesting to analyse.  Finding evidence for this can be easily done through the following steps:

watch the show

Sam is a story of someone who has responded to intense trauma due to circumstances beyond his control by choosing to be kind and compassionate. This is someone who has been told by everyone he knows that he is a monster not worth saving, and took that and turned it into a determination to make sure that nobody would ever feel that way again. In the earlier seasons, Sam defines himself by his anger while others define him by preconceived notions about his character. And he spends his entire life proving everyone, including himself, wrong. That he can be defined by his actions, rather than what he is or what people think of him. This is not only the best but also the only consistent narrative theme, which is very powerful of him.

He is a story of someone struggling to maintain his autonomy in a world that is determined to take it from him, and with that autonomy he decides to better the world around him. Interwoven in his character is the belief that your actions define who you are. And it isn't something that is easy for him to believe! It's a choice that he makes, sometimes rather desperately, that defines him just as much as any other choice. Which is why it's also SO interesting that Sam's autonomy is so frequently violated - because he believes that his actions define who he is, but so often his choices aren’t respected and he isn't the one in control of his actions.

2. Projection

All the above things are excellent reasons for why Sam is a good comfort character. Not actually because he's having a terrible time. But conceptually, he is strongly tied to the ideas that

people might say you are inherently bad, but they are incorrect

sometimes terrible stuff happens to you and that's not your fault

(this one only works if you love sam like I do) you can struggle with mental illness and still be loved

which are very comforting ideas. I feel comforted.

Furthermore, Sam is specifically a very comforting character for people who are queer, have siblings, and/or are religious. As a queer person, I'd like to point out that Sam is an excellent queer allegory.  Being told you're inherently wrong because of who you are and internalising it because the people you care about have said it? Being ostracised by your family because your fundamental character is different to what they planned for you? Feeling like you can't be honest with the people around you because if they knew who you really were, they would think differently of you? Also, he's gender. And apparently his gender on his licence was F on the official website so he has canonical evidence for being trans. He/they Sam. Gender neutral language for his past partners. Sam’s queer is what I’m getting at

And, importantly for me (and Dean), Sam is the person everyone with eldest daughter syndrome wishes they could be. He was distanced enough from his parental figure that he could cut through the veil of psychological manipulation to see the rotten core of abuse underneath. And he knows it! Early season Sam stands up for himself against his dad (and Dean) time and time again. Mid season Sam stands up for himself against the actual devil. Late season Sam stands up for himself against God himself. I want that for myself. I want to believe in my right to autonomy that strongly.

3. I am Looking

Listen. We all know that Sam and his character development was tossed to the wayside a bit (a lot) after... S7, I would say. But Jared Padalecki has fed us well. Even when Sam has no lines, he still has personality and character and thoughts and feelings and they're right there! on his face! in his whole body! He shows what he's feeling with everything he has, written on every inch of his skin, he responds so vibrantly to everything and it just feels so so real. Sam responds so emotionally and physically to the things that happen around him and it is just. so wonderful to watch. I am just full of affection for this character!!

Also. good to look at. I'm ace and Sam is the closest I have ever come to understanding the allo experience. Thanks for listening.

#boykingsofhell #spn #ask game #answered #brb dropping out of med to get a bachelor degree in supernatural #Anonymous #spn meta #kael.txt

[delusionalbiatch]

Jack’s Birthday Story

This came to mind and it’s because I love him so much and good boi deserves the best. I love him. And he came home too. Although I’m late because I have school stuff to do sksksk

With a female MC!reader~ who has a crush on him. Because I DO AND I LOVE HIM SO MUCH BABY BOY DESERVES THE BEST.

Y/N looked at the time, waiting for the clock to strike 12. She had been waiting for October 11th to arrive, since she knew it is Jack’s birthday. She didn't feel intimidated by him and befriended him anyway, although he's such a tsundere. She loves how he always denies helping although he's already doing it anyway. Aside from her crush on him she always felt that he helped her a lot of times, even when things were a disaster, due to Ace, Deuce, and Grim making a complete mess of themselves. She knew he’s got a kind heart, and she respects how he’s very determined.

Y/N had gone out to buy a thermos water bottle with little cactus pictures on it. It maintains the temperature of anything inside it pretty well, so that when he finishes his training his water is still cold enough to be refreshing, or if he wants to store hot water, cocoa, or tea inside it’ll be kept warm and nice. She contained it inside a paper gift bag. She fiddled her fingers to contain her excitement. It’s only 1 minute more!

Ding ding ding~!

The ringtone on her phone rang. She sprung from her room, quickly running towards his room at the Savanaclaw Dorm. She had made a promise with Leona to buy him bread during lunch for a week straight so that he’d let her in at night and she’ll be able to give Jack a surprise.

When she arrived to the dorm, she saw Ruggie still up, probably done with his chores. “Ah, Ruggie-senpai!” She greeted him with a smile. He smiled back at her, saying, “Jack is probably asleep. I heard from Leona that you wanted to give him a surprise? At night?” He asked with a concerned look. She grinned at him, her eyes glinting with confidence. “Yes, I planned to give it in secret so he’d be surprised by the morning!” She said. Ruggie laughed at her. “Oh really? Good luck then, Y/N-san.” He waved his hand and went back to his room, yawning.

She fast-tiptoed all the way to his room, gently and very carefully opening the door, peeking her eye through the crack to see if he was sleeping or not.

She saw a flurry of white on the bed, softly rising up and down. “So he’s asleep…” Her heart warmed at the thought of seeing him in a vulnerable state like this.

She slowly closed the door behind her and gently placed the bag beside his bed. She had inserted a letter inside it.

She slowly looked up to see him still sleeping. Her heart thumps loudly, seeing him in this state.

"What if I..."

Y/N leaned closer to him, her face only mere centimeters away from his. Then...

*chu*

She kissed him softly. On the cheek.

Immediately, her face went beet red, retreating after that soft touch of her skin against his.

"W-what did I just...Oh God...!" She thought, as she quickly ran and, still slowly, closed the door behind her, her face redder than Riddle's hair.

"Stupid, hahahaha how stupid! If he found out, it's confirmed you'll ruin your friendship with your best friend you idiot!!!!!" The devil on her right shoulder said, laughing as she dashed back to her dorm.

"It is alright, child. You conveyed your honest feelings to him and you will be rewarded." The angel on her left said, although not too promising in her ears.

"You both..." Y/N said in her head..

"SHUT UP!!!!"

......

Meanwhile...

The door to Jack's room opened, revealing Leona yawning and looking at the small present on the floor.

"You can stop pretending." He said. "Y/N left."

Jack's ears twitched, as he sat up, his face already red. "Y-yes. I...didn't expect her to actually come...this late at night." He murmured.

"She's very persistent, so..." Leona's word trailed as he saw the look on Jack's face.

"What the--what happened? Did you hit your face or something?" Leona asked, his eyes narrowing.

Jack immediately shook his head. "N-no, I'm okay, Leona-senpai! I was just feeling a bit hot!" He denied, shaking his hands.

Leona huffed and scratched his head. "Fine. I'm going back to sleep. Remember, you asked for me to tell you all this. So you be responsible with your actions. Happy Birthday. Tomorrow you're in for a treat, pup." He grinned and closed the door.

Jack was again, left alone in his room. He reached down and took the bag. He opened it to see a letter and a water bottle.

He took the water bottle, examining it. Cute cactuses with little faces smiling decorating the bottle. It was cutesy...unlike the whole perception of who he is.

Big. Intimidating. Delinquent.

But she didn't think of him that way. Y/N, although unable to use magic, always challenges him to be better. Her determination, hard-working self taught him that, she's strong. Maybe even stronger than him in will. She was kind to everyone, especially him. He felt special.

He even went far as to ask Leona's opinion about it a few days ago. The lion only laughed. "It looks like she cares about you. No one would ever give you care and love like that, except for her, don’t you think?" He asked.

Jack had thought about it for a while. Her smile always seemed to brighten his day. Her laugh, her voice. Everything about her. Made his day a lot more brighter.

"I...I want to see her smile. Make her smile." He said. 

The lion only nodded. "Then...what will you do as a brave, responsible man?” He asked. “You are one, aren’t you?”

Jack’s golden orbs looked up to his dorm leader. “I-I am! I...have to talk to her.”

Leona smirked. “Heh. Didn’t know you had it in you. Thought you were just a little pup who only knows how to bark and bite.” 

Jack ignored that comment, and he prepared himself. He thought about how Y/N, though seemingly fragile, is strong-hearted and always so supportive. How he would convey his feelings.

People usually pick on him because he's big. They pick meaningless fights with him. He never expected for anyone to accept him, though. He just wanted to constantly improve himself and one day prove he's the best. And she knew that, she understood that, she rooted for him.

He read the letter, written in cute little cursive handwriting.

"Happy Birthday, Jackie! May all your wishes come true. I know you'll get stronger and stronger every day! That's why, you're so cool and reliable! But, once in a while, don't forget to rely on me too! After all I'm the very dependable prefect! And I can teach you stuff you don't know, too! So don't be too hard on yourself, okay? Best of everything for you! ♥️"

P.S. I hope this will be useful to you! Good luck with Track and Field Club! └( ＾ω＾)」

-XOXO- Guess who this is (＾3＾) ♪

“Of course I know who this is. Idiot...” Jack blushed.

His heart bursted at the seams when he read the letter. Aside from the letters he got from his younger siblings, he never received something as cute as this.

Cute... He blushed, tail wagging as he read the letter and held the bottle dear. He had to struggle to sleep as he couldn’t contain the excitement to see Y/N again in the morning.

6 hours later...

Y/N snored softly on her bed, the late night mission she did had worn her out. Grim, instead, is snoring loudly, still asleep on the edge of her bed, curling into a cute ball.

Little did she know, that Jack had wanted to see her in the morning to give her his thanks.

He stopped by the front gate of Ramshackle Dorm, ears a bit drooping.

Is this too forward? Will this break the relationship they have?

He shook his head and went inside, asking the ghosts where Y/N is.

“Fufufu~ She’s still sleeping, big boy.” One said.

“Yes, yes, you want to spoOOk her?” The other said.

Jack shook his head. “N-no, I just... I wanted to thank her for giving me a gift...” He explained to the ghosts.

“Huh, boring~ Okay then be our guest! Fufufu~”

The wolf trudged up the stairs, being extra careful to not make a sound.

He opened the door to Y/N’s bedroom, blushing a bit, thinking as if he’s doing a crime. He gently walked in, looking at her sleeping form.

Oh, how the tables have turned, huh?

He gently nudged her, though, he didn’t want to...erm, secretly kiss her. He knew what she did last night was quite accidental so he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries.

“Um...Y/N, wake up, please.” He said.

The girl stirred, flinching a little and opening her eyes. To her surprise, her crush is standing there, all 192 cm of him.

“J--J-Jack!!” She shouted, her body toppling to the floor, an “Oomph!” flying out of her mouth as she landed with a thump.

“Y-Y/N are you okay?!”

He helped her get up, her full height not even reaching close to his face, so she had to look up.

“J-Jack...Why are you here?” She asked, trying to fix her hair and rub her eyes to look at LEAST presentable. “You know, I haven’t taken a bath yet and I look so disheveled!” She complained, patting the creases on her pajamas.

Pajamas. She looks so cute...She wears pajamas to bed! Jack screamed internally, holding back a smile as he blushes and covers his face with his right hand.

“That’s...That’s okay! I don’t mind.” He grunted out.

She looked up at him, stopping to see his yellowish-golden eyes staring into her. He’s so...handsome. She inwardly thought.

She looked back at the bed, seeing Grim still sleeping soundly despite the noise. It’s after all, still 6 a.m.

“Why don’t we take this to the living room? I don’t want to wake Grim up, he’s grouchy this early in the morning.” She smiled. Jack nodded and followed suit.

Once they’re back downstairs, she sat on the sofa, patting the spot beside her. “Come sit down.” She softly said, yawning a bit, holding a glass of water she had taken from the kitchen on the way.

As they sat beside each other, Jack balled his fists. “How do I start this...”

“Uh...Y/N.” He started. She looked up at him. “I--”

“OH! I forgot. Happy Birthday, Jack!” She said, cutting him off. “I hope you’ll achieve your dreams, become a great person...even though you’re already great as you are.” She giggled.

That’s when his heart skipped a beat. He looked into her eyes, beaming at him with adoration and kindness.

“Y/N...Sorry, but...let me...” He whispered. She nodded. “What?”

He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, hugging her.

“W-wha-Jack!” She squeaked, placing her small hands on his chest, but letting them slide to his back, returning the hug.

“Thank you. For being kind to me. For being nice to me. For being supportive. Thank you for the gift. I will cherish it. You’re the best..uh..you’re the best.” He stammered, Y/N not being able to see how red his face is.

“N-NO need to thank me that much, Jack! I mean...it is your birthday. And I act that way to you because, well...everyone should be treated well! And...I admire you. You’re a great person. You’re hardworking and serious but kind. Seeing you gave me motivation and it challenged me to become better too. I...”

They paused, looking at each other.

If I don’t say it now... Y/N thought.

If I don’t tell her now... Jack thought.

“I like you, Y/N / I like you, Jack!” They said in unison, blushing furiously.

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

They looked blankly at each other, not believing their ears.

“I...You like me?” Y/N asked.

“So you really like me?” Jack asked.

A pause went on, before Y/N burst out laughing.

“Ahahahahaha! Oh my that was so funny! I didn’t know that these things could happen in real life! We confessed to each other at the same time!” She laughed, her voice filling Jack’s ears.

She’s smiling. She’s laughing. His tail wagged with happiness.

“D--don’t laugh at me! I--I said what I said, okay?” He huffed, crossing his arms. He thought she didn’t realize how badly his tail is wagging right now...

“Hehehe, I’m sorry! Now, let me freshen up and we can do anything you want today! And meet our friends too! It’s your birthday!” Y/N stood up and brushed a stray hair away from her face.

Jack smiled, looking at her with awe. “Then...are we...dating?” He asked.

She blushed. “Well, if you want to, Jack. I won’t force you to do something you don’t want to.” She shyly said.

He shook his head and stood up. “No. I’m a man, and I don’t want this to have no meaning. I...want to be your lover.” He said, a bit stumbling on his words but gently holding her hand.

EEEE he’s so cute! Y/N thought, squealing inside.

“Then...I’m in your care, Jack.” She said.

“Me...Me too.”

.

.

.

“Oh...and...Y/N?”

“Yeah, Jack?”

*chu*

“This is payback.” He grinned.

And that’s when Y/N combusted from the overload of cuteness from him.

And thus, Y/N and Jack met their friends with blushes on their faces. No one knew yet...except for Leona. He knew what’s going on. He could really consider being a cupid now and then.

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And it’s done! Oh goodness it’s been so long since I last wrote something. I hope you guys enjoy this short story!

#Jack howl #disney twisted wonderland #jack #Twisted wonderland #fanfiction #jack howl x reader #birthday #October 11 #i'm late #he deserves to be happy #he deserves everything #i love him #so #much

[fairymadnessyeah]

A Poisoned Heart

Shigadabi week day 6

AO3 Link

Summary: Once upon a time, in a kingdom far, far away, lived a young, kind prince and a young, powerful mage. This is their story...

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Deadly / Magic / Distance

"This way, guys!" Midoriya guided them through the dense swamp.

If Shouto was honest, he hated this place. He preferred forests or open fields than the humid and smelly swamps. But his friends were in danger, and he would do anything for his friends.

A few months ago, their group and Bakugou's had separated. Shouto along with Uraraka, Midoriya, Iida and Tsukuyomi headed north while Bakugou, Kirishima, Sero, Kaminari and Ashido went west. The two groups had different objectives and so their paths separated. It wasn't an uncommon occurrence though, and it wasn't like they had no way to contact each other, which had lead them here.

Two days ago, Sero contacted them and told them Kirishima had gotten hurt by hunters. They were in the middle of nowhere, but they had luckily found a mage who agreed to heal him. Not ones who turn their back on their friends, the group forgot about their quest and went to their friend's aid. If somebody had told him that he, Prince Shouto of the Fire kingdom, second heir to the throne, would find himself travelling to a swamp, he would have thought they were unhinged. But here he was, doing, exactly, that. Accompanied by a young blade master, a witch apprentice, a knight in training and his personal mage on a journey to make sure his dragon friend wasn't in danger. Who would have guessed that the quest to help his brother would leave him to here?

"I see something!" Uraraka yells, pointing towards a line of smoke in the air ahead of them.

They followed it, cutting through trees and greens and stepping on slippery muddy terrain. They knew they were in the right path when the party heard the loud screams of a barbarian they knew. The arriving group soon came to a clearing where a small cottage was situated and outside of it, Bakugou and his companions were there. Once they saw him, they all ran to greet them in their loud and excitable nature. Kirishima didn't though, the bandages over his abdomen stopping him, and neither did Bakugou, the Barbarian King deciding to stay by his dragon's side.

"I can't believe you guy came all the way over here!" Kirishima says as they all gather around him.

"Kirishima! You are one of our friends, of course we would come to your aid!" Iida tells him, moving his arms in a chopping manner and making a clanking sound with his armour.

"So, who did you find to help you?" Midoriya asks, and they hear footsteps and movement in the cottage. The door opens, revealing a skinny man with platinum hair in a dirty hooded robe.

Suddenly, a blade is drawn as mismatch eyes widen in surprise. Before it can strike though, it's path is blocked by another sword. Todoroki and Bakugou faced-off against each other, blade against blade, as the rest of the group stared in surprise at the scene. Todoroki was not someone who attacked without a reason or provocation. Maybe the Barbarian would, but not the prince. The roles had been reversed, and nobody knew what to do.

"What the Fuck, Icy-Hot!? What do you think your doing!?" Bakugou demands an answer.

"Step aside Bakugou," is the only thing he gets. "You can't trust this man," he glares at the man who the blonde was protecting.

"Is nice to you see you too, Shouto..." the mage with crimson eyes says. His voice soft and rough, barely a whisper.

"Do not call me that! To you, it's Your Highness," the royal says making his companions gasp softly. Never before had they heard their friend demand someone referred to him by his title.

The two warriors are slowly separated, but none of the drops their stand. Ready to pounce at any minute, Todoroki's eye don't leave the hermit mage. Bakugou steps between them as a warning. He knows he should be siding with his friend the bastard, but he can't. Not only is it out of character, but also the swamp mage saved Kirishima's life. He owes him enough to protect him from the weird-acting prince.

"Todoroki, this isn't like you," the greenette tells him, trying to make him lower his sword. "He hasn't done anything,"

"But he has," Todoroki says. "It's because of him that my brother is only a shell of the person he used to be,"

"I see," the mage says, the small light that his eyes held gone. "I can give you an antidote for him, but you need to know the consequences it might cause,"

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Everybody had the ability to practice magic. Some more than others. But the only way for one to practice the art legally, you needed to acquire a certificate seal. And the only way to get one was by being taught by a certificated master.

Shimura Tenko, after an accident with his magic, got accepted into The Draiocht, one of the most famous institutes of magic. He aced all of his classes, and once he graduated, he was given the most prestigious of positions a mage his age could achieve. The Personal Mage of a Crown Prince. And not any prince but the heir to the throne of the Fire Kindom, Todoroki Touya.

Kings and Queen, as well as any other royal or council member who mattered, had a personal mage by their side. They acted as bodyguards, advisors and magic experts. He was thrilled to be in such a position. He had become a powerful mage, with the ability to tame the dark arts, and he even had a new name to prove it. From rags to riches, Shigaraki Tomura went from the son of a simple merchant to one of the wizards in the palace of Caith Capital in the wealthiest kingdom. And then he met the prince.

Now, he didn't have anything against royals, but he knew what to expect with most of them, boring lessons, boring high-class parties, boring meetings. He had the plan of practising his magic more and even mastering the subjects his alma matter deemed forbidden when he was a student. But the Todoroki brat he was given to, however, didn't care for any of that. The elder prince spent his days and night avoiding his lessons his father tried to force him into. He would hide in the gardens or the castle's secret tunnels, waste his time in the stables or map-room and fool around with his siblings. Tomura, for the most part, didn't care if the bratty royal wanted to be an irresponsible heir. What bothered him was that as his personal mage, he was dragged to all the problems the prince got into.

"Why are we here again?" the mage asked one day as he was, once again, taken to the map-room of the royal library by the prince.

"I just need to find something before the trip tomorrow," the redhead says as he rummages through cabinets and shelves.

"Can't you be a normal prince for once?" he moans as he watches the royal take out a rolled map. "You are supposed to go on this trip to learn about the old kings of history! Don't you want to be a good king?" he crosses his arms.

"And you think that's the way to learn how to be a king?" Touya rolls his eyes and takes one of the cylindrical cases. "They only teach about dead guys in boring books or documents. That's not what a king is supposed to be," he places the map he took in the case and opens a trap door. "A king should be a servant to his people, and I doubt the guys they tell me about, knew anything about their people,"

That interaction was the beginning of all. The day he learned there was more to the prince than a careless and bratty attitude. The next day, as planned, King Enji took his son to learn about the old kings of the kingdom. They were accompanied by a knight of the palace, his squire and the mages of each royal. On the second day of the trip, the prince tried to slip away from the camp. Tomura was woken by a rustling sound inside his tent, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the prince was packing a bag.

"Where are you going?" he interrupts the guy, tapping his foot annoyed.

"Hunting for food... ?" Tomura sighs frustrated.

"You can't just leave in the middle of the night," he whispers loudly not to wake anybody else. "They're going to think you were killed, or kidnapped, and they are going blame me for it! I'm the one keeping an eye on you-"

"Listen," he interrupts him. "If you want to stay here, fine, but I'm not going to spend another day with my old man. Besides, I'm going to see you all in that 'grand library place'. I'm just going through a more... fun route," the teen says and continues packing.

Tomura, meanwhile, wants to rip out his hair in frustration. He opts instead to scream into his pillow. Once he is done with that, he starts packing too. The teen stares at him for a few seconds before Tomura speaks again. "My job is to keep an eye on you, which means I need to stay close to you, unfortunately," his answer makes the prince smile though, and the two leave camp undetected.

They ended going through a breach in between two mountains that was full of exotic birds. Tomura, when he saw the path the prince showed, though he wanted to hunt some of the fascinating animals and keep them as trophies. But he didn't. The heir to the throne quietly watched amazed and didn't bother the beast or their nest. He took a few feathers, but only those he found on the floor. The two somehow made it to the town before the king and his party, and once there they had fun. They visited the market, played in the woods and spent their night on a local tavern. It was the most fun Tomura had had in a long time.

The king wasn't happy, of course. But the mage believed he would let it go. The prince lived for getting into trouble, and his father's rage seemed to be rewarding enough. He learnt how wrong he was when Touya revealed the truth to him. Ever since he started working for the palace, Tomura healed the fire prince of multiples wounds. None of them were fatal, but he did get hurt on a daily basis. He always believed it was due to his recklessness, but one night as he applied a healing salve on the princes' bruises, Touya started talking. The mix had a dizzying effect on people, so he doubted he would have said anything if it wasn't for its side effect.

"When I become king, things are going to change... My mom is going to be happier... and my brother and my sister and my brother... we are all finally going to be free of him... he won't hurt us anymore..."

That trip had been eye-opening for him.

He understood that the prince was nothing more than a bird in a golden cage. He longed for freedom and happiness. And if he wanted to, he could get it. If he decided to, he could escape the castle walls and run free. Yet, he didn't. For he knew that if he got away, he would be the only one to do so. His mother and his sibling would have to stay behind with his father. Touya tried to make the hell they were living in bearable. He goofed around with his sibling, he pasted a smile on his face for everyone to see, but longed for something he couldn't have. Something, he would have to sacrifice his family to achieve.

Instead he waited, he remained in the dark and took the hard hits for his family. So that when he becomes king, his family could finally live in peace.

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As the years went by, Tomura stayed by Touya's side.

After their first successful trip on their own, King Enji allowed Touya to quest. He would be sent on the kingdom's behalf and only to those the king approved. And as his mage, he accompanied the prince in all of his adventures. The two had become friends over time. Touya still drove him up the wall with his messes, and he had had to save his behind more times than he could count. Touya took him to see the world and treated him like a person. All of the people he met in his life always expected something of him. His biological father expected a perfect son, his professors and mentors expected greatness and power and the king expected loyalty and servitude. And as a poor bastard looking for approval, he tried to meet those expectations. But with Touya, all of that was gone. He didn't have to be Shigaraki Tomura, the royal mage or the best alumni. He only needed to be himself. That was more than enough for the redhead.

"Is everything okay?" he asked as they set up camp near the road. The two were coming back from a successful quest and were in no hurry to return to the palace. "You've been really quiet lately," Touya hums.

"Have you noticed that lately we have only been sent to places with royal and noblewoman of marriageable age?" he says, looking at nothing.

He had. They were always offered a room to stay in by the people in charge of the places they went. They didn't accept all of them, but whenever they found themselves in one, Touya would be doted on by the female heirs of the family. It probably didn't help that the redhead was naturally charming and loved to flirt. Tomura ignored the way his chest tugged in pain whenever he caught him.

"My birthday is coming, and father is going to throw a ball to celebrate it," he says after a while.

"But he does so every year. It doesn't mean he is looking to betroth you," Tomura tries to look at the positive side as the pain in his chest festers.

"I saw the guest list," Touya says defeated. "All bachelorettes of the region will receive an invitation," he sighs and leaves to hunt something for them to eat. When he returns, they don't talk about it, and Tomura suggests they take a longer route back to the castle.

When Touya's birthday comes, just like the eldest prince predicted, princesses in uncomfortable and flashy ballgowns infest the ballroom. The royal family greets and welcomes the guest, and then Touya is presented once everybody arrives. Beside him, as he always had been, is Tomura. The presentation is over quickly, and once they join the guest, Touya is introduced to all the females interested in him. Tomura can see how much the prince wants to run to the nearest exit. He eyes them as a dried man searches for a drop of water.

The ball is boring. Tomura would rather lock himself in his quarters before attending. But as part of the royal court, he has to. He usually spends the night talking to the other mages who show up (which aren't a lot), eating the delicious food made for the occasion or taking care of the youngest prince. The prince Todoroki Shouto was still mageless at his young age, and Tomura liked him enough to keep an eye on him during the more formal events while Touya played Proud Heir. He was with the youngest prince when King Enji called him.

"Have you seen my son, mage?" he demands, belittling him like he always did. "The dance is about to begin, and he has suitors to please,"

'No wonder he left...' Tomura thinks, repressing the urge to roll his eyes.

"I believe he is freshening up, your Majesty. Should I fetch him?" he actually hadn't seen him for a while, but he knew him enough to guess where he was.

"You seem close to my son," the older man grumbles and glares at him.

"I spend a lot of time with him. It's my job, sir," he doesn't understand where the inquiry is coming from.

"Good. Remember that. You are only a mage, and Touya is a prince. Nothing more. Now bring him here." he bows and leaves. He had learned long ago not to talk back to the king.

Just as he expected, he found Touya hiding in the castle gardens. There was a small area hidden between the green bushes and trees. The rest of the family often spent time together there, without Enji breathing down their backs. With a giant tree they could climb on, a swing set, a fountain and flowers, it was the perfect place to get away from your problems. The prince was sitting in one of the swings when he got there.

"I figured you'd be here," he says and sits in the swing next to him. "It's a lovely night, don't you think? As lovely as the women making a line to meet you..."

"Psshh, you don't mean that," the guy grumbles. "Have you ever been in love, Tomura?" he asks after a pause.

"Wha- what?"

"Have you ever fallen in love with somebody?" he askes again, something in his eyes glimmering through the sadness.

"I- I guess not," he looks aways as his cheek turn hot. "I think I would notice if I did,"

"My mother told me she once loved my father," Touya tells him. "That they met in a ball like this and a year later they were getting married. Do you think it's weird that, even if I know it didn't work out for them, I still want to marry for love?"

"Do you love someone?" Tomura doesn't know why, but that hurts.

"I think I do, but I have to dance with everybody and not them," Touya admits.

"I thought you liked dancing," he knew he did. He saw him smiling with his sister and mother whenever they practised.

"Being forced to kind of sucks the joy out of it," he grumbles, and an idea struck his head. "Would you dance with me?" he turns to him, his spirits lifted.

"Huh!?"

"I know it sounds stupid, but..." he gets up from the swing and offers him a hand. "I want to enjoy some part of tonight," Tomura stares between his pleading eyes and the extended hand and, before he can think about it, he accepts.

Touya pulls him to his feet, and he suddenly founds himself in the prince's arm. Their formal wear is tight and uncomfortable, and he feels like he is in a costume when he wears it. As if he is pretending to be someone he is not. But while he is in Touya's embrace, body against body and an arm holding on to his waist, he feel alive. He feels like he belongs there, that he fits. He feels his heart jumping in his chest, beating against his skin, trying to get out. The two sway with the silence. Their music composed of crickets, the flowing water, their silents steps on the grass. Touya stares into his eyes as he rises over him. He gets lost in those blue eyes, shining like sapphires and penetrating his soul. He feels cold shivers run up his back and he knows his cheeks are turning pink.

He is overwhelmed. His pounding heart is deafening him, his head is spinning, and his palms are sweaty under his gloves. He feels as if he is about to pass out or throw up or both. Swallowing down his nerves, he tries to centre himself. He is a powerful mage. He can't get nervous over some moonlight silent slow dance.

Suddenly, the hood over his head falls down.

"You should wear your hood down more often," Touya whispers as he caresses his face gently.

"TOUYA!" a scream cuts through the moment, like a cold blade.

"That's- That's Natsuo," Touya says as they slowly separate. "We- we better get going," Cold filtering through Tomura's bones as he puts his hood back up.

The night goes on as planned by the king. Once Touya is back, he dances with all the ladies that Enji has deemed worth his time, he chats with the monarchs from far away places and Tomura watches as he tries to calm his heart. The royals gush over the prince, complimenting his manners and praising Enji for raising such a great heir. The princesses gossip and fawn over his charm. And soon enough the guests leave and the ballroom is cleaned by the servants.

But as he lays in his bed awake at night, Tomura is shaken. He keeps going back to that moment. With Touya under the moonlight, dancing and being safe in his arms. He had never felt so held, so cared for, so... loved.

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Everything went to hell a few months later.

Touya and Tomura went on another quest to a neighbouring city. It was supposed to be an easy one, just deal with some pest who was eating some of the crops. They expected to be back by nighttime with how simple it was, which ended happening, but not for the reasons they anticipated.

The pests, which were described as small lizards by the townspeople, were actually wyvern hatchlings. And when the prince and his mage started attacking the baby wyverns, the mother retaliated. Even if at the end they defeated her, they had not been ready for a fight like this. Touya had ended badly injured and Tomura, who was fighting against falling unconscious, brought him over to the palace in a rush. Natsuo and Shouto had been waiting for them luckily. The moment Tomura saw them, that he realized his the prince would be okay, he fell down.

When he woke up, Uwabami and Kido, Fuyumi and Natsuo's mages, were at his side healing him. It took him a few minutes to get over the drowsy feeling the restorative salves gave. But once his mind was capable of coherent thoughts, the first thing his head conjured was Touya. It wasn't unusual that the heir haunted his brain, but the last time he saw him, the man was at the brink of death.

He tried to get out of bed quickly. But his fellow mages stopped him, Trying to prevent him further hurting himself and explaining what happened since he arrived. He wasn't paying much attention to them, as he was too busy trying to get out of there, but he got enough pieces. Touya was out of danger but still unconscious, and he was being treated by the king's mage, Ending. It helped calm him a little knowing that he would make it, but he still tried to go with him. His fellow mages had to tie him to the bed to stop him from moving so that he could heal properly. Though, it was kind of pointless to do that since he could do undo the binding with his magic.

He knew they were right. He knew he had to rest so that the magic could heal him. But Touya needed him. He needed him, and he wasn't there. He had to be there. He should be the one in pain, no Touya. They fought like that for a few minutes until the king's mage arrived. Ending told him he could see him, if he stayed one more day resting. If not, he would be quarantined in his room until the king decided he could go back to Touya. Tomura didn't let anybody boss him around or give him ultimatums. But with the threat of Touya in the line, he obeyed.

The next morning, before even the servants entered his room, Tomura was by Touya's side. He didn't leave until his the prince woke up. He missed all meals and only talked with the ones who also came to visit the heir. Queen Rei and Princess Fuyumi were the ones who stopped by the most, along with their mages. The two brought him food and assured him this hadn't been his fault. Prince Natsuo came a few times, when he found the time between his lessons. Prince Shouto stopped by once. King Enji had begun his training, and the kid could hardly move without his father barking out orders. The king neglected the whole matter and not once dropped by.

After a week of sitting by his bed, watching and changing bandages, the redhead woke up. He first heard some painful moaning, and then those two blue eyes that tormented his dreams opened up. And the first thing the heir to the throne told his mage when he woke up after almost dying was a small and weak: "Hey..."

"You, IDIOT!" Tomura did not take that response too kindly. He had been reeling in his emotions for the last couple of days. "Why don't you ever listen to me!? I told you to run! I told you to escape! That it was too much for us! And yet you ignore me and head straight into danger! You could have gotten yourself killed! Do you understand that!?" the mage snaps at the man.

"Calm down. Everything worked out-"

"Doesn't it register in your thick skull that you could've died!? That you almost did!? Don't you understand you can't die, you dumbass!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the heir and all that-"

"I could've lost you, Touya!" Tomura yells and the dam breaks. Tears fall freely out of his eyes, wetting his cheeks, as he hiccups and sobs uglily. "I a- a- almost lost- st- lost you! You ca- can- can't die! W- wha- what wi- will I d- do without you!"

Touya doesn't answer. He only pulls him closer and leans him his shoulder to cry. Tomura holds on to him tightly, as if he would disappear if he let go. Touya strokes his back lovingly with one hand and with the other grasps his silver hair as he wails out his worry. They stay there for what feels like hours, but it was only a few minutes. It wasn't enough for him, though. He could spend a lifetime in Touya's arms, and it still wouldn't be enough. When his sobs start to decrease, Touya takes his face with his hands and places their foreheads together.

"I'm not going anywhere, alright?" Touya reassures him.

He doesn't know who leans in first or who made the first move. But as they hold each other, their lips meet in a gentle kiss. It's everything Tomura could have hoped for and even better than he imagined. It's perfect. It's the best moment of his life. But the beautiful moment is shattered when Touya separates from him and grasps his chest in pain.

A second later, the prince is twisting in pain as black veins grow out of his heart and start to cover his body. Tomura is panicking, trying to heal him with his magic and not understanding what's wrong.

"I- I don't understand, why can't I heal you?" Tomura cries in hysteric as he sees his loved one suffer.

"Because you are the one causing the pain," a voice answers him as the door slams shut.

"What do you mean? What did you do to him?" He asks as King Enji glares at him from the doorway and slowly makes his way to the other side of the bed.

"I told you to remember your place, mage. You are nothing compared to us, just filthy scum we use for protection. Your love is poison, and it will slowly kill him as long as you stay close to him," the king tells him.

"No... no..." he starts backing away in shock and notices the black veins stop growing. "Why- why are you doing this?" he asks the older man.

"My lineage will be remembered as the greatest and most powerful there was. My kingdom will remain a symbol of strength for generations. And I will not let you or anybody get in between my plans," the royal glares. "Now leave, mage. Leave and never return, unless you rather watch your beloved prince die,"

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After his story, Shouto apologized, dropping his sword to the ground, and explained that his father told him the mage had cursed his brother and then ran. "Is the poison what changed him?" Shouto asks him. His brother, a man who once enjoyed his life and smiled, became an emotionless ghost when the mage left. His father had always said he saved Touya from the mage when he was attacking him, but the family didn't believe him. The only thing they were sure about was that whatever had happened, changed his elder brother.

He got married to Princess Moe Kamiji of the Volcano Islands, and a few months later he ascended to the throne. His crowning should have been a good thing for them, but it quickly turned sour. In his dead-like state, Touya was more susceptible to suggestions, and their father was controlling him like a puppet. He made Touya fund his campaign to gain more territory and accept a rotating co-ruling system. On winter, his father would dictate as king while Touya continued the attacks on the rest of the land. On summer, they changed again. He didn't have many memories of his brother from before he traded mages, he was really young when it happened. But in the little ones he had, he remembered his brother was happy. They would pull pranks on the squires, steal pastries from the kitchen and play in the secluded part of the garden. He remembers how his brother would tell him about his adventures with Shigaraki or the time he taught him about the secret passages of the castles.

"No, that's not what changed him," Shigaraki says. "Your brother wouldn't have let the poison stop him. He would have come looking for me and would have gotten hurt in the process. I- I couldn't let him get hurt... because of me..." the mage explains, his voice breaking down. Shouto, now that he had a clear head could see how crushed the mage looked. He had heavy bags under his eyes that had no hope or sparkle left, and his actions seemed to lack motive. He was wholly and utterly defeated and was just as broken inside as his brother. "Before I left, I made a potion for him to forgot all about me..."

"And that included his feelings," Shouto concludes. "But there has to be a way to help him. He is nothing more than a puppet for my father to use now," he pleads with the mage. The skinny hooded man sighs and goes back to his hut. He then comes out with a flask with purple content.

"This will restore his memory," he gives him the concoction. "but you have to promise me you'll stop him from coming near me. He will die if he does," the broken mage warns him.

"I promise,"

It took him a week to reach the castle. His friends had been thankfully alright with taking the small detour on their journey. Shouto had been very lucky to have founds friends like them. Friends that would lend a helping hand for when it mattered the most. His mother was the one who welcomed them since it was spring. On winter and autumn, she stays in her birth kingdom, where now Natsuo resides. Shouto can't blame her for leaving, since he did the same, the moment his father wasn't looking. The only one who stayed the entire year on the castle was Fuyumi, her husband and Queen Moe.

As his mother takes his friends to their quarters where they can stay, Shouto begins his plans. He takes two goblets from the kitchen and fills one with wine and the other with the concoction the mage gave him. His father is away right now, fighting against some small kingdom and spending all the gold they own. However, he is a problem for later.

The obstacle he has to get rid off first is Touya's mage, Hawks. As prince and heir, Touya couldn't be left mageless. Shigaraki's replacement was a graduate from the Hverv Magical School, born from the fire kingdom. (He did come with an apprentice though, Tsukuyomi, who later became Shouto's mage.) He was a good mage, but his loyalty laid with Enji. He wasn't a bad man, far from it actually. But if it didn't work, then he would tell their father, and they needed to keep him in the dark for a bit to take the old king away from the power he still possessed.

"I'll distract Hawks while you do it," Tsukuyomi tells him.

"Thank you, Tsukuyomi," he watches the bird-man walk away with his raven on his shoulder.

Shouto puts the two cups on a tray and heads to his brother's study. When he arrives, the man is signing documents. He doesn't even acknowledge he is there until Shouto slams the door close. "Hello brother, how was your journey?" the young king asks in a monotonous voice.

"Good, we came across something interesting in the swamps of sikker død," he tells him, placing the tray with the two cups on the desk. "A mage, a powerful one, he gifted my companions and I some wine," he offers the cup with the concoction to the full redhead. "Care for some?" Touya grabs the cup without taking his eyes off the document he is going through and gulps it down in one go. He then leaves it on the wood again and return to what he was doing. "Are you feeling okay?" Shouto asks. Shouldn't his brother start to feel something? Was the potion not working.

"No, I ... I guess I took it too fast..." his brother slurs as he starts clutching his head. "What... did you... give me?" he tries to stand up but stumbles, holding to the desk to keep steady. Shouto rushes to his side. His brother let out one scream of pain before he gasps and tears form in his eyes. He suddenly looks at him, his eyes clearer than ever. "You said- you said he was in the sikker død swamp?" he asks, his tone not emotionless anymore, but desperate and on the verge of breaking.

"I can't let you go there. I promised I'll keep you away from him, that'll keep you from dying," Shouto tells him.

"Then I'm sorry about this, Shou," and before the young prince can react, his brother grasps his arms tightly and pushes him with all his force against the table. The young king runs, slamming the wood doors behind him. The noisy struggle catches the attention of the mages close by and when he catches sight of bright red wings. "Hawks! I need you to take me to the sikker død swamps! Now!" he orders the mage, and dragging him down the hallways and disappearing through a room.

Shouto, along with his mage, is hot on his heels behind him. When the two reach the bedroom the two entered, the redhead and his mage are already in the air. They can see them flying on the back of Hawks falcon, Keigo. Tsukuyomi calls forward Dark Shadow and the small raven grows in size. They get on the now giant bird and keep on their pursue, leaving the castle behind. They don't catch up with the two older men until nightfall, and by then, Touya reached the small cottage.

The redhead doesn't even wait for the bird to land. He jumps to the muddy ground and sprints towards the door, calling for his love. Shouto follows him, but he is only by the doorway when he hears the heart-wreaking scream of brother.

"TOMURA!" he sees his brother is kneeling by the bed, next to the unmoving body of the mage. "Please, open your eyes, Tomura! Don't do this to me! Please!" his brother begs as he holds the body of the mage, trying to wake him. "I love you! I don't know what to do without you! Please! Don't leave me!" he kisses the mage's forehead before hiding his face on his neck and loudly sobbing and crying.

Shouto suddenly notices a small bottle with a label and a letter next to it on the table. The bottle is empty, and it says  'white laurels extract' . The message is addressed to Touya. Shouto takes it and moves closer to his brother. His brother is still crying on the mage's body, weeping his heart out over his lost love. He slowly touches his shoulder to catch his attention and offers him the letter. Tears stream down his elder brother's face as he turns to look at him. With a shaking hand, he grabs the piece of paper and starts reading. When he is done, the flow of his eyes doubles and his sobs harden. He places a tear-filled kiss on Tomura's hand and continues crying, grieving the death of his dear mage.

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To my prince,

I knew your brother wouldn't be able to stop you. Nobody could ever hold you back from getting what you wanted, not even me. It drove me insane sometimes. Your persistence knew no limit, and many times it got us into so much trouble. Yet it was one of the many things that made me fall for you.

I love you, Touya. You are my world, my everything. It pains me not being able to hold you or be by your side. But it will kill you. And I can't let that happen.

The people need you. You are their king. You need to guide them to a brighter future and be light for them to follow. I know you can do it. You will be one of the greatest Kings your kingdom will ever have, even if I'm not beside you.

Goodbye, Touya. I love you.

With all my heart,

Tomura

#shigadabiweek2020 #shigadabi #dabishiga #shigaraki x dabi #shigaraki tomura #Dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki family #fantasy au #bnha #mha

[flerkenkiddingme]

Okayyy i promised @sen-raq another oc post (thank you for being the kind soul who asked, ily), so here comes Team Avatar OCs 2: Electric Boogaloo.

This time, we’re actually getting into the friends in the squads, since I covered the avatars’ siblings in my last one. Each one will get 6 headcanons, just like last time. And the first one for tonight is the underappreciated yet iconic Ta Min. (get it? cuz she’s my blog icon? i might have a problem lmao)

1. She’s the nonbender daughter of two fire sages. Based off what we know from LOK and Shadow of Kyoshi, they have a deep connection to the spirits. Her parents believed having a nonbender daughter meant that their spiritual connection was diminishing, so to prove she wasn’t totally useless, she studied everything fire sages could do that didn’t require firebending. She memorized every astral calendar, learned the names of all kinds of spirits, and even made attempts to enter the spirit world, but they never batted an eye.

2. One day when she was almost 13, she was heading home from her job at the palace and walked into a sword fighting practice session by accident. Instead of sending her away, the instructor invited her to try. She ended up joining for good, and became extremely skilled with two daos, much like a certain descendant of hers. This was how she met Kami and her best friend Asha.

3. She got along great with Gyatso, since he was fascinated by the fire sages’ techniques, and with each other’s help, they entered the spirit world for the first time. They also bonded over her being demisexual and Gyatso being aro-ace.

4. The way she and Roku met was her almost running him through with one of her daos on her way to her sword lesson, hastily apologizing, and disappearing down the corridor with an internal monologue that can be summed up as “shit shit shit shit shit that’s the prince’s best friend oh fuck did he see my face? he saw my face, i’m so fucked, i’m busted, my parents are going to pull me out of here and then things are going to suck again, mother fucking shit.” That didn’t happen, as the only thought in Roku’s head then was “oh crap she’s cute.”

5. Picture a group mostly comprised of reckless dumbasses, and imagine Ta Min as their one brain cell. Now throw that idea out the window. She's what I call the Trick Braincell, aka the one you think would be the functional one until a situation arises and you realize she’s just as bad as the others. 

This group’s braincell happens to belong to my next oc, Asha, the best friend and eventual girlfriend of Kami.

1. She is half Water Tribe on her mother’s side and happened to be born a waterbender. To cover this up, her blue eyes were turned brown and she wasn’t to do any bending outside of her home. This was effective for 15 years of her life.

2. She’s mad good at pai sho, and showed her strategies to Gyatso, who used to fail horribly at it. The White Lotus tried to invite her, but she told them unless changes were made to the misogynistic bending rules, it wasn’t happening.

3. Once, in a moment of blind panic, she reached for the water in the body of someone who attacked her and, with a sort of bloodbending move, made them hurt themselves instead. Asha never figured out how it happened, as she didn’t want to try it on any of her friends to find out.

4. Her bending specialty is plant-bending, like how the Foggy Swamp benders did. She likes it because no one expects anyone to bend vines and branches, and it really catches people off-guard.

5. She’s the reason no one else in the crew has died yet. She learned to heal in secret as a kid, and until Roku and Kami figured out heat-bending, was the one helping patch up the others when something went wrong. 

Now I’m changing gears and giving you something on one of Yangchen’s closest friends, Rianak.

1. She’s the daughter of Yangchen’s waterbending master from the Southern Water Tribe. They were a bit more chill with women waterbenders learning to fight, but she struggled a lot with it initially.

2. She has a long scar under one eye from getting too close to a baby walrus moose and facing it’s mother’s wrath.

3. She was pansexual and kissed Yangchen once in the middle of sparring. Whether Rianak and Yangchen will be a couple, I’m not totally sure yet, but just know they had this little moment.

4. She loves to dance, and often does when home alone, humming songs played at Water Tribe festivals and holidays.

5. She can tell when someone is lying. Not in the way Toph can, but she can sense their blood rushing in their body and how fast or slow it goes. About seven times out of ten, she’s right.

That’s all for tonight, and if anyone wants more deets, all you have to do is ask. The ideas build up like a dam waiting for an escape.

#no one: #me: i'm going to yap about my ocs again #sruthi alone in the audience: hell yes #atla #ocs

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #421

“hunted by hundreds and never to be caught  /  descent to wander, bring terror and take 'em all beyond”

Which do you prefer, donut holes, jelly filled donuts or normal donuts? Normal donuts. When you get old, are you going to make a will? I mean probably. Ever made your own definition for something on Urban Dictionary? No. What do you call your grandparents? "Grammy" and "Grampa." Do you like weddings? Not especially because I'm a bitter fuck. Do you want to live in a dorm in college? I never wanted to, so I never did. Have you ever had your tonsils taken out? No. Are you single/taken/crushing/confused? Single/confused. Is your best friend single? Yes. Is your first real best friend still there for you? I mean we have one another on Facebook, but that's the extent of it. Do you still care for your first love? Very much. I hope he's doing okay since his mother passed. What color is your blanket? Navy with black swirls. Are you listening to music right now? Yes. I am obseeeeeessed with Alissa White-Gluz's cover of Powerwolf's "Demons Are a Girl's Best Friend." Have you ever felt as if you lost your one true love? I feel like that all the time. But I should add that I don't believe there is JUST ONE person designed for you. There are way, way too many people on this earth to have just a single, perfect match. Which do you like better: Bowser, Mario, Luigi, or Princess Peach? Well I mean I always picked Luigi in Mario Kart, so I got a bias, ha ha. How many tattoos do you have? Six. Plenty, PLENTY more to come, though. Would you ever consider getting a mohawk? No. What do you like to do most in your free time? Do random shit on the computer. What’s your work title? Unemployed. Do you pay rent? I don't. What was the reason behind the last time you wore a bandage? I cut my finger opening up a cup of yogurt. Yes, I'm serious. What music artist have you listened to a lot lately? Powerwolf, lately. And Motionless In White. Who is taller, you or your best friend? Me. When was the first time you ever listened to your favorite music artist? Well, as a little kid, Mom would play some Ozzy in the car occasionally, and I actually loved "Perry Mason" so much that I would ask for her to play it. Growing up I'd obviously heard "Crazy Train" through random things, but I never truly listened to him until I got into middle school and went through my mother's CD case, discovering new music as I got into rock and metal. Do/did your siblings cause trouble? Nah, not really. If your siblings are old enough, what do they do for work? I honestly don't remember my half-siblings' positions, but my immediate younger sister is a children's social worker, and my older sis is a mammographer. Have you ever been jealous of your siblings? Jealous, no. Envious, extremely. They know what the hell they're doing with their lives and making shit happen. Do you still live with your parent/s or do you live alone/with a partner? I live with my mother. What feeling do you have the most difficulty in expressing? Jealousy. How do you think you would handle yourself in a crisis situation? Freeze up and probably die lol. Does any particular season make you happier than others? Why/why not? Yes, autumn. It's not hot as fuck, the air always feels so fresh to me, and I love the many colors of fall. It's just... chill. Can you adapt to change easily? Any examples? FUCK. NO. Do you see yourself as worthy of love? Why/why not? This answer can change from "yes, because I'm a good human" to "fuck no because I'm worthless" in 0.5 seconds. Do you think you are competitive? Do you really dislike losing? Not in general, but I can be in some areas. What would you be famous for? Fuck if I know. If you had to, would you rather dye your hair red or black? Red. I loved my hair when it actually took red dye well. What do you typically do on Easter Day? Go to my older sister's house. Have you ever viewed the moon through a telescope? No. Do you normally finish one book before starting another? Always. If you were given the chance to be immortal, would you take it? Heeeeeell no. Would you pierce your nipples for $100? Almost certainly yes; I mean that's $100 for something I can just take out if I don't like it. Have you ever dated someone who had a child? No. Would you ever consider adoption? Even if I wanted a child, no. I know I would need either the blood connection or for the child to be my partner's that I truly love. Do you tend to go for guys/girls with certain eye/hair colors? No, I really don't care how you look on the outside. Do you know anyone who plays guitar? Yes. Do you live within an hour of the ocean? More like two hours. What are you currently sitting/laying on? My bed. Have you ever dated a friend of one of your siblings? No. Did you have an imaginary friend as a child? An imaginary wolf, yeah. Which parent do you look most like? My mom, I think. Ever failed a test? Yes. That's all I did in algebra during my last college attempt. Do you have any friends who are famous? No. Your most recent ex breaks down and tells you they love you, what do you do? Well I know she loves me as a friend, but idk if she still does romantically, but either way, I'd tell her I love her too and ask if I can do anything for her. You and your last ex: who should hate who? Neither of us. We have a perfectly fine relationship. Do you believe you pick who you fall in love with? Definitely not. Last thing you ate? I had a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast. Are you obsessed with someone? *discreetly eyes Markiplier* If you had to write a brief message on a dollar bill that many people would eventually see as the currency circulates, what message would you write? I'd have to think longer on this, but definitely something about not putting so much worth into the money and not allowing greed to rule the individual. What serves as the greatest motivation for you in your daily life? The hope for a happy, prosperous future. If you were a multimillionaire, what do you believe you would be doing at this very moment? Well, it's morning and this is my prime time to really just chill and do my first scope of the Internet, so I'd probably be in a beautiful house in the woods of the mountains by a beautiful waterfall. I'd have the windows down to listen to nature, make sure via AC if necessary that it's cool... Damn, that sounds nice. If you could have a cookie jar full of anything you wanted, except money or cookies, what would it be full of? Hm. Perhaps a very motivational quote that I'd draw each day, kind of like fortune cookies, but actually good and applicable, ha ha. If someone were looking for you in a bookstore, in what section would they be most likely to find you? YA or fiction. If your ex came up to you and asked you to take them back, what would you say? Anyone but Jason or Sara would be an automatic "no." Jason would have to really prove himself. Sara, I'd be willing, but would ask her if that's what she really wants given our positions right now. Do you think Ke$ha is annoying? I don't know anything about her personally. I actually liked her music back in the day, even when I was all about metal. Last time you were hit on? No idea. Do you ever write in pencil any more? I always do if I have that option. I don't like that you can't erase with a pen. If you HAD to get a piercing (not ears) what would you get? At this current time, my right nostril again. What do you wish you had more knowledge about? Politics. Would you ever get someone's name tattooed on you? Noooo. Do you have a lot of scars? Yes. I scar very easily. Have you ever had stitches? Twice. Have you ever dealt with a divorce or parents fighting or any kind of abuse at home? Before my parents divorced, there was a lot of fighting. Do you remember the person you first kissed? Of course I do. Have you ever kissed someone you weren’t dating? No. Who was the last person you fell asleep with? Sara. Have you ever listened to music you hated just to fit in? "Hated," no. I just tried to get into bands that I just couldn't, but didn't hate. Ever been called babe? Yeah. What is your favorite Pop-Tart flavor? Chocolate sundae. Have you ever made your parents cry? Yeah, sadly. Do you wear glasses? Yeah. And yet I'm still blind with 'em. Have you ever made out with somebody on a bed? Yeah. Are you tan? Most definitely not. How did you meet the last person you texted? She kinda like, gave birth to me. Next big event? My nephew's fifth birthday. Ugh, how is he getting that old. Do you think you have to be skinny in order to be beautiful? Fuck off, no. There are some gorgeous/attractive plus-sized people. Have you ever made out on a couch? Yes. Has the last person you kissed ever seen you cry? Oh god, she witnessed me sob once. Would you ever get gauged ears? I want very small gauges in my bottom earlobe piercings. What is your favorite sushi? Ew. Have you ever been in a school talent show? What for? Noooo sir. What were you like at 17? Oh god... so sad and yet so happily, madly in love at the same time. I both love and hate that era. Tell us about your worst date. Haven't really had a bad one. I had one with Tyler that was an adventure that most would consider awful (flat tire, had to walk in the whipping wind), but I had fun, ha ha. What should be illegal that isn’t already? I dunno. What’s the song you most wish you had written? Probably John Lennon's "Imagine." What is the worst break up you have experienced? Y'ALL KNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. Do your parents wish you were more successful? Oh, I am CERTAIN they do. They'd never admit it, I'm sure, but I know I'm disappointing. I had so much promise in school. Has a significant other called you unattractive before? WOW, no. Has a significant other ever called you by the wrong name? omg no Have you ever caught someone doing something bad? Cheating on their bf, yes. Has a dentist ever screwed up on anything when working on you? No, I don't think so. What is the worst birthday you have ever had? My 16th. I felt very, very unloved. I don't even like going into it. Have you ever been spit on by a llama? No. Have you ever locked yourself out of your car/house? The house, yes. With my elderly dog with arthritis, in the middle of winter after a good snow. I was freezing, sitting on the front porch and eventually crying. My phone was inside so I couldn't reach my mom, who was at work. As night came, I finally broke and went down the street knocking on my neighbors' doors, and probably the worst fucking one opened. With a gun in his hand. He was apparently an ex-sheriff, and he clearly didn't trust me. He was kind enough to let Teddy, who was incontinent and marked territory, inside (thank fuck he didn't pee in the guy's house), and he gave me a jacket, but Christ, we played 20 goddamn questions to see if I was legit, I'm assuming. I was beyond thankful when Mom finally got there when I used his phone to call her. And as it turned out? The door wasn't even fucking locked, our old dog just jammed the hell outta it by jumping. I was so, so pissed.

#survey #surveys #random questions #lyrics: ''beast of gévaudan'' by powerwolf

[ardentmuse]

Hath No Fury (Ned Stark x Reader) - Part 1

Game of Thrones / ASOIAF - Ned Stark x Fem!Reader

Wordcount: 3.8k

Masterlist // Series Masterlist

A/N: Part 1 is here! This was rattling around in my brain one night and I just had to make it real. This story is going to follow Robert Baratheon’s younger sister, the reader, through the period several years before and through Robert’s Rebellion. But ultimately, this is just an excuse to romance hard on Ned Stark, which is kind of the dream, to be honest. But I also just love the idea of how the story might change if, for instance, Renly had someone to raise him, Ned was married before the war broke out, and the Baratheon’s had another player in the game, one with softer edges than Robert. 

Part 1 – A Visit to the Vale - 278 AC

The road from Gulltown to the Eyrie is much less mountainous than you had envisioned from your brother Robert’s letters. He had described the Vale as an impenetrable land with rocks and cliffs for as far as the eye could see. But now, sitting in your carriage alongside your father, trotting along through the crisp green valley that spread out towards Iron Oaks, you can say this place was downright pleasant. You have a few books and the company of your lord father to keep you entertained as you travel the several days into the mountains to reunite with your older brother. Robert’s position as ward of Jon Arryn has grown him into one of the fiercest fighters Westeros would come to know, that is if Robert’s own musings on the matter could be trusted.

When you begin the mountain ascent, you start to see Robert’s way of thinking. The mountains are treacherous but your father entertains you with tales of his time at court, the fineries and the foods, the fools and the fancies. Your father had his own carriage but he is a man who prides himself in his relationship with his children, and, being the only daughter, he often seeks moments to enjoy your company.

By the time the stark white towers of the Eyrie come into view, shooting up into the sky like paths to the heavens, you are ready to rid yourself of your travel clothes, stop the incessant bouncing the wheels and rocks cause and find some stable footing. And pulling up to the gate where a tall, broad young man with your brother’s face stands beaming makes you the happiest you have been in many moons.

Robert wants to run forward but an older man with a long face and short blond hair whom you assumed was Lord Arryn places a hand on his shoulder. Your brother collects himself, cupping his hands like the proper lord he would be someday. And beside them both still stands a quiet, rugged boy whose piercing grey eyes find yours through the windows of your carriage.

Your lord father exits and offers you his hand. You take a gulp, not sure where the nerves are coming from. You aren’t the kind of lady to concern herself with appearances but suddenly your simple grey silk travel dress seems all wrong on you. Your palms grow sweaty as you feel the handsome young man with the kind eyes staring at you.

You take careful steps forward until you are bowing before the lord who would be hosting you for the next two moons. Your father still holds your fingers in his own as you stand.

“Lord Arryn, good to see you once again. It’s been too long.”

“Too long indeed, my dear friend,” the older man’s toothy grin is pleasant if not for the handful of missing teeth.

“And let me introduce you to my daughter, Y/N Baratheon.”

Your father passes your hand over to the older man who clasps it in both of his.

“My lady, I am charmed.” He has a sweet voice and kind eyes. You understand why Robert sees him as a father to him.

“Your lands are beautiful, my Lord. Breathtaking.”

The old man simply beams, squeezing your fingers a little tighter.

“You have no idea how much it warms me to hear you say that. And let me introduce you to my household, which at the moment consists of only your brother and the young Eddard Stark.”

He turns you to the Stark boy, one who Robert has told you about time and time again, his best friend and brother even more than Stannis and the baby Renly. But what your brother had failed to prepare you for was just how cute the man’s pouty lips were or how silky his dark hair or how his smile could set embers ablaze once more.

“My lady,” says the young lad, his voice a little gruffer than you expect for a boy of six and ten but it carves its way into your soul like the sword he wears strapped to his hip, one you have no doubt given his broad shoulders and muscled forearms, he knows just how to swing.

He bows deeply, his eyes on the ground before he looks up to meet your gaze, as if waiting for invitation to stop worshipping at your feet. And then he does the one thing that could make your heart do flips. With his head still down low, looking at you through his lashes, he smirks — a single twitch of his lip, like a bit of mischief just for the two of you — and all of a sudden you know that nervousness you were feeling when exiting your coach will not be leaving you any time soon.

And so, you offer him your hand. One he takes and kisses without even a hesitation.

“It’s lovely to finally meet you, Lady Y/N. Robert has sung often of your grace and your wit but he seems to have failed to mention your beauty as well,” he says, quiet enough that Robert, who is currently in a bear hug with your father like only the two of them can give, can not hear. For a boy that Robert has often called shy and thick in the matters of women, he seems to be doing quite well at winning you over. And honestly, it fills you with pride that maybe this sweet and somber man might find a soft spot in you.

Your brother’s arms around your shoulder pull you away from Eddard. Robert engulfs you against him, squeezing you into his chest.

“Gods, these formal greetings are bloody dull,” he roars. “I’ve missed you.”

And soon you are up in his arms, a foot off the ground.

“Let me get a good look at you!” Robert calls as he inspected you high above him. It is hard not to fall into a fit of giggles, “My darling sister. My, you’ve grown.”

“I can say the same for you. These muscles couldn’t quite get me off the ground last time,” you laugh.

“Not my fault you flowered so young.”

You feel your face completely flush as he places you back on the ground. The last thing you want is your brother’s best friend to know all about your first blood and the curves, the inches, and the weight that came with it.

But the talk of you flowering would be much of the discussion of this trip. Little did Robert know, your father’s hesitation in matching you off with a respectable noble family has much to do with his oldest son. This trip is to secure that Robert is fit to lead as Lord Baratheon someday, to decide if marrying you off to secure ties within your own lands is necessary or if your father could think about strengthening bonds with the other noble families. And that thought has you excited. The Martells have a son — handsome and strong if the rumors are true — in need of a bride, not to mention your cousin Rhaegar has already inquired about your hand, which might even make you queen someday. And within your own lands, you have danced with many a lovely suitor. You are hoping if things go that way that your father might choose Jon Connington, who has just been knighted and always says the sweetest things, but you’ll settle a Penrose or Rogers if necessary.  

But that talk would be for later. Instead, Lord Arryn leads you off to the Maiden’s Tower with gorgeous views out to the east, over the valley towards the waters that led to home. A few handmaidens from local houses help you bath and as you wash the rosewater through your hair, you think more about whom your father might see you fit to marry, and if that man would set your body on edge the way the second son of Rickard Stark seems to have done in just a matter of minutes.

You pick from among your best dresses — ones your lady mother handpicked for the trip. You consider your light blue silks, given the heat of summer, but decide against it, hoping not to disrespect House Arryn by wearing their colors. Instead you opt for the burgundy gown with the golden leaves embroidered into the bodice that complemented your figure so nicely. Your hair is done in the southern style, showing off your neck and shoulders and though you feel a little exposed, you also feel insanely beautiful.

When the knock on your door comes to escort you to dinner, you expect to see your brother, but instead you find  Lord Arryn waiting.

“My lady,” he says, offering you his arm. The host escorting you to dinner is a high compliment, but one that saddened you a little given how much you have missed your older sibling.

You place your hand in the crock of his arm and the old man, pleasant as he is, walks you clumsily down the many spiral stairs towards his dining hall.

To your surprise, he leads you to the seat right to his left, across from the young Lord Eddard and far from your father and Robert, with a smattering of minor lords and ladies filling out the space for a proper fest. Lord Eddard smiles pleasantly at you, lifting his glass as he eyed the collar of your dress.

“Dear Y/N,” Lord Arryn says as the feast began, grabbing your hand in its place on the table, “Your father tells me you are quite well-studied in the accounting of a keep. You’ve been working alongside your mother at Storm’s End, have you not?”

And as the old man smiles at you, holding your fingers in his own, you finally understand a few things about this trip you hadn’t really processed until this very moment. If Robert proves himself in a good place as heir, you will not be going home to the Stormlands at all. There’ll be no big ceremony in King’s Landing where Rhaegar makes you his or a lovely boat trip to the Sunspear to partake in riches of Dorne and of a new husband. No, the noble lord to whom you will be tied is currently without an heir, looking for wife number three to claim her seat at the Eyrie beside him. You are not here as guest but as a thank you gift for Jon Arryn’s work in raising Robert into a proper lord. And suddenly, you don’t want to eat anymore.

You answer Lord Arryn’s questions as nicely and shortly as you could, suppressing the fury growing inside of you. He may be your husband someday soon and you aren’t about to burn down the bridge just for fear of crossing it. Besides, your anger is not with the man who has need of a bride, but rather at your father for offering you up on a platter to a man who could be your grandfather without any consult or forewarning, ignoring perfectly good candidates for the sake of an old friendship.

Across the table though, each time you offer Lord Arryn a pleasant but forced smile, Eddard tried to give you a genuine one, though the sadness in his eyes for you seemed too strong for a man just offering you a little comfort for a sticky situation.

Everyone seemed to know what was happening here but me, you think as you take measured bites of your leaks and game, sipping your wine as an excuse to nod along to another tale about life here in the Vale, one you know is meant to make you see the beauty of the place, but only serves to remind you just how much older than you your future betrothed is.

“Now the late Lady Arryn — the first, not the second — really loved to visit the port cities, simply adored the chaos of the markets. So many riches from the Free Cities find their way to our shores, as I am sure is much the same for your lands, sweetling—”

Your eyes travel to the far end of the table where your Robert sits. You smile at him but he doesn’t smile back, instead his eyes are fierce, rage-filled, as he looks at Lord Arryn.

“Lady Y/N,” Eddard says abruptly, pulling your attention to him. He stretches out his neck and offers you a smile. “Your brother said you’re quite the strong rider. Do you keep your own horses at Storm’s End?”

The smile that grows on your face feels so foreign after all the forced politeness. It is so refreshing to be asked about something that doesn’t have direct barring on your ability to wife, mother, and run a keep. Finally, it feels, someone cares about you as a person.

“Yes, actually. Our lands have quite a vast terrain between forest, valleys and mountain ranges — much like here — so riding is essential. Sometimes it feels like I was born on a horse,” you say, your cheeks flushing a bit at your rambling, and at Eddard’s consistent eye contact as you speak. “I have two palfreys and a destrier in my care, though I’m embarrassed to say more often than not I opt for a pony.”

Eddard laughs, and so does your host whom you honestly forgot was there. Eddard’s entire countenance brightens and you realize just how much more you want to know about the boy who seems completely undisturbed by your less than womanly interests.

“No shame in that. A pony seems the right size for you. Wouldn’t want you falling from too great a height.”

“Might that someone were there to catch me.”

The words slip out of your mouth before you can stop them, a clear flirtation. But honestly, that seems right for you. You aren’t some shy maiden hidden in a tower listening quietly to tales. You are brazen and fiery and a Baratheon true in spirit. You don’t shy away from the things that interest you. And right now, the Stark boy certainly interests you.

You smile up at him from your lashes, your eyes shining in challenge more than display. He blushes furiously and you feel like you’ve won.

But before he can answer that he’d be happy to have you fall into his arms, your host pats your hand.

“My, I had no idea you were so interested in equestrianism!”

You didn’t ask, you think to yourself. You didn’t ask a single thing about me.

But what you say instead is, “I have a wide array of interests. As long as I complete my studies, the rest of my time is mine to use as I see it.”

Your eyes travel once again over to Robert, who is in hushed debate with your father, both with their brows so knitted you are surprised they aren’t already in a proper row.

Your plates are taken away and the musicians take their place to begin their songs. Lord Arryn stands, his mouth opening to speak to you, but before he can get the words out a voice booms behind you.

“A dance, dear sister?”

You look up at your brother who is more red than white at the moment. His words are for you but his rage is for his adopted father.

“I believe it is the host’s right to first dance, is it not? Surely I’ve taught you a thing or two about decorum over the years.”

“And I believe—“ Robert booms, but you grab his forearm, so large now you can hardly wrap your hands around it.

“Lord Arryn here has raised you like a son, Robert. It seems you are host tonight just as much as he is,” you smile sweetly at Lord Arryn, who takes a seat, his blue eyes piercing you.

“You are right, my lady. Who am I to deny a family reunion? But spare a dance for me, will you?”

You nod, but it doesn’t get much traction as Robert practically yanks you out of your chair and onto the dance floor.

Once on the dance floor, Robert’s hand grips tight at your hip as he leads you in your movements.

“Did you have to wear the goddamn lowest cut dress you own?” he hisses.

“Did mom have to pack it for me or dad forget to inform me that I was on the menu? Don’t you dare pass the blame to me here, brother!”

His hand bunches in the linen of your skirts, still fuming.

“I know, I know, but you didn’t exactly help yourself here.”

His words hurt you because you know exactly what he means. Robert is a god among women — tall, chiseled, bold, and virile — and you know exactly how he sees women with a little bit of cleavage, a little too much leg. Your exposed shoulders make you meat, not maiden to him. And it sickens you a little.

But just as he is a maiden’s fantasy, so are you the fulfillment of a lord’s desire in your own right. You dress the way you do because you know you wear it well. Men beg for your dance, stare longingly at your features. You are the gem that adorns the crown of your sigil, the Jewel of the Stormlands as your people call you often, as your parents call you occasionally, and as Robert calls you now.

“Listen to me. I will not have you as my step-mother. I love Lord Arryn. He raised me well and he would be a good husband to you in time, but a beggar does not deserve a jewel and you do not deserve to be locked in a tower for all of your days.”

He stands tall, his eyes scanning the room like he doesn’t want to look at you.

“Speaking from experience?”

“More than you know. I’m bloody ready to run free of here.”

You look back to the high table where your father sits clasping hands with Lord Arryn, both in the most jovial of spirits.

“I don’t think either of us have much say in the matter, I’m afraid.”

The song ends and you feel a tap on your shoulder. If your brother wasn’t pouting before, he was certainly pouting now.

“May I steal a dance with your sister, Rob?” Eddard asks, his voice only a little sheepish at Robert’s examination.

He just huffs.

“Fine, do what you will with her. I need a drink.”

And Robert storms off in true Baratheon spirit, right to the nearest flagon of mead and chugs without mercy.

“He’s in good spirits, it seems,” Eddard says, holding out a hand in invitation, not in demand. Choice is rare for you, and the fact that he sees to your desires at all has your heart racing. You place your fingers in his, feeling the warm tingle that good touch could give you, and slowly he pulls you in towards his chest.

“Thank you, Lord Eddard, for this dance.”

His smoky grey eyes soften to you.

“Please call me Ned.”

Ned. It sounds nice in your head —warm and simple, no stress — just like the man before you.

“Okay, Ned. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Lady Y/N. Though it seems I should be thanking you for honoring my horrible dancing with your graceful steps.”

You giggle a bit. He’s leading fine but he’s definitely stiff.

“None of this lady business if I’m calling you Ned.”

His gaze casts downward.

“Then what would you like me to call you?”

This voice grows husky, raw, and the timbre of it hits you right in your core. Suddenly, this cute boy who makes you nervous and giddy also makes you eager and hot, two sides of a beautifully enticing coin.

“Wh-Whatever you want to call me, really.”

Ned’s hand on your hip slips a little up your back, pulling you closer to him. He smells of honeysuckle and saddle oil, two scents you know well and two scents you’ve grown to love over the years, just never together in such a way. Your bodies are only centimeters apart, just on the line of what is appropriate for such a public display, but no part of you is complaining. In fact, you are on fire.

“I like the sound of your name on my lips, but I like the idea of having something just for us much more.”

His whisper is a purr. You cling to his neck, gripping at his long hair in anticipation. He seems to like it if his smile is any indication.

“Is calling you doe too expected?” he asks, his fingers now drawing the tiniest circles into the leaves of your bodice.

“Do you think of me as a doe?”

“No, you seem fiercer than a doe, but much more nuanced and mannered than the rest of your family. A bubbling fury controlled, just underneath your chest.”

His eyes cast downward to your neckline as he speaks. Immediately he blushes.

“Perhaps I’m more wolf than stag then,” you laugh. “And you seem more a deer than I do.”

“I’m less a stag or a wolf and much more of a bird at this point. The Eyrie consumes you if you let it.”

He spins you once more through the song change, with no concern for the fact that you are now sharing a second song for everyone to see.

“But birds fly free,” you muse.

“How free are any of us to choose our path? Freedom is about how you choose to respond, not the circumstances themselves.”

He smiles at you then and you aren’t sure if he means the words for you or for himself, but they are comforting nonetheless.

You run your hand across his neck as you think, goosebumps rising on his skin at you go. You realize in that instant that you had forgotten about the watchful eyes of your family, of the court. You are safe in this moment in the comforting arms of a boy not unlike yourself, living the life his parents set forth for him, making the best of it as much as he can.

The song ends as you look up at Eddard  — Ned — and find his smile soft and his skin pink as he looks at you. Your breath catches in your throat at his dimples just showing on his cheeks.

“I believe I’m owed a dance,” Lord Arryn huffs between you. You startle, pulling apart from the boy who holds you a little too close for the circumstances. His fingers tense in your skirts, but he relents.

“Of course,” Ned says, pulling away from you and opting for you hand. He pulls it up to his lips, your sleeve falling downward to graze his fingers. He kisses your knuckles with the kind of slow reverence you often dreamed from princes and heroes of old.

“Goodnight, my dove,” he whispers so only you can hear. And with that, he slips into the crowd and away, leaving only your thumping heart and earning soul in his wake.

Hath No Fury Taglist: @fallatyourfeet​, @none-of-ur-frackin-business​, @crazy-little-vee​, @sebmackiee​​, @xcon27x

Want to be added to the taglist? Like the post linked HERE and I’ll add you to the next round. 

#game of thrones #asoiaf #ned stark #ned stark x reader #ned stark imagine #eddard stark #eddard stark x reader #eddard stark imagine #young!ned stark #baratheon #baratheon reader #game of thrones imagine #asoiaf imagine #reader insert #x reader #hath no fury

[pixiegrl]

Chip on Your Shoulder

This is a very belated gift to @clumsyclifford This is truly some of the most self-indulgent stuff I’ve done (that’s probably a lie everything I do is self-indulgent). But this is basically the “Chip on Your Shoulder” scene from Legally Blonde the musical. Born out of my love for that musical and also Luke dressed as a playboy bunny. 

And my love for Bella! She’s a wonderful friend, a wonderful cheerleader, and a pleasure and a joy to listen to talk and to read her things. I’m very happy to have met you and please take this gift (also an apology for taking so long to do SITR). And as always thanks to @pushkinalexander for reading this for me to edit.

Luke has been crying on the bench outside of the apartment for what feels like forever. He’s so stupid to have listened to Harry telling him that the party was a costume party. He’s cold, rejected, and upset, sitting outside in the dark in this stupid Playboy bunny costume Michael lent him. How is Jack supposed to take him seriously when he’s shown up to this stupid fancy lawyer party dressed up like this. Now Jack thinks he’s even more of a joke for coming to Harvard, for following him all the way across the ocean just to prove that he loves him. Everyone has figured out he doesn’t belong here, right from when he got kicked out of class for not doing the readings and to now, showing up to a party dressed up in this ridiculous costume. It doesn’t matter to them that he’d gotten a 4.0 GPA at uni for his double major in business and music, that he’d aced the LSAT, that he’s come all the way out here to a new country for a second time to show Jack he can be taken seriously, because all anyone seems to think is that he’s some dumb blonde. And then he’d gone and called Harry a frigid bitch on top of it all. Maybe they were all right, maybe he should just go back to Australia, no matter what Michael says about him being smart and talented and funny. Michael has only known him for a few days. Jack has known him for years. Luke isn’t meant to do something like Harvard, especially if he’s only doing it to win Jack over.

Luke sniffles, wishing he’d thought to bring a jacket or tissues or something to wipe his nose on. He didn’t realize fall in America would be so cold. He just wants to go home, back to Australia and the sun. He’s even willing to forgo his friends back in London, his little “greek chorus” of friends from his music program, if it just means he can get a hug from his mum and cry about being dumped and kicked out of law school after a week.

Luke hears someone clear their throat next to him. He startles, trying to rub his eyes as quickly as possible to make sure no one can see he’s been crying. Ashton, the TA from Callahan’s class, is standing next to the bench, brows furrowed and hands shoved into the pockets of his dark wash jeans. Great, just what Luke needs. The hot, Australian lawyer guy from his class saw him sitting here with bunny ears, crying in the middle of the night. Now Luke can’t even go back to class.

“Luke? What’s up...doc?�� Ashton asks, lips quirked up at the corners to let Luke know he’s teasing him. Luke vaguely knows it’s a joke related to some old American cartoon but he can’t place it. 

Luke sniffles again against his will. “Love.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“I put my faith in love. And I came all the way out here, to another foreign country where I don’t know anyone besides my ex, to try and prove to him that I was serious and not just some dumb blonde with dreams of being a musician, to prove that I could do something of value, and look where it led me.”

“Hang on a minute-”

“Here! To this cold, miserable place! I wanted to be a singer or a producer or...or... something in music. But Jack wanted to marry someone serious. And I love him! So I studied and I took that stupid test and did all those applications to come here just to show him I was worth it. And now he’s engaged to someone else and I’m stuck in hell! I wish I was dead! I’m flunking out of school and everyone’s laughing at me and mocking me and I, I just want to go home!” Luke wails, burying his face into his hands and muffling another sob. The bunny ears flop down onto his forehead. Luke doesn’t even care about how ridiculous he looks anymore. It’s not like it matters. At the rate he’s going, he’ll probably be kicked out next week and Jack and Harry and all of their friends can laugh at him.

“Sorry, back up, you applied to Harvard Law School, which is a prestigious, exclusive, hard to get into university, to win back your ex? You didn’t even want to be a lawyer? You did all this for a guy? Fuck, what kind of rich, romantic planet are you from?”

“Sydney? Although I did go to uni in London.”

Ashton scoffs, rolling his eyes and looking away from Luke, crossing his arms, “That’s fucking mental is what that is. You wasted all this money, all this time, took someone else’s spot, just to get back your ex and then leave.”

Luke is suddenly filled with a burst of anger. Who’s Ashton to judge him? Ashton doesn’t know anything about him, doesn’t know anything about where he’s come from or how hard he worked to go to school in London, to get out of Sydney and do something with this life. Just because law wasn’t part of that plan doesn’t mean Luke isn’t as smart or determined or driven as Ashton.

“Well, why did you come here then? There’s plenty of decent law schools in Australia. What makes you so special that you get to come here?”

Ashton lets out a sigh, sitting down on the bench next to Luke. He shrugs his jacket off, wrapping it around Luke’s shivering shoulders. It’s sweet and touching. Luke isn’t sure when the last time it was that someone did something nice like that for him. God knows every time Luke was cold back at uni Jack used to tell him he should have brought a jacket.

“I grew up in a not so great part of Australia. My dad left when I was young so it was just me and my mom and my younger siblings. I had to take care of everyone growing up. I decided to be a lawyer so that I could help people. I did uni and law school having to work two jobs while going to class. Some of us have to scrap by to get any kind of recognition. So forgive me if your little problem about your boyfriend dumping you doesn’t move me to tears.”

“Hey! Just because you’ve got some kind of chip on your shoulder at the world doesn’t mean you can take it out on me.” 

“So what if I do? I can’t waste any of the chances I have, I have to push forward. I’m so close to being able to work in Callahan’s law firm. I’m so close to my dream. I can’t throw that all away from any trivial thing that comes by. Maybe you need to get a little perspective on the world. When you don’t have privilege you have to work twice as hard.”

Luke frowns at that. Just because he didn’t work two jobs in uni or didn’t decide to become a lawyer for the same reasons at Ashton doesn’t mean he isn’t a hard worker. He was a double major! And he used to organize all those charity events for their music group. Besides, from what little Luke has actually learned in class before getting kicked out, law seems pretty interesting. 

Ashton stands to go, smiling at Luke, “Listen, I’d love to stay and chat all night, but I have to get back to my place and start prepping the week for your class. Just bring my jacket with you tomorrow, yeah?” Ashton turns to leave.

“Hold on,” Luke calls out. Ashton stops. “You worked two jobs? And went to school?”

Ashton turns back to Luke, smiling. “I haven’t slept in about fifteen years.”

“How’d you do it? I’ve only been here a week and I’m already floundering.”

“Well, I don’t go out and party for one thing. I don’t date much and I don’t go to the mall or the movies. I certainly don’t spend all my time on my hair or my makeup or staying in shape,” He gives Luke a once over as he says the words.

Luke blushes, suddenly self-conscious about his outfit. “Well, you don’t seem to have any problem with the last one. And I certainly don’t spend hours on my hair and makeup,” He mumbles. 

Ashton’s grin widens, “I’m not saying you don’t look nice. I’m just saying maybe if you spent less time trying to decide what eyeshadow would match your top the best and start spending it reading the required chapters for the week instead. I’m working this hard so that I can get my mom a nice place to live in back home.”

“Aw, that’s sweet.”

“No, I’m just driven to achieve my dreams. I’ve been given a once in a lifetime opportunity and I can’t waste that. Maybe you should think about that, Mr. Luke Hemmings, the next time you decide to not prepare for class. Maybe having your own chip on your shoulder would help.”

“No, I don’t need that, I just need to prove to everyone that I’m serious!” Luke insists, stopping himself at the last minute from stomping his foot. Ashton smirks.

“No, what you need is to get to work. Listen, have you done the readings at all?”

Luke shakes his head, embarrassed, looking down at his feet. Ashton sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “I don’t usually do this, but I will help you. Just this once. I’ll read through tomorrow’s chapter with you and help you prepare for class.”

Luke shrieks in happiness, throwing his arms around Ashton in a hug, “Oh, thank you so much!”

“Alright, alright no need to get sappy on me. Come on, lead the way back to your dorm,” Ashton says, an exasperated smile on his face. Luke grins widely and leads them off in the direction of his room.

-----

“Ta da!” Luke exclaims when they make it back, throwing the door to his room open. It’s smaller than the one he had back in London, but he’s managed to make it look like home. He’s hung pictures of his family and friends up, covered the room in his favorite color (pink), and even managed to give Petunia her own special place in the corner. “Make yourself at home.”

Luke starts to rummage around in his closet, looking for something else to put on that’s not the corset he’s currently wearing. Ashton looks around the room, raising an eyebrow. “Where are all your books?”

“They’re somewhere in that mess,” Luke says, waving vaguely at his desk where he’s stacked up his things for class. Ashton starts to dig around on the desk as Luke disappears into the closet to change. He can hear Ashton mumbling to himself.

“You drink a lot of coffee?”

“It gives me energy!” 

“For all that late night studying I’m sure,” Ashton says with a snort. 

Ashton lets out an exasperated huff. Luke pops his head around the closet, half in the costume, half in the sweatpants he’s decided to put on.

“What?”

“How do you find anything in here?”

“I have an organizational system set up. Sort of.”

“You gotta clean this room up, mate. This is a desk. Do you really need all these things?” Ashton says, picking up Luke’s hair dryer and dangling it between his fingers.

Luke huffs, pulling his shirt over his head and darting out of the closet, making to grab it from Ashton. “It’s for my hair! Of course I need it!”

“Wear a hat.”

Luke gasps in outrage as Ashton starts to rummage around further into his room, “You don’t need half these things. Sell them, put them in storage, do something with them! You need to focus on your school and less on all of this,” he says, gesturing vaguely to Luke’s cluttered dresser filled with makeup and magazines. He grabs the nearest trash can and starts to swipe it all in.

“Hey! Stop touching my things!”

“Are you angry?”

“Yes!”

“Good! Maybe that’ll motivate you to actually work for the spot you’ve earned here, instead of using it to goof off and win your ex back.”

Luke growls lightly, turning back to his desk to find the textbook. Ashton is rude and pushy and Luke wishes he wasn’t his ticket to passing this class.

“Ah ha!” Luke cries, finding the book and holding it up triumphantly in Ashton’s direction. Ashton raises an eyebrow.

“It’s still sealed.”

“Well I just haven’t gotten around to them yet.”

Ashton rolls his eyes. “Come on, we have to get through at least three chapters and it’s already close to 10pm. I’ll have to give you the abridged version, but I think we can make do. Now, do you at least have a notebook or a laptop or something for you to take notes with?” He sits down cross-legged on the floor, digging in his own bag to find a pen and some paper. Luke rolls his own eyes and grabs his laptop from where he’d left it on his bed, sitting down next to Ashton. It’s going to be a long night.

-----

“Mom, I already told you I’m not coming home until Christmas this year. I have too many things to do at school before the term is over and it’s such a waste of money to fly home for five days,” Luke says into the phone. He’s explained this to his mother at least once a week since October, that even though he gets time off from Thanksgiving he won’t be going back to Australia for the short break. He’d lose half the trip to the flights anyways, and it seems silly with winter break in only four weeks. Besides, Ashton has been helping him study steadily since their meeting after the failed costume party and he had convinced him that the extra few days off would give them plenty of time to work on catching him up on the concepts he’s been having trouble with in class. It’s gotten easier since he’s had Ashton to walk him through the things he’s struggling with.

“I just don’t understand why you can’t come home to see us. We miss you, you know. And why aren’t you going to spend the holiday with Jack’s family?

“I already told you Mom, we’re still broken up. And I have a couple friends who said I could spend the holiday with them instead.”

Ashton rolls his eyes from where he’s sitting at Luke’s desk. Luke sticks his tongue out at him, earning him a grin. Under Ashton’s guidance, his room has started to look less like a sample sale blew through it. He’s organized his desk and bought him a second chair, so they can both share the desk space. They’d finally organized the rest of his room too, so Luke can actually see the floor and the things in his closet. It’s been sweet of Ashton to take on Luke as his pet project, considering all the other work that Ashton already has.

Ashton makes a “wrap it up” motion with his hand. Luke huffs, flopping down on the bed next to Petunia. 

“Mom, I’ve got to go now. My friend is being annoying and telling me to get off the phone to study. I’ll call you later.” His mom chuckles, but wishes him well and ends the call. Luke puts his phone down, rubbing Petunia’s ears.

“Define malum prohibitum.”

“Malum prohibitum is, um…”

“An act prohib--”

“An act prohibited by law. Like jaywalking or chewing gum in Singapore,” Luke exclaims, grinning when Ashton nods at him.

“Good. So therefore malum in se would mean…”

“Is an action that’s evil in itself. Assault, murder, white shoes after labour day.”

Luke earns a chuckle from Ashton. He basks a little in the praise. He’s always pleased whenever he can prove to Ashton that he’s actually been listening to what he says. And he likes making him laugh. The sound is warm and inviting, reminding him of the beaches back home, of all the good times he used to spend with Niall, Louis, Zayn, and Liam back at uni, staying up late to play guitar and making terrible music that they’d all been so proud of in the dark of night. He misses them all, feels incredibly homesick for both Australia and London. Being with Ashton, though, makes him feel a little better, a little more like he’s found his place in the world.

“What are you staring at?”

“Just thinking. Are you sure you don’t want to spend the holiday with Michael and me? We’re only going to hang out in his flat, watching Marvel movies and eating terrible food. I know you have to study, but surely we can spend one night doing something fun,” Luke pleads. 

It’s been an ongoing argument between them since Michael offered them both to spend Thanksgiving with him. Granted, he only knows him from the music store, but they’d become fast friends after Luke managed to lawyer his way into getting both of Michael’s dogs back from his ex. Plus, they both play guitar, which had made their friendship a sure thing. Luke has been going to the music store for a chance to breathe and get away from Jack and Harry and law school. It’s been nice, made him feel the same way Ashton does, like he’s back at home in his own headspace and at peace. Michael hasn’t met Ashton yet, but Luke has talked about him enough that Michael said he felt comfortable enough having him over for the day. Ashton is still standing firm on his stance that he should be in his dorm studying since “I haven’t been able to do anything of my own since I’ve been helping you.” (Which is a lie. Luke’s pretty sure Ashton doesn’t sleep so he has plenty of time during the day to study.)

“I already told you I have to read over all of the paperwork for the internship next semester. You know, the one you’ve been working to try and get?”

“One night isn’t going to do anything. Besides, you can bring your stuff with you. Michael won’t mind.”

Ashton opens his mouth to argue again when Luke’s phone starts ringing. Frowning, Luke flips it over and sees Michael’s name displayed. He swipes to answer it.

“Hel-”

“I BROKE HIS NOSE!” Michael wails across the line loudly. Luke winces, pulling the phone back from his ear. Even Ashton cringes from his spot at the desk.

“Whose nose?”

“The hot UPS guy! Calum! He came in today to deliver a package and I thought I’d given that thing you taught me a go-” 

“The bend and snap?” Luke interrupts. Ashton raises his eyebrows, lips twisting up in a barely contained laugh. Luke gives him the finger.

“Yeah that! So I dropped the pen and leaned down to grab it, except he leaned down at the same and when I came up I broke his nose with my elbow,” Michael sniffles across the line. 

“Where are you now?” 

“The local ER. I felt so bad I had to take him. But it’s like, the day before Thanksgiving, so it’s packed and we didn’t have any ice for his nose, so he’s just bleeding everywhere and he’s never going to go out with me now that I’ve broken his nose!”

“Calm down, Mikey. I’m sure it’s not that bad. Listen, why don’t Ashton and I come over and see you two? Maybe having a buffer will make it easier,” Luke says, ignoring Ashton’s frantic gesturing. It’ll do Ashton some good to talk to other people. He’s too much of a hermit as it is.

“Would you?”

“Yeah, send us the location and we’ll be there soon.” 

Luke hangs up the phone while Ashton glowers at him. “You owe me big time.”

Luke rolls his eyes. “Just bring the books with us and we can study there. I’ve seen the way Calum looks at Michael when he delivers. Trust me, they won’t need us there for very long.”

---

Luke is excited that it’s finally close to winter break. He can finally go home, see his parents and his brothers, and finally see some sun and go to the beach. He didn’t think it was possible, but Cambridge has been colder than London ever was at Christmas and Luke officially hates it. He’s finished all his exams (he’d been top in all his classes, thank you very much) and the only thing left to do is pack, say goodbye to Jack, and go to the little Christmas party Michael and Calum are hosting at Michael’s place. Despite Michael’s crying in the ER, Calum had forgiven him on the condition that Michael would go on a date with him. It’s only been a month, but they’re both sappy and in love. It warms Luke’s heart and makes him miss all the good times he’d had with Jack.

There’s a soft knock on his door and Ashton pokes his head around it. 

“Merry Christmas, Ash!”

“Not quite yet. But I have a gift for you and I wanted to give it to you before the party.” Ashton steps into the room, holding out a wrapped gift to Luke.

Luke takes it from him. “I don’t have anything for you.”

Ashton waves him off. “Don’t worry about it. It’s just something small. You mentioned you missed music, so I thought you might like this.”

Curious, Luke pulls the paper off the small box, opening it. Inside is a guitar pick on a necklace chord, with his initials on one side and the little Harvard chest on the other. Luke is unexpectedly warm looking at it, rubbing it between his fingers. Ashton must’ve gotten it made just for him. It’s sweet and thoughtful that Ashton has come to know Luke well enough in the last few months to know what he likes, what he enjoys doing.

“Oh, Ashton it’s wonderful. But I didn’t get you a gift.”

“Think of you passing as your gift to me. You put in all that hard work and look where you are. One more class with Callahan and then you’ll probably get that internship.”

“You think so?”

“I’m not the teacher’s assistant for nothing,” Ashton winks. Luke giggles. He hasn’t felt like this since the first time Jack smiled at him at uni. He feels soft and young, basking in Ashton’s smile and pride. Ashton opens his mouth to say something when there’s another knock on his door.

“Hey, Luke, have you seen Harry anywhere?” Jack says, poking his head into the room.

Luke is tongue tied. This is the first time Jack has talked to him since the failed party, outside of the few times they’ve interacted in class. He’d forgotten how intense it is being under Jack’s gaze. 

“Luke? Have you seen him?” Jack repeats. Luke shakes his head, unable to say the words. Jack sighs, exasperated. “Great, we’re gonna be late for our flight. Thanks anyways.” Jack turns and leaves. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Ashton whispers, wrapping his arm around Luke’s shoulder and squeezing. Luke hadn’t even realized he’d been crying until then. He frantically wipes the tears away. 

“Look how far you’ve come,” Ashton continues, “You’re a proper law student now, with books you read and a planner you fill and you’re going to have an internship at a real law firm soon. You don’t need him, Luke. You’re so much more than what everyone thinks you are.”

Luke sniffles, returning Ashton’s hug, “You’re a really good friend, Ash. I would’ve never passed without you.”

“Hey, only for you Luke. Don’t go spreading around that I’m helpful. It’ll get me a reputation, you know.”  Ashton smiles, pressing a kiss to Luke’s forehead. Luke giggles, “Get Petunia and let's go. We’ve got a party to get to.”

Luke clips the leash to Petunia's collar, coaxing her off the bed and leading her out the door. Maybe law school hasn’t sucked as much as he thought it would. After all, he has his dog and three friends. What more could he ask for?

#5 seconds of summer #lashton #luke hemmings #ashton irwin #i changed a good chunk of the plot for the musical to this #so i hope its still fun and good #this is more pre lashton than anything #michael became paulette bc the idea of him breaking cal's nose trying to hit on him was too funny #also harry styles is vivine and jack is warner bc the vibes are just hilarious that way #my writing