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unpretty · 1 year
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traditional yelling-and-hitting abusive parent bruce wayne is SO boring to me okay. give me a man who is doing his best and his best isn't good enough. the harder he tries the worse it becomes. he wants to do right by them. he is constitutionally incapable of doing right by himself. he cannot begin to comprehend what it does to a person to see a person they care for, who has cared for them, destroy himself. you are the child and you thought he was the adult but he's never been the adult. he locked himself in stasis so he could hold his trauma forever and he'll never accept that he's allowed to let it go. he's hurting himself and he's always been hurting himself and you can never let on that it hurts you because he won't stop, he'll just put more distance between you, enough that he thinks you won't notice anymore. you thought he was going to save you but he was drowning before you even got here. you love him and you hate him for making you love him and for making you watch him stagger under the weight of all his masks. but as long as there's a crisis, as long as there's someone else to save, it's fine. it can be fine. you can save someone, somewhere. you can do it together and it can feel like helping. you have all these feelings and nowhere to put them because you can never tell anyone. because that wouldn't be fair to him. they wouldn't understand. he's doing his best.
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falloutcoys · 4 months
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do you really love a character if you don't devise scenarios to make them break down sobbing?
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captainkirkk · 1 year
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I'm cleaning out my old writing notebooks and found a bunch of fic prompts that never went anywhere:
AU where the Avatar always has four soul-mates (one from each element) and there are as many legends/folk tales about them as there are about the Avatar
AU where soulmates don't get their marks until they "come into their own" so Zuko doesn't get the gaang's marks until he confronts Ozai and decides to teach Aang
Aang stuck in a time loop during Sozin's Comet
Din Djarin's ongoing attempt to baby-proof the Razor Crest
5 times Ladybug called Chat Noir's dad a motherfucker (without knowing he was Hawkmouth) + 1 time Paris did it for her
Gotham's POV of Superboy hanging out in Gotham more often now that he's dating Red Robin. He's not one of their Bats but there is a grudging tolerance there. He's their superhero-in-law.
Tim is THIS CLOSE to turning into a villain and Kon... doesn't hate it as much as he should
Midoriya is a popular kid at UA and has no idea. He can't even imagine being popular after years of being bullied. Him? Well liked? Surely you're mistaking him for someone else...
Shen Qingqiu and Shang Qinghua became gods when they transmigrated and they have no idea
Prince Shen Qingqiu with manservant Binghe (who ends up being the lost heir to another kingdom)
Stranger things AU where Steve + the kids get caught in the upside down. Cue platonic cuddling for warmth.
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magicalgirlmascot · 4 months
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*looking at myself in the bathroom mirror while gripping the sink* I will not make Lewa say kittypet as treespeak
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sharkneto · 3 months
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was backreading old asks and im curious if theres any early thoughts regarding SM v. number, knowing what we know now with chapter 9 now being out: is there anything in the update thats causing you to have to rework things? you mentioned number still fails to stop the apocalypse incident in his timeline - do you think his reset would go smoother than in SM? feels like theres more to account for now, with henderson being completely gone but the commission being invoked in SM for the first time
Number vs his apocalypse week! I'm happy to talk about that one, generically :)
The thing with Number is he's completely independent from the events of SM at that point. He's on a whole different path than that Five, thanks to JT but mostly because of the events of HIT. The new SM chapter has given me ideas to play with more than things I need to rework. Almost all the reworking I've had to do on the bit I've worked with that fic, to be honest, was 1) the realization that no one in HIT fucking told Number that Reggie kills himself and 2) how close he's kept the apocalypse to his chest. So he's pretty sure he's already taken care of the apocalypse with having helped Viktor figure out his powers in a safe, supported environment, but then Reggie still fucking dies at the same time. And, maybe that's just Reggie's time, but Reggie has also still set up the little mystery to get the Umbrellas to work together to stop the apocalypse (...that Number already stopped. Probably. Totally.). So he's got to chase that down to make sure, but he also still hasn't told his siblings about the apocalypse (why worry the siblings over something he's stopped, why put that in Viktor's head), so he's also dealing with it in true Five fashion - inefficiently and suspiciously secretive. So some similar vibes to SM apocalypse weeks, there. I'll put a WIP snip at the bottom for this vibe because I think it's fun.
I've got general beats in mind, have a plotpoint I adore that causes Number so many goddam problems that I don't remember if I've talked about on here or not so I'll keep it vague in case I haven't. I haven't settled on if Number stops his apocalypse or not on the first try, but it for sure is not the easy skate he was expecting it to be (and it really should have been). The world wants to end on April 1st, and life (death?), uh, finds a way. Fives must always have a terrible time during the week leading up to April 1, 2019.
If Number has to do a reset, it will come with its own problems, but it will absolutely be smoother than SM Five's. Number just has so much more information to work with the first time around, and he has a real handle on time travel. There is also no Commission to interrupt him in any way, thanks to their deal with Five at the end of HIT. That said, having fewer unknowns doesn't mean he's going to juggle the pieces correctly. He's still a Five and they are still the Umbrellas.
Anyway, WIP Snip -
Allison pauses in the doorway on her way through to the entry, not expecting Viktor to be in the living room. He's standing by the bookcases and hasn't noticed her yet, his attention on a book in his hands. She’s just about to announce herself when Five appears by the bar with a whumpf.
His gaze passes over her, and he just barely nods an acknowledgement to her before his focus lands on their brother. Viktor turned at his entrance, his back now to Allison. “Hey, Five,” he says.
“Viktor.” A beat passes as Five’s gaze flicks to the book in his hands. It jumps back to Viktor’s face, and then his expression does… something. Softens, maybe. Allison can feel her eyebrows rising as she thinks she categorizes it – is Five trying to show sympathy? Empathy? What is that? It really makes him look a little constipated. Still ignoring her, he asks Viktor, “Are you doing alright?”
Viktor shifts a little. “Yeah, Five. I’m still good. Just like when you asked me before. And the time before that. And the one before that.”
It’s another excruciating pause as Five considers that answer. Then he jerks a nod and the weird expression slips away and he’s back to haughty and judgmental. “Good.” He turns to the bar and reaches over to snag a small bottle of something clear.
Viktor takes a half step forward. “Five—” He’s cut off as Five disappears in flash. He sighs. “He’s so weird,” he says, loud enough for Allison to clearly hear it. Then he glances over his shoulder at her, mouth quirked up in a conspiratorial little grin.
Allison blinks at being acknowledged and pulls a smile on as fast as she can. She hasn’t talked to Viktor one-on-one in over decade, since he was still Vanya. She’s got a general idea of the things she needs to talk to him about, but hadn’t been expecting this to be the moment she ran into him. “Yeah, I don’t know why I thought he’d get more normal with age.”
Viktor snorts a little laugh and turns to fully face her. “No, that ship really sailed once he figured out the time traveling.” He softens a little and adds, “He means well, though. Usually.”
“Yeah,” she agrees, although she’s not sure if she does or not. She commits and steps into the room. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you, I didn’t think anyone was down here.”
“You didn’t. I heard you coming down the hall. I wasn’t sure if you were going to stop in, though.”
Right. Viktor has crazy sound and hearing powers. Not the useless little Seven they grew up with.
Allison immediately chastises herself for the thought. Viktor was never useless; he was just different (she kicks herself again – that’s not really any better).
The silence has stretched just long enough to be awkward. Viktor shifts his weight again, adjusting his grip on the book in his hand. Allison can just see the cover enough to recognize it – Extra Ordinary. She swallows her spike of venom back down.
Casting about for something – anything – to talk about, to push them past whatever this is, her mind replays the weird little interaction she just witnessed. “I thought he quit drinking?”
Viktor shrugs. “He did. For a while.”
Allison nods.
It hangs between them.
“I don’t think it’s as bad as it was back…” he trails off, fingers tightening again over Extra Ordinary.
“Sure,” she rushes to add. She doesn’t actually want to talk about their brother’s drinking problem. “And, I mean, it’s a funeral, so… people drink.” She’s already had a couple, more than she probably should have had; she’s actively trying to better herself for the courts and Claire. There’s no one here, but it’s still not a good look to get drunk at her father’s funeral. “How are you doing with it all?”
His mouth lifts up again in a small smile. “Like I just told Five, I’m fine.”
She forces a quick, humorless laugh. It sounds as stilted as it felt. “Yeah, good point.” She thinks again to the brief, odd interaction. “How many times has he asked you?”
“That was like the fourth in the past two hours.”
“What is that about?” It’s distinctly anti-Five, and him being actively involved and worried about other’s emotions was not the development she expected to come out of the past decade. Even being aware of other’s emotions would be a big step.
“No idea.” His expression falls as he gives it a second of thought. “I don’t know. Maybe he thinks it’s harder on me because Dad drugged me.”
Allison blinks at the blunt referral to the power-suppressing drugs she only learned about a couple hours ago. Something odd flashes over Viktor’s face, too, as he says it, and his gaze gets sharper on her, almost searching. Unsure what that means, she hesitantly asks, “Is it?”
The look passes. She almost wonders if she imagined it. Viktor shakes his head. “No. I don’t think so, anyway. He sucked but it’s weird that he’s… gone. It felt like he’d be around forever. But… I gave up on any answers or closure with him a long time ago.” He punctuates the point with an exaggerated shrug.
Allison nods. Her own feelings on Dad’s death are complicated. Probably yet another thing she’ll have to untangle with her therapist. For now, she’s happy to leave them knotted and neutral. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”
Silence lapses between them again, almost comfortable. Her mind flits over categorizing who has it hardest over Dad’s death. She immediately discards herself – she’d had a strained but surface-level positive relationship with their father, if the training and abuse were excluded from consideration. Viktor took himself out of the running. Diego is actively throwing as much of a party as he can get away with. Klaus… is Klaus.
She pauses to consider Ben. Dad broke Ben. There are less blunt, probably more correct ways to think about that, but it is the truth. She wouldn’t blame him if he joined in Diego’s celebration attempts, but he’s been nothing but his usual quiet voice of reason as his fiancé flitted around behind his chair. So not Ben.
It's Luther, probably. He lived with Dad the longest, had still been working for him up until his death, had talked to him only last week. He’s trying to turn Dad’s very normal heart attack into a conspiracy, give it more meaning than it has. And it’s certainly not Five—
Five who hadn’t disagreed with Luther’s insistence that Dad’s death wasn’t natural. Five, who argued with Dad every single chance he got, pushed as many boundaries as he could, who pushed himself to the brink in training sessions and – it seems – even now in his career in academia.
Who has asked Viktor four times if he’s doing alright.
She furrows her brow as that conclusion settles. That feels much more like Five than an angle of empathy and altruism. Glancing up, she meets Viktor’s eyes. His brow is similarly furrowed. He just barely tilts his head, confirming that they’ve been thinking on the same trajectory.
“Do you think Five…?” Viktor starts.
“…is projecting?” she finishes.
That sits between them.
Viktor forces a scoff. “No. No way.” As Allison raises an eyebrow, he insists, “He hated Dad.”
“Yeah. They had a weird relationship.”
“All they did was fight. When we got the news he died, he called me to ask if I wanted to grab a celebratory drink when he got into town for the funeral.”
But he still came to the funeral. “Exactly.”
They process it all for another long second. Viktor slumps slightly. “Ugh, there’s no way I could get him to talk about this.”
Allison shakes her head in agreement. There’s not a therapist alive that could get Five to process his probably very messy, very complicated, very fucked up feelings about their dead father. In some small part for how similar he ended up to him.
That’s another uncharitable thought she forces to the back of her mind, into the dark recesses with her ones about Viktor.
That’s not what she’s here to talk about, to dwell on.
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siren-darkocean · 5 months
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@magicalgirlmascot That one chapter of Kini Nui Public School where Tahu melted the pathway to the school with his powers
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llycaons · 1 month
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Jiang Yanli is kind of a sister- enough of a sister. Now, give A-Xian an ACTUAL sister. And a baby cousin A-Yu, as a treat.
case in point this is so wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to start. how the fuck can you disregard jyl and wwx's extremely close SIBLING relationship that jyl herself asserted multiple times in DEFIANCE of nearly every adult and authority figure in their lives telling them that they're not actually family and that wwx is a low-class ruffian who she shouldn't be seen with. I hate this
((P.S)) No jyl hate!!! We love her here!! But with them being strictly referred to as "martial siblings" shit gets kind of weird. Okay, I really just mean it makes their relationship strained, but you get what I mean. But now Xianxian has a sister he can call "Jiejie"!!! And also, jc has a shijie that doesn't tolerate him having a stick up his ass all the time.
no it doesn't! it doesn't get weird! other people thinking they're being inappropriate are in the wrong because they don't understand wwx and jyl's familial relationship! yeah it's sad that wwx never felt comfortable with claiming jyl as his jiejie and their dynamic is a bit strained bc of that but the solution to that is NOT 'ditch jyl and give wwx a different ~real~ blood sister' because adopted siblings aren't legitimate enough I guess. way to miss the point. also what does that last line mean...jyl was very kind to jc when almost nobody else was...jc has a lot of issues but this just seems cruel when jyl was one of the only people to unconditionally love him
anyway if you want a fixit to the issue of wwx not having a ~real~ sister you can just write jyl publicly claiming wwx as her didi (AGAIN bc she literally already did this CANONICALLY) and build up the situation and character development on wwx's end so that he's comfortable claiming her right back as his sister. AND CALL HER JIEJIE!!!! just off the top of my head. again I hate this
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sword-and-stars · 7 months
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It’s been real, it’s been fun, it’s been real fun.
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audreycritter · 1 year
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Sometimes the only way to solve the riddle is to give up.
(Or, the trolley problem, with batkids. No one dies.)
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ficsrosie · 1 year
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RESCUE - DRACO MALFOY - (2/?)
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"Don't leave me here
Especially not with her
You've heard of people getting lost
Here we don't even talk..."
 ~Why can't we be friends?- The academic
************************************************************************
—Take care, dear. —Narcissa said with a minimum smile, hugging her son, affectionately.
The boy hugged her back, with a little less force, and then pulled away, looking this time at his father, who had the same serious face as always.
—Father...— Draco said, and greeted him with a brief nod.
Lucius, did the same while watching the 16-year-old boy walk away. Narcissa felt her heartbreak, knowing that her son had an increasing emptiness in the eyes every day.
— You should be more delicate, he's just a boy.—The woman said, turning serious to her husband, with elegance and in a low tone.
— He is no longer a boy, Narcissa, he is already a man. —the man replied.
The woman just looked at him stiffly, seeing the train leaving, taking the youngest far away, for a long time. Before leaving, she looked deep into the man's eyes and said:
— When will you realize that you are the reason why our son does not come home for the holidays?
While Narcissa was in a hurry to leave the place, Lucius was thoughtful, but he went after the woman a few seconds later.
Meanwhile, on his way to Hogwarts, Draco looked out of the window in an absent-minded manner, waiting until they finally reached the place, and he could leave his friends.
— Draco? — Blaise called, and the boy looked at him bored. — Today there will be a party in the communal, do you want to go?
— I pass. — He answered simply, and the other just agreed.
It has been like this since the beginning of the previous year, and at that time, everyone had become accustomed to the detached and cold form that the blue-eyed boy has acquired.
Contrary to what people think, Draco didn't hate everyone, he didn't hate his own life, he just didn't see much sense in having conversations that wouldn't get anywhere, most of the time he preferred to keep his own company, but he was happy, at least he thought.
In the end, the trip to Hogwarts was quick, little by little the common room, previously empty, was filling up with students, drinks and other things that Draco didn't care about.
— Are you sure you don't want to go?— Crabbe asked, for the fifteenth time.
— Get out, or I'll push you down the stairs. — Draco replied without taking his eyes from the window, soon hearing the sound of the door slamming lightly.
The boy had a good time to think, perhaps due to the impression that everything was going slowly, it was as if every minute lasted 10.
Unfortunately, the boy's peace was soon replaced by shouting, and loud music at first seemed bearable, until the noise started to irritate the boy extremely.
Resisting the urge to set fire to each of the teenagers who were partying a few meters away. He decided that perhaps the best thing would be to look for a quiet place to go.
—Look who we have here!—he heard Goyle say.
Draco, just ignored the boy, and left quickly, practically all of Hogwarts was present, at least people from all the houses, even some from Gryffindor. As he left the room, he sighed and looked at one of the walls with a look of disgust, it was ridiculous how they believed they could mix.
Walking through the dark corridors of the castle, he decided that the best place to go, was the tower of astronomy.
— Thank you for helping us.— he hears a high-pitched voice to say, not far, but he didn't even care to look.
— No problem, it was a pleasure, thanks for the apples, I will find a peaceful place to eat!
+ + + + + +
Draco looked at the stars calmly, again immersed in thoughts, as he felt the fresh wind hit his face, once again, his peace was disturbed by an exclamation.
— Oh! —He turned. —I'm sorry, I didn't know someone was already here.
Draco is static for a moment, he has never seen the girl, but by the kindness and purity smile, he soon deduced, that she could only be a Hufflepuff.
Soon his head was filled with possible offences that could frighten the girl, but for some reason, he decided to let it go, thinking that if he ignored her, she might leave, but unfortunately, she didn't go.
After minutes of silence, he heard a noise and looked at the girl again noticing that she was sitting, taking something from a paper bag.
When the girl noticed that she was being watched, she just smiled and started talking.
— My name is y/n.
— Malfoy. — He said, as always. — Draco Malfoy.
The girl had an even bigger smile, happy that she had not been ignored a second time, only to bite into a green apple, which he had just seen at that moment.
— Do you want to be my friend?— She asked when she finished chewing.
Draco felt a strange sensation, he didn't understand why she wanted to be friends with someone like him, it's not like he had much to offer, other than the title "friend of Draco Malfoy", and if he was right about her, it wasn't something she would be interested in.
—No, we can't be friends.—he replied coldly, and she just shrugged.
Y/n ate the apple with a happy expression, just making the boy feel like eating one too, she made it look like the most delicious thing in the world.
As soon as she noticed the sparkle in the boy's eyes, she realized that maybe, he would like to join the girl.
—Would you like one?—She asked, removing another apple from the same paper bag.
The boy just disagreed, changing his gaze to the stars and trying to ignore that, deep down, he wanted to accept, but could not eat something that a girl he just met offered. After some more time in silence, the girl said:
— My mom tells me that we should do things we want because we don't know if we will wake up the next day. — The girl commented, taking another bite of the apple that was already at the end while looking at the sky too.
—What do you mean by that?—He asked, raising an eyebrow.
The girl sighed dreamily and held out a whole green apple again.
—I know that green apple is your favourite fruit.—she replied, and this time, he reluctantly accepted.
—How do you know that?— He asked, still standing, looking at her.
The girl then got up, having finished eating the fruit, and cleaned the clothes with her hands, removing any dust that might have remained on her.
— I noticed that during breaks you eat green apples, you sit right in front of where I sit. - She smiled.
After that, the girl simply left, leaving the boy speechless again.
—By the way, they are my favourites too.— she concluded before disappearing into the darkness.
After that day, they didn't talk any more, but the boy started to notice the girl more, like the fact that they have almost all classes together, and that she really sat towards him during meals, always laughing with her friends, and with the same dreamy look as always.
But what made her even more unforgettable was something that happened during Christmas, when the boy came down the stairs rubbing his eyes trying to get rid of sleep and noticed a basket of green apples on one of the tables, with a note, written in bold letters "For Draco Malfoy". At first, he looked confused, but he soon read the note.
"I heard your friends saying that you would be staying at Hogwarts for Christmas, I decided to give you a gift. I hope you like it, they are from the farm where I live.
Ass.: Y/n
PS: Why can't we be friends?
:) "
And for the first time in the year, Draco smiled, just because of a girl he had talked to only once.
#draco x y/n#draco#draco lucius malfoy#draco fic#hp#hp fanfic#malfoyfamily#draco x reader#draco x hufflepuff!reader#slytherpuff#slytherin#hufflepuff#fluff#angst
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ivy-and-ivory · 7 months
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Is this fanfic possibly becoming too ridiculously niche and self-indulgent, even by my standards?
Yes. Yes it is.
Is that about to fucking stop me?
No. No it is not.
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unpretty · 3 months
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"i think i should be able to fit all this in one chapter" - writer who is going to end up splitting it into three chapters
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falloutcoys · 2 months
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if you've ever commented on a fic of mine i'm kissing you on the mouth btw (with consent)
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captainkirkk · 1 year
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Title: always funny (in the rich man's world)
Relationship: Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent
Additional Tags: Crack Treated Seriously, lots of jokes about sugar baby kon/ sugar daddy tim, so be careful if that's not your cup of tea, Sugar Daddy, Gift Giving, jon can be an obnoxious little brother. as a treat., the cain instinct is strong with this fic
Summary:
Jon can barely see the delivery man behind the massive bouquet spilling out of his arms. He doesn’t know much about flowers, but he can tell this arrangement is beautiful. And expensive. Red and black wild flowers sprout up between thorny roses, held together by a dark ribbon.
“I think you have the wrong house,” Jon says.
The delivery man turns and checks the number on their mailbox. “Nope. This is it.”
Jon is just wondering whether he has to contact the Justice League about this would-be stalker when Kon thunders down the stairs. “They’re for me!”
(Or: The Kents and Waynes find out that Tim’s love language is gift giving.
Kon isn’t a sugar baby. Really, he isn’t. He isn’t.)
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magicalgirlmascot · 6 months
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When/if Jaller's team gets into their Mahri arc, are they going to be on the swim team? 😁
HGLDFGHLKJFSLKDG
I'm not gonna lie my immediate reaction was "wait are high school swim teams actually a thing" because in my area they exist as like. non-school stuff like at the sports center or whatever but not at actual schools. I've never been to a high school with a pool but presumably they do exist somewhere
I think when the Mahri stuff hits, honestly they just become even weirder. They were already weird as Toa go with the glowing eyes and the lightning thing but now they have, like, gills? Some of them have scales? Kongu's been trying to grow out his beard and for some reason it's got a weird chitinous texture? Jaller has made friends with a crab? Wait, aren't those invasive here?
Meanwhile Nokama "I Am Coping Just Fine With My Werebeast Past" Metru is losing her fucking mind
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sharkneto · 10 months
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God, one day I'm going to finish my Five And Allison Talk Post-S3 fic. I go back and just look at it every few weeks. Wish someone would finish it (me, I'm the someone).
Snip because maybe getting more of it out in the world will kickstart something for me. A continuation of the snip shared HERE --
-
Softer, Allison says, “I still don’t understand why you voted against it. It doesn’t make any sense. You spend your whole life fighting the apocalypse to just give up?”
Five knocks back the rest of his drink and considers the empty glass. He then stands to cross the room to pour himself another. She watches him. It’s not until he’s finishing the pour that he says, “It seemed like the better option.”
“In what world, Five?”
“In the one where, when we do follow Dad’s special little plan, it ends with me dying alone in the basement of the Commission as a one-armed centenarian.”
She swallows. In the harried few days before the end in Oblivion, a few details about Five meeting himself yet again and then watching him die had made it to her. She hadn’t given them much stock around everything else going on.
“He told me to not save the world,” Five continues. “And the only scenario I can think of that ends with me in a box in the basement of the Commission for a hundred years is one where you’re all dead. Again. And if that’s the situation, I’d rather be dead with you. I’m not doing that again, not if it was never going to work.” He swallows thickly before continuing, “Assuming that version of me thought like me, I figured that’s what his warning was. Add in that it was Dad’s plan and into a fucked alternate dimension… The math seemed bad.” He splays his hands, the dark alcohol sloshing in his glass.
Allison stares at him.
She should have paid more attention to those passing comments about Five meeting himself.
She blinks before shaking her head. “I don’t know what to say to that.”
He shrugs. “You asked.”
Slowly, she says, “So… your math wasn’t actually about saving the world or stopping anything. It was just… how you’d rather die?”
“That’s a rather inelegant way to put it but… yes.”
Allison studies her brother’s young face, working to slot this into her understanding of how everything went down at the Hotel. This whole time, she’d been assuming—what? That Five gave up? That he’d hated their dad more than he loved them? That he cared about her less than the others to have thrown away her life and happiness for a few good hours with the rest of them?
Instead, he was facing what he assumed was a no-win scenario that only he made it out of. The world already gone, and whatever they chose the rest of them would go too. The only difference was whether or not he was still standing on the other side of it.
And he voted to not be. He voted to be done.
It brings her to a single conclusion: “That’s so selfish.”
His expression twists, incredulous and hurt as her words sink in. “Excuse me?”
“It worked, Five. We’re here, right now, with everyone. It worked. And it almost didn’t because you voted to stay. Because you wanted to give up.”
“That’s not how time works, Allison.”
“We ended up in Oblivion anyway! And that worked, in a messy way, but it worked. If you’d just agreed to go to begin with, we wouldn’t have lost Luther. Or Klaus!”
“As I seem to recall, I wasn’t the only one who voted no! I was just lucky enough to be the deciding vote. And it’s probably because I voted no that it worked!"
Allison lets out a noisy sigh. “Explain that to me, how that makes any sense.”
“Because if I hadn’t talked to my future self and watched him die pathetic and alone, I would have voted yes. A chance to fix everything? Hit the undo, reset it all? Of course I want that! But easy fixes—”
“Easy!?”
“—easy fixes like that always have a catch! And if I hadn’t known what this one’s catch was, that it outweighed its solution, I would have gone for it.”
“So you voting no and then still doing it anyway changed that how?”
“Ripples, Allison.” He sighs. “Me voting yes would have meant we all marched in right then and probably were either killed by the guardians or got used up by the machine, even more than we were anyway. Think about it. We didn’t march straight in, so what happened instead? The kugelblitz advanced to our toes. Dad killed Luther. Dad left Klaus behind and he died, too, or, at least went to his Void or whatever he calls it. Which meant we had eyes on Dad when Klaus popped back. We had a ghost form of Luther to stop the last guardian, all his strength with none of his vulnerabilities of having a physical form.”
“Are you saying it’s a good thing now that Luther and Klaus died?”
“Obviously not! That’s no one’s ideal way for that to have worked! But it’s those differences that are what’s important, what skewed things to make us end up here instead of me back there.”
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