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faejilly · 4 years

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I was tagged by @la-muerta & @facialteeth & @thedivinemissema for the WIP/Title Game

rules: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. send me an ask with the title that most intrigues you and interests you and i’ll post a little snippet of it or tell you something about it!

AND THEN by @shadoedseptmbr @msviolacea & @ravenclawnerd for the “stories you want to write... but for some reason haven’t yet”

so this will be a mish-mash of both? The WIPs will mostly have blurbs in this case (to fit the second meme) but you are still welcome to ask follow-up questions, if you’d like ;) Assuming you make it through the list, it is uh. Not Short.

Anyone who would like to play with their WIPs, please consider yourself tagged in either or both of these. :D

Misc Fic Folder:

“untitled document” - where I’m working on fictober fills so I have word-counts for my GYWO tracker. I am not working on these because Brains Are Dumb and also Going Back To Work Is Exhausting

I made a file called “YULETIDE!” which has nothing in it but I’m determined to finish this year so that is definitely technically a thing in the Unending WIP List of Doom worth mentioning. (Tho obviously that’s all I could say even if I had started, because anonymous.)

“coda-fics, rewatch!” -yes, that exclamation mark is important! it’s to keep me motivated! (it didn’t work). Much like untitled, this is for putting stuff so I can do word count tracking even if I don’t know what I’m doing. Currently I think it just says “MARYSE” because I was working on my SH 1x6 coda-fic and then got distracted and haven’t typed anything up yet. (Yay notebooks? Boo notebooks? Not even sure at this point.)

WNIP (works not in progress) Folder:

“TOG” - I had one vivid mental image of how Nicky & Joe met (blood-stained evil smiles?) but then no idea for a follow-up story and also the fandom is insane and I’m not sure I want to deal with all of *gestures vaguely* all that

“Shan Xia Notes” -for a TTRPG that never quite got off the ground; she was a semi-tragic selkie who was still in love with the evil queen/lady who stole her skin and I got to play her for like one session and she was surprisingly chaotic neutral, which wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting. But the game never really got off the ground, so I never had enough info to really delve into writing backstory fic

“post-Kruschev” -Kruschev’s List was the last episode of Scarecrow & Mrs King, and I was debating writing an epilogue in place of the s5 we never got, to try and tie up some loose ends, but the fandom’s three old-ladies in trench coats and I never quite worked up the gumption to get it anywhere

“Code Realize warm as silk sequel” -there is literally nothing in this file except “SEX! Only a little angst” because I wanted to write some “we can’t actually touch each other” smut but never actually did. 🤷‍♀️

BioWare (also all Not-In-Progress Anymore)

“seb/adelaide”, “Theia” & “DAI Erana” -these WIP folders were cannibalized for ficlets for the last few times I did fictober, and while originally I had ideas for longer epilogues for all three of them, at this point I don’t think any of the remaining bits could support a story any longer.

”whispers in the dark” -Maia Ryder never really got much fic at all; the cancellation of any further Andromeda stuff was really disheartening, and at this point I’d have to play the game again, and I don’t think I’m gonna manage that any time soon

”TSP” -a Mass Effect 3 Shepard AU collab project that kind of went off the rails, and our mutual brains/lives never quite seem to line up so we can try and rebuild it ”Ngaio & Tane” -my one truly ruthless Shepard (Alliance background, who romanced Traynor) whose father Tane Shepard was, I think, in PsyOps, and I wanted to figure out their complicated relationship but never really did know where I was going with it

”JE Zu & Yaling” -so I’ve rambled about my Tragic Sagacious Zu Romance Thoughts regarding Jade Empire more than once (#Icy Yaling should have most of it) but apparently I want to yell about it more than I want to actually write it? Whoops.

”CI sequel: 5 times fic?” -Cruel Intentions is a kinkmeme fill that I started and then it sat for like five years before I actually finished it, and I liked the ending, but it does leave a giant fucking question mark in terms of how those people got from there to where they are after the game, and I kind of wanted to write a proper h/c fic rather than just... leaving them wallowing in all that trauma?

But I didn’t. I don’t even remember for sure how I wanted to frame the 5/1 of it all, besides it being something sad about allowing people to see you or touch you in some way. (Prayers maybe, since I think there was definitely some Sebastian & Fenris & faith stuff going on in there.)

“candles” -Merribela prompt fill that I never was happy with? Not sure what I might do with it at this point, so it’s just sitting there all sad and lonely and neglected-like.

Shadowhunters

pt1: WIP LIST ONLY

“Persuasion” -so I keep trying to write Persuasion AUs in many fandoms because it’s my favorite Austen, but I think I like it too much, I have no real solid concept of how I’d transform it, and if I don’t have anything else to say about different characters within that framework, I have no push to actually write anything? Also this SH version of it suffered from MASSIVE scope creep when I started outlining and it got too big for me to handle so I like, killed it twice? Whoops. This one is really probably never gonna happen.

“oosdt sequel” -I wanted to write more about the Forest That Eats People and Magnus & Alec as Guardians Between Worlds, and also some background Magnus’ Found Family & Lightwood Family Feels (maybe some clizzy?) and I left a Madzie plot-thread dangling from the first one on purpose even but I think this one had too many ideas and not enough focus so it’s sort of sprawling all over a doc with a lot of “???” in it

“procedural-ish” -this was originally going to be a sex-farce. and then it turned more serious. and then maybe kind of copaganda which was uncomfortable in terms of the Everything That Is The News in 2020, and then maybe it was more a Mafia AU and at that point I had self-inflicted tone whiplash and I wished the voices in my head were a little more forthcoming about their plans so I stopped before I brained myself on my computer monitor in frustration.

“I had rather a rose than live forever” -I started a reverse!verse Malec (Shadowhunter!Magnus, High Warlock!Alec) for bingo last year, and I couldn’t quite get it together in time, so I made a moodboard inspired by the bits I’d started instead. I may see if one of my prompts from Bingo this year help me finish it?

“fall fright fest (practical magic au)” -exactly what it says on the tin! almost exactly a year old & neglected! IDEK ANYMORE (I talked about this one with the WIP meme last time tho: here)

“priest!kink theology?” -I thought it was gonna be smut? I like priest!kink. I have made other people like it and yell at me even! But then I kept diverging into demon!Magnus thinking about Priest!Alec’s faith and as usual, IDEK ANYMORE *laughs*

(If they’re remotely canon-adjacent or divergent, a bunch of these are in here because I need to rewatch the show to get the pacing/timing/tone right and I haven’t, and I don’t know why, because I enjoy the show, but BRAINS! Are Dumb! So I guess that’s it?)

“I do” -I have tried to write this damnable Malec arranged marriage fic like six different times. I have signed up for fic exchanges and bangs with it, I have rewritten massive sections, trying to change tone or structure or POV or whatever, and it basically comes down to they like each other too fast and I keep not gutting it enough to get back to a useful pace, but by the time I realized that I was on take six and kind of sick of it. I may get back to it eventually

“wing!fic” -canon divergent in early s1, trying to deal with the consequences of Simon’s kidnapping as the Truly Serious Event that it should have been. It uh. Got heavier than I expected with those consequences (considering it was originally just supposed to be Alec’s wings flirting with Magnus) and also see above re: rewatching for pacing.

“2x20 aftermath/date night/pandemonium porn“ -yes that is the actual wip title. It used to be “spite fic” because I was originally inspired by fighting against a lot of fic!Alec characterization that was clearly based more on the books and ATG syndrome than the Alec in the show, which is the Alec I know and like and want to read about. BUT, pacing and etc. again, I think. Also I have somehow entirely lost my knack for writing porn, which makes it difficult to finish something originally intended to be smut!fic. Or even teasing almost!smut.

“rubbish heap” -so this is about three different fics that I realized complemented each other really well so they’re now all in the same file as I try to turn them into the sequel of “with an if in its soul”. It includes amnesia, parabatai lore shenanigans, a s3 rewrite, and some truly awful Owl adjustments that make me wince in horrified authorly delight and pain. BUT, as with the other ones in this file, the scope is large and I normally write short-fic and I kind of just threw up my hands in exasperation. I may have to break it back up into the three different fics instead, if I ever actually want to write it. Them? But also I need to take better notes on s3 to make sure I have what I need in here.

SH Pt 2: Started posting or not yet in hiatus because it’s actually almost ready to be a thing in the real world! maybe!?

“kisses (firsts)” -I actually started publishing this one, a “series of firsts” that was supposed to be kind of relationship milestones and kind of an excuse for smut, and then there wasn’t that much smut and I lost momentum and also dear lords & ladies the timeline is stupid, wtf. I may not ever add to this one, tbqh. It doesn’t stop in a terrible place, and they’re all ficlets so they stand alone all right.

“clizzy epilogue” -this is blank atm, it’s more a reminder for me to keep poking away at my “girls who can’t breathe air, only fire” collection BECAUSE I WOULD LIKE TO ACTUALLY GET TO THE CLIZZY AT SOME POINT

"mer!alec" -pts 2-4 of a series, but apparently having an actual plan gets in the way of me *writing* the thing, and I haven't managed to throw the half an outline far enough away from my brain to be able to write again. Or something like that.

"ibhww" -if broken hearts were whole is a soulmate fic I started a million years ago, and purposefully set aside to finish some other WIPs because I thought they'd be quick, and now it's just buried under two and a half years of regret and shame so it's hard to get back to it

"iafy" -i am for you is a delightful & frothy semi-epistolary fluff piece that also just lost momentum because Life & 2020 & etc. It's far and away the most popular thing I've ever posted on AO3, which also makes me feel weird sometimes, and I feel like the fact that there's no grand conclusion planned, just a bit more fluff and settling in, might end up being disappointing? Basically, it's the first time I think I've psyched myself out about reader expectations, and until I get over that I'm going to have trouble finishing the last couple chapters. (There really are probably only two more chapters though. IT’S SO CLOSE, I wish I could just... write it. And yet?)

“fake-hating” -I do not like fake dating as a trope that much, I just do not get it, but I love outside POVs and arranged marriages and there’s this delighful tumblr post about how they wished there was more fic about people who were together but had to pretend they werent’, and uh. This may be that? Eventually? I’m not exhausted by my failure to finish it yet, so it’s still in the regular folder rather than the hiatus folder, even though nothing’s been posted for it.

AND I THINK THAT’S IT?

Not as terrible as it could be, but still. MANY WORDS THAT MAY NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY. Posting the equivalent of one’s old ratty sketchbook is always a weird feeling. :D

#on writing #writing memery #unending WIP List Of Doom

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devnicolee · 4 years

Text

The Chosen Ones (5)

Warnings: Slow burn

Word Count: 10,079

Pairing: M’Baku x Original Character

M'Baku's hands painfully clutched the sides of the window, half of its shattered glass scattered around his feet. His eyes were transfixed on the path of smoke slowly dissipating into nothing like he was hypnotized, as if his intense stares alone could bring the woman who flew out the window moments prior back to him. Every second that passed and every mile she traveled farther away from home and him, his frustration and rage at the people left behind grew. It only took moments, barely enough time for the group to catch their breath and truly process everything that transpired, for his rage to boil over.

"I hope all of you are happy," he said slowly, voice quiet and deadly as he turned around to face Asha's family and the remaining council members. Despite being in the presence of the Dora and the Black Panther, most of the group shrank in his shadow. Usually, M’Baku’s bark was bigger than his bite, not nearly as terrifying or intimidating as his appearance would have someone believe. But it seemed his gentle giant personality flew out the window with the love of his life and before them stood, simply, a raging giant.

"Excuse me?" T'Challa asked as silence fell over the group. "Are you blaming this on us?" T’Challa was frustrated, already internally blaming himself for how utterly spectacularly his plan failed. He genuinely thought he was helping, and perhaps foolishly, did not even once consider this outcome. He expected outrage, anger, of course. No decision he made came without those from someone. But this? This type of catastrophe? He was wholly unprepared. But he did know that hearing someone voice the thoughts already swirling around in his mind caused rage to flare up in him.

"Well, who else is to blame King T'Challa? You are the ones who were forcing her to hide and pretend and lie. You all created t-this system that treats her like a second-class citizen, that allows people like that woman to attack her. What in Hanuman's name did you expect? That she would be able to sit here and take that all her entire life?" M'Baku yelled, his voice booming, vibrating throughout the large throne room.

"Not that I need to justify the choices of this family to you or anyone, Shuri and I have been trying to help Asha. You wouldn't even know her, wouldn't be able to sit and judge us if I had not forced her to join the tribe and take that job in Jabariland in the first place! She didn't even want it. You have known her for what? A month? We," he emphasized, gesturing toward the sister he had left, "have been here by her side her entire life!" T'Challa voice raised to match M'Baku's as the men traded verbal jabs at the other, neither willing to shoulder the blame the other carelessly tossed at their feet.

"Yes, and some help the two of you have been while she was being emotionally abused and mistreated in her own home. This," he scoffed, "this isn't a life! What you and your parents forced upon her isn't a life. And you didn't fight for her to have the life she deserved. From where I am sitting, you never have. If you had, it wouldn't have taken 25 years. If you had, she would not have felt the need to flee out of your window to Hanuman knows where!"

"And what of you hm? Did you ever stop to think about why Asha didn't flee up to the mountains to be with you the first chance she got? Since you know her so well... since you offered her freedom and a real life that we didn't? Because maybe Asha understood what it could cost all of us, maybe she understood there are larger obligations at play. But you don't care about the cost! To us... or to Asha for that matter. You don't care about what is best for her and her family. You just care about her being who you want her to be. You don't love her for her, you love her for her powers. How is that any different than Hasani? Or my father who demanded she be who they wanted?" He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself before adding, "If you knew my sister as well as you think you do, you would know that she would never choose to sacrifice this family for herself."

"I knew you didn't deserve to be King, time and time again you prove that you are just a boy. A child who has no concept of leadership," M'Baku spat. "Because if you did, you would have been willing to sacrifice it all for her. It would never have to be her choice! You all had countless opportunities to do something different, to avoid the consequences of being indifferent to hate. When your parents or the Council plucked at the threads holding your sister together, you did nothing. Because you do not care about her, you only care about your family's grip on power, just like your father."

T'Challa's eyes flashed red as M'Baku's words sank in. A king no longer stood before him, the Black Panther and a very overprotective brother did. His suit instinctively wrapped its protective fibers around his body, launching him into attack mode. The only sounds in the room were sharp breaths and the collective bang of the Dora banishing their spears, ready to defend their King if needed. There was no room for God, Bast or Hanuman as the safe space separating the two vanished completely. Verbal blows were over, physical ones were zooming toward them with the speed of a panther as T'Challa said in a low voice, "Do. Not. Ever. insinuate that I --"

"Alright, enough boys, enough!" Nakia yelled, cutting off her boyfriend and pushing her way between the two men. Her hands pushed against each of their chests to force them apart. She didn't expect to actually move them, and she didn't, but it gave them both a physical signal to retreat to their figurative corners. They could argue all day if they wanted but Nakia knew it would be a worse end to an already terrible day if T'Challa killed one of his council members.

"You are all dismissed," she called out forcefully to the remaining council members, who no one else seemed to realize were still there. They all seemed to be too invested in the drama, feeling that the council meetings had gotten far more interesting now that T'Challa was king. And though Nakia actually did not have the authority to end any meetings, they all scampered, quickly gathering their things to leave. Once the last soul exited, leaving M'Baku and the Royal Family behind, Nakia added, "We all failed her and so we all shoulder the blame for this. Had we not... she would here and not... not lost. Arguing over who failed her the most and who loves her the most won't help us find her or help us get her back. So, let us focus on that for now and then Asha can tell us all how much we failed her in person. Agreed? Good." She answered herself, not waiting for either man to respond before redirecting her attention to Shuri. "Now, Shuri, can you trace the signal from her beads?"

Shuri had been silent those far, watching the two men argue from the window. She wiped the stray tear or two from her eyes as she walked back to her original seat and picked up her tablet. After a couple of seconds, a large-scale 3-D map of Wakanda was projected at their feet. The group moved out of the way to get a better view, looking down to see a thin red line labeled "Princess Asha Udaka" appear and slowly zigzag its way out of the inner dome around the Capitol. The dot traveled a short distance in the wilderness before stopping abruptly above the Land of the Heart-Shaped Herb.

"Her trail ends here," Shuri stated, pointing at the end of the line.

"So she is there?" M'Baku stated, half as a matter of fact statement and half as a question. "Let us go and get her."

"I didn't say she was there. I said her signal ends there," Shuri snapped back, understandably still angered at M'Baku's earlier attack as they were directed at both she and T'Challa.

She continued tapping away as Nakia said, "How is that possible? Override her tracker bead and find her that way."

"I am working on it," Shuri responded immediately, clearly agitated. There was silence as Shuri tapped away on her screen, eyes growing bigger.

"What is it, Shuri?" T'Challa asked.

"She destroyed her beads, either accidentally or on purpose. We won't be able to find her this way."

"How do you know that?"

"Well, if she manually turned off her tracker, I would be able to override it but I can't. And right before it stopped transmitting a location, her health bead sent out a distress signal, then stopped tracking and recording all health data. That bead never turns off, it can't. It records everything to the minute. So, best guess, and my guesses are usually never wrong, she destroyed them."

"I thought you couldn't destroy vibranium?" M'Baku asked, not truly understanding how the beads or vibranium worked.

"You can destroy anything if you have something powerful enough. Asha's powers certainly aren't enough to destroy vibranium, you know - reduce it to atoms. But with enough sustained fire, it can melt. And the beads are made of more than vibranium. Once exposed to an open flame for too long, the tech can be rendered useless. The point is, her beads won't help us. She could be fine and not want to be found. But... she could be hurt and be unable to tell anyone. We just don't know, so we have to find her the old-fashioned way."

"She didn't leave Wakanda, nothing has crossed the exterior border in the last hour," Okoye offered as she checked a log on her beads.

"So aside from the border, where could she be headed in that direction? Any place of significance to her?"

"That path is on the road to everywhere significant. The border, Warrior Falls, Jabariland, the Hall of Kings... It also depends on if she is looking for a place to be alone for a few hours or shelter for days. The mountains could give her shelter but who would she go there for besides you? Warrior Falls is her favorite spot but she won't find shelter there."

"And I doubt she would choose to go to the Hall of Kings," Shuri added. "It houses the Garden of the Heart-Shaped Herb," she added for M'Baku's benefit. "No one has been there for over a month. After Killmonger destroyed it, the priestesses refused to return, saying Bast cursed the land."

"My son... perhaps we should just let her be," Ramonda offered, approaching the group from her seat off to the side. Everyone's heads turned, almost as if they forgot she was even in the room. Her words coupled with the almost annoyed look on her face caused a cloud of anger to settle over the group once more.

"What? How could you suggest such a thing, Mama?" Shuri asked in disbelief.

"Your sister can only bring this family ruin. Why bring her back here to further destroy everything? Whatever she is searching for outside of this palace may be what is best for her."

"Asha is our sister. She is a member of this family, a leader in this country. The only people who have destroyed everything are you and Baba for creating this mess. We are finding her and we are bringing her home."

"I am just sugg-"

"That is the end of this discussion. And you would do well to never make that suggestion in my presence again." His tone almost as lethal and harsh as the one he banished Elder Shani with earlier. T'Challa turned his back to his mother before continuing, "M'Baku and I will take the Talon and clear every inch of Wakanda like a grid. The body scans will identify her tattoo. You all stay here in case she returns."

He did not wait for confirmation or approval from anyone else for a plan, deciding if someone had a better idea then they would have said it already. He motioned for M’Baku to follow him out of the throne room without another word.

****

The ride on the Talon was virtually silent as the airplane piloted itself and T'Challa intently examined the sand table in the middle of the ship that reflected the passing landscape beneath them. He transitioned for pacing, throwing aggressive glances at the table, to standing hunched over it, staring at the sand disheartened and frustrated. The sand rapidly transformed into the different trees and rivers they passed over and people they passed over, all the dark gray color of the sand. T'Challa warned M'Baku that they would be waiting for purple sand, that it would be her. M'Baku let T'Challa do that while he just stared out of the window at the sea of black as if he could see Asha's body in the darkness.

"Why do you love her?"

M'Baku wondered if T'Challa got pleasure out of asking him deep questions out of the blue. "What's not to love?" M'Baku asked, not looking away from the window. At the returning silence, he grinned slyly and glanced back to see a very unsatisfied look on his face. He understood, understood the question and its purpose. If his thoughts were any indication, perhaps T’Challa worried that he was merely infatuated with his sister, not actually in love with her. He knew he did not need to but he did care about convincing T’Challa that that was not the case here. That his love was real and not some childish fantasy or obsession with magic.

"You know I noticed her at your challenge. There I was, down the mountains for the first time in my life, determined to die for that throne. And when I looked at the crowd, she was the first thing I noticed. My eyes drew to her like a moth to a flame. It was fleeting though, I could only focus on her for a second for there was fighting and honorable dying to get on with. And then the first time I saw her... truly saw her, in Jabariland… I mean, Hanuman. I have been with a great deal of women in my life but I had never seen one like her before. I saw it - that sadness you spoke of. But I also saw fire, passion, fierce determination. What do I love about her? I love the way you can see her heart soar at every compliment or kind word. I love the way her eyes, already filled with fire, light up when she discovers something new about herself. I love how she values family despite hers being so fragmented. I love that she is so dedicated to Wakanda, loves Wakanda so deeply despite not receiving that love in return. I love her quiet strength, her endless compassion."

He paused for a few moments, turning around to lean back against the wall of the ship. A hearty laugh escaped his lips as he stared across the ship at nothing. "You know the first time I realized it?" he asked as he walked up to T'Challa, looking down at the sand table. "We uh... we have this small cliff across from the Lodge. From there, you can see the best view of the sunset in all of Wakanda. To most of the tribe it isn't anything special, truth be told. Myself included, having had access to it my entire life. It became mundane and ordinary. But Asha, she likes sunsets so I took her there while she was in Jabariland. And you could see her whole being fill with joy and excitement, like this ordinary, mundane cliff was the best thing she had seen in her life. I don’t know, up until that point, I had tried to keep my feelings at bay. I didn’t deserve her I told myself. But the idea that she could love something so boring and ordinary made me feel like maybe she could love someone who was boring and ordinary. Who did not possess the power she did.”

The two men fell silent for a moment, T'Challa not knowing what to say. After a few minutes, M'Baku added, "You were not totally wrong earlier. When I was young, I wanted so desperately to be like her. I would pray on my knees until they ached to be blessed with a gift. I thought I had grown out of that. But your sister... I just wanted her to see what I saw, to accept the freedom I could offer, to choose me. Because if she chose me, if she could love me, then maybe I was not as ordinary and boring as I always felt. But I didn't think about the cost to her or you all, what was the cost to mere mortals in the face of her powers? But that... that selfishness isn't her way. All I saw was two people who were wholly unfulfilled. And I was so desperate for her to be mine so I could fill us both… so she could be free and I could be a part of something that was not ordinary that I never stopped to consider that maybe it is time for her to be hers. Time for others to stop forcing their wants on her and that includes me."

T'Challa simply stared at him, not expecting even half of an answer as detailed, nuanced and passionate as that. “I-I am sorry. For the throne room,” he started to say but M’Baku stopped him.

“We both said things, things I know I regret and you did not deserve or earn. Let us leave them in the past, yes?” M’Baku asked, extending an olive branch to his king. T’Challa nodded but before he could say anything else, a flash of purple sand caught his eye.

"I found her!" he called out.

M'Baku moved quickly to the sand table where purple sand was interrupting the field of gray while T’Challa directed the Talon to turn around and slowly lower to hover above the trees. "She is in front of the Hall of Kings."

M'Baku touched the purple sand that represented her horizontal body, expecting it to crumble in his hand like sand usually did to but it remained solid. He held it in his hand, silently pleading with Hanuman that she was alive and well.

"We cannot get any closer?” M’Baku asked as T’Challa activated his suit and motioned for him to follow him down the ramp.

“Out of respect for Bast’s whole place, we do not fly or hover the Talon directly over the Hall of Kings or its immediate surroundings.

M’Baku nodded then questioned, “Any idea why Asha would come here?"

"My father used to come here and pray. Only the Panther Tribe and those who tend to the Garden are even allowed here. It is sacred ground. Asha has never even been here."

"And they believe it is cursed now?" M'Baku asked, an eerily feeling falling over him as they moved through the darkness with little light to guide them. But he could not tell if that was because the land was actually haunted or because he was simply overthinking after what Shuri said.

"That is what the priestesses have told us... that Bast was enraged at the destruction of the Garden. Everytime they come here, they say they are overcome with dark thoughts, visions of Bast. They hear cries and rustlings in the trees," T'Challa answered.

"And you believe them?" M'Baku pushed a low hanging branch out of their way as they approached the clearing she was supposed to be in. "I do not hear anything."

"The priestesses have tended to this garden for most of their lives with Zhuri. It is their whole world. They have no reason to lie," his voice trailed off as the reason for their journey came into view. "Asha!"

T'Challa and M'Baku raced forward when they saw her body in a heap on the forest floor. As they approached, T'Challa quickly inspected the area and noticed the scorched black Earth branching out from beneath her body, her lack of shoes, and the cuts littering her arms and legs. Her face was hidden from view, covered by all her braids. She was knocked out cold. M'Baku reached her first, recognizing that T'Challa should have due to his enhanced speed, but understanding and appreciating the gesture.

M'Baku knelt down into the soft earth beside her, gently shifting her head so her face was facing up. He was startled at the lack of warmth in her body. Usually the girl felt like a furnace but now? She was as cold as ice. M'Baku felt her coldness as if someone had replaced his own blood with ice. He was so sure, convinced they would find her alive and well, probably too convinced. He had not prepared himself for any other possibility, refused to even consider it. Now all the other possibilities were vying for his attention, demanding he reckon with the reality that Asha was no goddess at all... she was human, a mere mortal like the rest of them.

"Check her pulse," T'Challa said, his voice even and cold. He knew from the way M'Baku held her cheek, the way the man seemed paralyzed that all was not right. He had not allowed himself to consider this either, forced the thought out of his mind every time. But staring at her, wishing for a different scenario would not change the current outcome. They needed to know and prolonging it would not ease their pain.

M'Baku nodded, signaling that he heard the question. He couldn't get his mouth or vocal chords to work enough to verbally respond. He took a deep breath, sent a silent prayer to Hanuman before starting to move his hand down to her neck to find a pulse. For a moment, he thought back to their time in the mountains, that sunset on that cliff. It truly was a perfect moment, a perfect stolen moment that ended too quickly. Asha seemed to believe that was all they were, all they would get: a selfishly seized stolen moment that was not actually in the cards for either of them. But M’Baku refused to believe that as he prayed to Hanuman. He prayed that life, no matter how strong or feeble, would still pump through her veins when his fingers pressed into her neck. Because he knew she deserved more… and he knew that they deserved a lifetime of moments designed especially for them and freely given to them to fulfill.

****

Asha groaned as she opened her eyes, shifting a bit as she registered the hard forest ground beneath her and the pain radiating through her body. One look at the sky above her caused her to sit up quickly, completely ignoring the immediate frustration and pain born from crashing to the ground. She quickly noticed several things that were not as they should have been. It was pitch black outside when she left the palace but now? The sky was ablaze with deep hues of purple and blue, lights that moved across the sky like a living organism. If she were not so perplexed, she would have been content simply lying there to admire its beauty.

She didn't even really understand how she got here - she crashed in the forest, that much she remembered. But now? She was surrounded by tall swaying grass like that of the Alkama Fields, not the towering thick trees and greenery that surrounds the Hall of Kings. She stood up quickly, dusting the dirt off her purple dress and turned from side to side, trying to notice any landmarks or buildings that would help her discern where she was now.

She walked a few paces ahead of her before an eerie feeling settled over her causing her to stop in her tracks. There was nothing out of the ordinary ahead of her and yet, the hairs on the back of her neck stood at attention. She turned around slowly, the sight behind her rendered her speechless. And thank Bast it did or else she would have let out a blood-curdling scream and she doubted theblack panthers staring at her from this tree would have appreciated that. She counted 10 or so of them as her eyes swept across the tree frantically. Her legs turned into jelly as examining stares passed between her and the majestic but deadly creatures. They seemed to regard her with interest, while Asha was too busy looking from the tree to the very short span of grass that separated them.

That is an easy leap for any one of them.

Asha's mind started racing, trying to access years of knowledge about Panthers and quickly sift through it all for something that could help her. As if her knowledge was a roaring rapid, the facts flew past her at an unnatural speed, uselessly until one old legend jumped out at her. Many believed that the Panther Tribe had a deeper connection with all panthers, those on the island and those in the wild, and so no panther would ever harm them. However, now seemed like a poor time to test that theory in Asha's opinion.

She pushed down with her hands, deciding that flying was far safer than walking and would help her find her way home. However, much to her shock, nothing happened. She tried again, facing scrunching up in intense frustration and concentration as she tried to force fire out of her extremities to gain flight. But she couldn't even get sparks... she was completely and utterly powerless. She groaned softly in frustration, not understanding how she was rendered powerless - something she had hoped and prayed for - the one time she actually needed them.

As she stood there examining her hands, her legs started to feel warm. She ignored it initially, hoping it was her powers finally starting up again. That was until the unmistakable smell of smoke reached her nose. She looked behind her and realized the grass around her was slowly catching on fire.

"Oh no," she said quietly, trying to wave the flames away, using all the tricks she knew to absorb fire but nothing worked. She backed away from it, edging closer to the tree of panthers who seemed completely unperturbed by the fire coming closer to them. Every time she tried to channel her powers and absorb it, it grew larger and spread faster. Soon, she was surrounded. Asha covered her mouth with her arm, trying to avoid breathing in the smoke that was now obstructing her vision. Deja-vu poked through the haze of panic settling over her - she had been here before.

She lifted a hand to the flames, praying that she, at least, still had her ability to touch fire and be unharmed. But that proved to be wishful thinking as well. She cried out in pain as the fire burned her skin and caused the palm of her hand to turn red and immediately blister.

She clutched her burning hand to her chest, tears flowed freely at the throbbing pain radiating from it. She had never known the pain fire caused and now she wished she still didn't. She looked around wildly, trying to find an escape from the blazing inferno that seemed intent on killing her. With no other plan or recourse available to her, Asha simply yelled out "Bast! Help me!" Who else was there to seek help from at this point? There was no living soul anywhere near her, she was sure of that.

She was just about to close her eyes, resigned to dying alone in this inferno far from home, when a glowing light caught her eye. She looked up and the smoke seemed to clear just enough for her to see a panther approaching her through the flames. If Asha hadn't been so awestruck, she would have collapsed with fear. This was no ordinary panther, she realized. Its skin appeared to be made of diamonds, glistening and shining in the light of the flames, and was as tall as Asha herself. It walked through the flames as if they were nothing more than colorful air that had no effect whatsoever. When it was close enough, Asha was able to look in its eyes. They were a rich purple, almost like someone hand-picked the finest jewels and plucked them in its eyes. It reminded her of something, something distinct that she couldn't quite put her finger on with the haze of panic around her.

Bast.

She didn't know how she knew but she knew. It couldn't be anyone else.

She and the panther stared at each other for, what Asha considered to be, an uncomfortable amount of time. Asha realized how often she blinked as she stared into its jeweled eyes, examining the intensity in which this animal tilted its head from side to side to study her.

"If you are Bast, give me a sign? Or you know... be quick about it if you are going to kill me?" She whispered, laughing uncomfortably to herself. She wondered if she was losing her mind, here in this unknown place trying to escape fire by talking to an animal.

The fire. Asha was so taken by this panther in front of her that she had forgotten about the flames so quickly, flames that she had been terrified of only moments prior. She looked around wildly, realizing that the smoke was no longer affecting her. She could breathe easy again, it felt like nothing different than standing in a field of flowers. And almost as beautiful, she thought to herself as she watched the flames rage around her for a second, relieved now that she knew it couldn’t hurt her. She knelt down and bowed her head, understanding who was causing this, who was in front of her.

"Open your eyes, Asha."

Asha lifted her head at the sound of a voice to find a woman where the panther once stood. Asha looked around and found untouched, seemingly perfect grass, replacing the burning field that was there before. She also realized that her hand was no longer red and pulsing with pain. All the evidence of the last five minutes seemed to vanish, like it never happened.

"Y-You are Bast?" Asha asked, her voice echoed the disbelief in her head. The answer was obvious, other-worldly radiated off the woman before her. She certainly was not human. Her deep chocolate skin glowed like the sun, adored from head to toe in gold robes. Nestled on top of her long, flowing black locs was a simple golden crown with purple jewels settled around it. The rest of the world fell away as Asha stared at her, captivated and sure that she could look at her for the rest of her days and it would never be enough.

"You called for me, did you not?"

Asha blinked a few times, her desperate calls for Bast almost forgotten. It felt like ages ago now despite only being minutes. But she hadn't actually expected the goddess to show up; after all she called on Bast for decades and she never came to her aid those times. "Y-yes, yes I did. Thank you f-for saving me. I suppose I didn't think you would show up," Asha admitted with an apologetic tone. There was an awkward pause as Bast simply stared at her across the field, clearly waiting for Asha to speak. "I am in the Ancestral Plane, yes? I died after my crash?" Her tone was surprisingly calm and casual, as if she was confirming the weather and not her livelihood.

She laughed lightly, "Yes and no, you are in the Ancestral plane but no, you are not dead. You came close, that is certain. That flight was a dangerous venture even for experienced flyers. But worry not, you are very much still among the living."

"Oh." Asha stopped her silent walking just behind Bast, causing the Goddess to instinctively stop as well and turn to her. Asha looked to her left and saw yet another set of panthers leering at her from a tree beside her, each woman standing on either side of its trunk, staring at the other. Asha's eyes flinted from Bast to one panther in particular. Most stared at her with interest for a moment before going back to sleep or turning their attention elsewhere. But not this one, its deep brown eyes bored into Asha's soul so intensely that even when she turned away, it felt like a laser on her profile.

"You almost sound disappointed by that fact." Bast responded, interrupting her staring match with the panther. Asha turned her attention back to Bast, an amused look on her face.

"Oh no, I mean I am happy to be alive. I guess I am just confused. Why am I here then?"

"Well, I wanted to speak with you. I have been watching you... waiting for the opportunity to approach you. The moment finally presented itself. You have visited us before."

"Yes, in my dreams. I did not know what it was though, but I thought it was just some place I made up. And I never make it past the flames. Wait - what do you mean you have been watching me?"

"I have been watching you as I do with all I have deemed worthy of a gift, waiting for them to reach out to me. I meet with all the gifted at some point in their lives. When they have reached a point in their self discovery, I find that most need to be pushed forward, as you do now. Some reach that point earlier than others though. The waiting can be difficult, as it was with you but you finally got there."

The breeze passed by the two women as Asha stared at her. She opened and closed her mouth, 15 years worth of questions, anger, and frustration rising to the surface but Asha wasn't able to put any of it into words.

She settled on saying, "'The gifted?' That sounds like the Jabari?" It didn't feel sufficient but she was still gathering her thoughts.

"Yes, on this Hanuman and I agree. He calls them the Chosen, I call them gifts but they are all the same. All chosen... all gifts to Wakanda, especially now since your brother has reunited all the tribes. It just seems, unfortunately, that my people have yet to catch on as the Jabari did. But I am hoping the Jabari can lead them on that path of understanding. Your father was a particularly tough subject, clearly my plan to humble him with a gifted child did little to help him see the light. I am always right, people believe. But even once a century or two, I get it wrong."

"Doesn't sound like much of a gift," Asha muttered to herself, upon processing the idea that her life was nothing more than a pawn in Bast's master plan. Asha suddenly felt angry, anger that felt like it appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden. But really, it had been building, boiling below the surface for 15 years.

"What was that child?" The tone of Bast's voice signaled that she was not asking because she had not heard. She just wanted Asha to say it out loud.

Asha drew herself to full height, standing tall before her goddess, anger still steadily rising. "I said it doesn't sound like much of a gift... to have your existence used as a pawn in someone else's life. I endured years of pain and abuse for what? My father left this world hating mutants just as much as he did before he had me. You are Bast… all mighty and all powerful and you couldn't humble him a different way? Dangling my life in the balance was the only way? Is that what you want me to believe?"

"I leave my people to make their own choices. I give the signs, I give the lessons, sometimes I give explicit instructions... it is your choice to follow them. Your father chose many times not to follow, did not recognize the signs or actively chose to ignore them. I realized quickly that there was little I could do for a man like that."

That isn't good enough, Asha thought angrily to herself. But she didn't respond, she just turned her head away from Bast, frustration clear and evident. She turned to find that damned panther still staring at her, and somehow it made her even more angry so she looked up at the sky, hoping its beauty would calm her. But it didn't.

"Your life was never in the balance. You grew up strong and powerful, as I intended," Bast added, breaking the silence between them. "I was always here for you but I thought you had forgotten me... you stopped praying."

And with that simple phrase, Asha snapped. She scoffed loudly as her anger boiled over, "'I stopped praying??' I prayed to you every day for years. I begged and begged, pleaded and cried for you to take this gift back. I begged to be normal. Were those prayers not loud enough? Were the sobs and agony of one of your gifts not loud enough to earn an audience?"

"And you weren't there! I stopped praying because you weren't answering, or giving any indication that you heard me at all! Is this what you intended? I mean, look at me! Look at my life!" Asha yelled exasperated as she paced by the tree, ranting angrily. "My mother hates me, my father went to his grave hating me, the only real family I have are T'Challa and Shuri, I am not connected to my home or country in any real way, and I have spent my whole life lying and hiding."

Asha roughly wiped the tears before adding, "A-and to top it off, I have a man back there who I am madly in love with that I don't deserve," a small sob escaped her lips. "That I can't be with because of things I didn't ask for. Because of you! Because of this life you forced upon me… This life that you call a gift but has been nothing but a curse for the last 15 years. A-a-and you call me here and what? Expect me to thank you for it? You call me here after 15 years of misery, 15 years of watching my life fall apart and you say it is what you intended?? This is NOT a gift!" She shouted, her voice startling a few panthers in the trees.

Asha's chest heaved slightly as she tried to calm herself after unloading years of pent-up anger onto Bast. She couldn't help but blame Bast for every bad thing in her life right now, after all she just told her that she orchestrated it all. All that pain, all that tragedy she flew away from, she laid it at Bast's feet. She didn't know why or what she expected in return.

"I do not expect you to not be angry with me, child. Your anger is fair. But where you see a life of darkness, I see one overflowing with potential.” Bast’s eyes were filled with understanding, despite just being yelled at. “But you are tired. And I understand that too."

Asha nodded, she was tired. That was how she felt, simply exhausted. Life... her life was too much work right now. She looked around, the soft swaying trees, the serene violet sky, the peace. There was such peace here, there were no powers here. Asha craved for it.

"You could just... you could just stay here," Asha whispered to herself.

"This place is not for you. You have many years ahead," Bast answered, voice matter-of-fact and clear.

"Why not?" Asha asked, now considering the notion seriously. "Y-You get to choose right?? That's what we are taught, what all the stories say? Well, then choose to let me stay!"

"No." Bast answered again. "You have a job to do. You cannot do it here."

"Fine, send me back, but take my powers. I do not want them." Asha began to bargain. In her mind, Bast owed her something, owed her what she asked. If she couldn't stay here, she could bring one aspect of this peace back with her. She could finally get Bast to do the one thing she had begged her to do her whole life. She can set her free.

"No, you were chosen. Wakanda needs you, as you are today."

"You have my brother! He is the protector of Wakanda. Whatever job you need to do, he can do it!"

"Your brother is not enough. For centuries, the Black Panther has been enough. But your father made terrible mistakes, mistakes that have altered the future of Wakanda. And your brother, rightfully, has opened Wakanda's borders. With it, new dangers unlike any we have ever seen will come. He needs you. Wakanda needs you."

"No... no!" Asha cried out in frustration, falling to her knees before her goddess. She hunched forward as her hands grasped the ground in front of her, her nails digging into the soil. She wondered if Bast thought this was amusing, how quickly her anger turned to desperation. "I cannot do this. I asked you for years and you ignored me. Listen to me now, please. I am begging you. I d-don't want this anymore. P-please." Asha's voice broke as she sobbed on the ground before Bast. She imagined she looked as pitiful as she sounded.

"Stand up, Asha Udaka," Bast commanded from above her. "You are a gift. You were made from me, my children do not kneel or grovel at my feet."

Asha steadied her breathing, stopped her silent sobbing as best she could, before standing before Bast once more. "Do you know why you have never made it past the flames before? Because you are so terrified of who you are. Instead of accepting them, accepting the fire and all that comes with it as part of you, you shun it, you run from it, you hide from it. And you are right, with a life like that, you will never be happy. You will always be afraid, you will always be running, you will always be living with the constant fear of being burned. You will always be tired."

Bast took a step toward her before continuing, "Or... you could make the choice to do something different. The life your father promised you is not the life you must have. Perhaps the role you believed you were going to have in Wakanda is not the role you are destined for. It will be hard, I will not tell you otherwise. Going back is hard. There are very few on Earth whose lives aren't exhausting, that is the burden... the sacrifice paid for breath pumping through your veins. But it will be worth it, it is always worth it."

Asha looked around, everywhere but at the woman in front of her, unsure of what to say. Was it that easy? Trusting her, having faith in her after feeling forsaken and forgotten for so long?

Bast's hand cupped Asha's cheek gently, wiping away the tears that still streamed silently down her face. "You could stay here. Truthfully, it is not my choice, it is yours. I will not stop you... Your brother had to make the same difficult choice not too long ago. He is destined to be the best of them, the man to lead my people to new heights. He returned home because there was work to be done. I believe he is better for it. I believe you will be better for it as well."

"How? What can I offer Wakanda? Or anyone like this?” she gestured to herself, imaging what her emotionally-broken form looked like to Bast. “Half of the country hates me, half of my family hates me. My brother had a role - King. I have nothing but powers that most of the country would rather me not use."

"That is far from true, my child. You have everything, everything you need already. You are rare... destined to be the best of them, I know this. And the path to that power hasn't been easy. You can hate me for it but this was the path you needed, this is what Wakanda needs. You have the power no other gift has had, power to do things the normal hand would not dare dream of - the power to undo atrocities and build lasting bridges all across Wakanda. You are rare... destined to be the best of them. I know this because I willed it. You just have to learn to love it, for all its beauty and terror. And then use it to save my people, save Wakanda's future. And then, you may find that giving and receiving love from others, and knowing you deserve it, is far simpler than before."

Bast squeezed her hands tightly. Asha didn't know what future she could save, what she could do for Wakanda. But as she stared around at the panthers and the Ancestral Plane, she knew one thing for certain - she couldn't stay here.

A small whimper next to her caught her attention. The black panther in the tree next to them was no longer just staring at Asha, it was sitting up as if it sensed her soul was about to leave. It almost looked like the idea pained it. As Asha stared at it, she realized that something about it seemed oddly familiar. She knew this didn't make sense, she had never seen a real panther in her life to remember one. But she could not help but think this one seemed to know her. She suddenly remembered what her brother told her after his visit here. He was there.

I wonder... she started to think, taking a step toward the tree, when Bast squeezed her hand again, stopping her movements. "It is time to go now, Asha. I fear we are sending you home with more questions than answers. But you will see me again when you have done what you are destined to do. Then you will get those new answers you seek, understand?"

Asha gave the panther one last look of longing, knowing whose soul inhabited it, wanting nothing more than the same opportunity to talk to him as she just had with Bast. But she knew this was all in Bast's plan so she answered, "Yes," before turning away from the panther for the last time.

Bast opened her arms wide and Asha tentatively walked into them, immediately leaning into the hug as she felt warmth and safety she hadn't felt in ages rushing through her. Bast smiled and whispered, "You know... I must hand it to myself. The Golden Trio... you all are the rarest flowers in my garden. Brilliant, capable and meant to help us in such different ways. You are the three pillars on which the progress of Wakanda will stand upon. In the absence of one, she would fall. It is a heavy burden I ask of you and cruel that I should ask it without offering any guidance. But like all my gifts, you must walk it alone. Right the wrongs, protect our future. And then we will speak again. Goodbye until then Princess Asha."

*****

Asha's eyes fluttered open, blinking profusely to adjust to the dim light surrounding her. Her head fell to the side as she laid there, recognizing the space as her bedroom in the palace. . She shifted beneath her deep red duvet cover, an audible groan escaping from the pain radiating through her body. Asha couldn't think of a time her body felt such extreme pain like this, feeling like she was just flung and subsequently trampled by a border tribe rhino. But she knew she had little space to complain. The fact that she was alive was a gift from Bast, that fall should have ended her life.

Bast... her meeting with the Panther Goddess was fresh in her mind. It felt more like a dream, except she remembered it so clearly, so vividly. Usually dreams disappeared from her memory within seconds of waking up. But this seemed to be burned into her brain, like Bast wouldn't let her forget a second of it.

She started to sit up, deciding to find her family and apologize for her impromptu escape when a soft but firm hand stopped her movements. "Lay back down, Asha. You need to rest."

Her heart leaped into her throat as she heard his voice. She looked up and saw him sitting on the edge of her bed. She didn't understand how she missed him, he seemed too big for her space. But she supposed she was too preoccupied with her own thoughts. "M'Baku?"

A small but distinct smile fell on his face as he heard the relief in her voice, there was no hiding it. He squeezed her hand, the pair simply staring at each other as he helped her ease back onto the pillows beneath her back. She stared at him, happy but extremely confused.

"W-what are you doing here?"

His hands left her shoulders, rubbing up and down her arms in a comforting fashion. She appreciated the warmth of his hands, helping her realize how cold she was. She felt like her body would never be warm again.

"I was worried about you. I wanted to make sure you were alright. Um... Let me get you some water yes? Stay here." Asha took in his nervousness, the anxiety in his voice. He was clearly trying to find busy work, something to do that was not simply staring at her or having the difficult conversation looming over him like a dark cloud. She watched him grab the water pitcher in the sitting area of her quarters. She stared around her, the profound desire to get up coursing through her. She just wanted to sit on the couch and talk to him, not lay in her bed like a patient. She swung her legs out of bed, ignoring the exhaustion and pain it caused to do such a little task. However, she would soon learn to regret that decision as she pushed off the bed to stand. The moment her legs took on her full weight, they turned to jelly. She crumbled back to the ground, with a soft thud.

"Asha!" He ran back over to her, forgetting her water. "What do you need?"

Asha tried to stabilize her breathing to talk, but nothing would come out. She had been so preoccupied, so trapped in her own thoughts that this was the first moment she actually registered how exhausted she felt. As if she could visualize it in her mind, she could see her internal tank empty, something that had never happened in her life. Panic settled as her eyes moved wildly around her room, trying to understand what she needed in this unforeseeable scenario. Her eyes fell on the raging fire in her sitting area. Was it that easy? she asked herself as she stared at the flames dancing in the fireplace. Her intense staring and look of longing did not go unnoticed by her companion. He picked her up bridal style, the young princess too tired to even be excited by being in his arms, and sat her as close as humanly possible to the fire without sticking her body in it. She hesitated for a moment, knowing it was crazy. But the flames seemed to call out for her, beg for her, growing taller and wilder as she watched them. She reached her hand out into the fire, the warmth immediately washing over her like someone basking in sunlight. She held her hand there, eyes closed, as her body soaked up all the fire in the hearth. Warmth spread through her arm and into every area of her body until she could feel it in every finger and toe, finally feeling full again. The price of her resurgence was the loss of fire in her room but she didn't feel as though she needed it now. She was not at 100%... she knew it would take some time to get back where she was. But this felt good.

"Better?" M'Baku asked softly from behind her, a comforting hand still on her back. He figured it worked, instead of deathly cold, he could feel the warmth circulating beneath her skin now. It wasn't as powerful as once before but it was there.

"Much. Not 100% but close. T-thank you."

He picked her back up and carried her back to bed. Once she was settled, he sat down on the side of the bed next to her.

"You gave us quite a scare. Flying away like that. On your third try? You could have died."

"Flying is the only way to escape a brother with super speed. Before I knew it, I was in the middle of nowhere and couldn't hold myself up any longer. I didn't mean to scare anyone.”

“You could have died, Asha,” he lectured. His words fell on her ears like a parent scolding a child instead of like a… she still didn’t know what they were.

“No one would have cared,” she mumbled under her breath. She couldn’t even stop herself from letting it slip but as soon as it did, she wished she had. The hurt on his face was clear.

"The King, Shuri, Nakia and the Dora care about you deeply Asha."

"Are they the only ones?" She asked softly.

M'Baku bowed his head, avoiding her expectant stare as he thought of a response. He cared about her, deeply so. But was now the time to have this conversation? After she almost died? He supposed it was foolish to back down now. This was what he wanted this whole time, to express his feelings. But now that it was here? He wished he had a few more days to get his thoughts together.

"No, not just them. There are some that care about you more than you know, more than you will let them show you."

It was Asha's turn to avoid his stare, his expectant look. She was in love with him, there was no secret about that. But 12 hours ago, there were so many barriers in their way. Now those barriers turned to wreckage and recycled into new barriers. They were different, but how different if she still felt unable to commit to him and this?

"The woman you want... she is not who I am always M'Baku. If this day hasn't shown you. You watched her attack me a-a-and I just sat there. I surrendered so easily like a c-coward. I- is that the woman you want? Truly?"

"Asha, stop. You are that woman, I see her every time I look at you. What other woman could have survived what you survived tonight? You are strong, you are deserving. You just have to believe it."

She nodded softly, looking out the window of her bedroom, confused and struggling. Her mind like she was standing in the Great Mound, watching hundreds of trains whiz by her and she could not grab hold of any of them. So many thoughts, so many tracks moving in different directions. Here she was again, standing at the crossroads of what she wanted to have, what reality dictated she must have, and what the world deemed her worthy of having. There was not a fiber of her being that didn't want M'Baku, but did she truly feel she deserved him? Bast told her she did… everyone told her she did… but did any other opinions matter if she still felt unworthy?

And this being the first moment, she really considered the possibility of being with him and its implications, would the Jabari even accept her? Many of them did not want to rejoin Wakanda in the first place? How would they feel if their chief married a lowlander? How would the Wakandans feel if their princess married a Jabari? That was a bridge the two tribes hadn’t been crossed once in history.

Beyond that, it was difficult to focus on sorting out her feelings for M'Baku when she knew her tribe was at risk, all because of her. She was surrounded by the very real reality that Elder Shani was trying to tear their house down. Her engagement was off, of that she was sure. Why would she uphold the end of the bargain when Shani figuratively set their deal on fire? But did that mean she was relieved of her obligation? Does that mean after giving her the ammunition to tear their world apart, Asha could just escape to Jabariland and live a different life? She was still the princess, after all. Her obligations to marry were gone but her obligations to her family, to the throne, to her people were very much present.

And then there was Bast. Apparently, there was work to be done. Could that work be done from Jabariland? Or did she have to stay here? What future did she have to protect? How does one even begin to learn to love themselves or powers they have been conditioned to hate? She wished she had more time to ask Bast questions as a million tumbled through her mind right now. Now, she just felt like she wasted the short audience Bast gave her ranting like a child. The goddess wasn't wrong - it was cruel to ask her to do whatever job she needed doing with no guidance, no direction. She wasn't equipped for this... any of it.

"Asha." M'Baku saw it clearly in her face, she was drowning, unsure of what to do, her confusion and concern etched into her face. She looked older, more tired and weary than he had ever seen her. Like in one day, she lived a thousand lives. He knew that look, saw it on his own face a million times as chief. He knew what it looked like to carry the weight of the world and he also knew how grateful he was to the people in his life who forced him to lay that weight down, who gave him a break for a moment. He just wanted to help her do the same. "How about we do this? We deal with the big questions tomorrow. And tonight, we just be. No big questions, no overthinking,” he gently tapped her head, causing her face to scrunch up and the first genuine smile he had seen all night grace her face. “No decisions, no complications. We just rest."

Asha's heart immediately felt lighter with his permission not to think for a moment, his permission to lay her baggage down and rest her arms for a while. It would do her a world of good, she knew that. She nodded, smiling at him. "Let's just be. Sounds like a plan to me."

M'Baku leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead, Asha's body heating up at his touch. He looked at her for a moment before getting up from the bed, "I will take the couc-"

A small hand grabbed his, tugging him back. Her dark brown eyes looked up with him, unspoken pleads clear and on the tip of her tongue. "Stay. I want you to stay."

Her meaning was clear, but M'Baku searched her face for confirmation. There were no reservations, no doubts. He rounded to the other side of the bed and slid in. She immediately nestled into his side, attracted to him like a magnet.

"I would care," he whispered as she laid on his bare chest, her small frame dwarfed by his. He didn't hear a response but soon, he felt the unmistakable wetness of tears and knew she heard him.

"T-thank you," she whispered back, throat tight as she tried to keep her emotions in. He kissed the top of her head before closing his eyes, another eventful day behind them and the start of something beautiful ahead.

****

Tags: @destinio1 @muse-of-mbaku @missmohnique @jellybean531 @afrolatinpami @leahnicole1219 @archivistofwakanda

#Black Writers #black panther fanfiction #black panther imagines #black panther fics #m'baku x reader #m'baku x oc #m'baku smut

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soundxofstars-archived · 3 years

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Rules

1. Starters of all kind are welcome! I am an OC/Crossover friendly roleplaying blog and willing to roleplay with anyone that wants to RP. This is a hobby of mine that I have been doing for a few years. Hope that we have a fun time roleplaying though!

2. I will only interact with fandom related OCs in the series that I will be roleplaying in, no fandomless OCs. I’ve had too many issues with them in the past that I want to avoid unless I know the person behind the fandomless OC.

3. I am a multiship blog, I don’t force ships onto role-players if the don’t roleplay that ship or anything that deals with shipping. Just let me know during the roleplays or in messages about the shipping parts of roleplays.

4. Battles and angst roleplays dealing with injuries, emotions or anything that myself or anything can think of is allowed. I’m a big angst fan.

5. AUs - I am a big fan of roleplaying AUs as I find them a lot of fun. AUs can be anything from school, different careers to even fantasy roleplays. I am up for any type of role-playing as long as it follows my rules. Crossovers are allowed also from anime to movies as long as I know the series.

6. My writing style is paragraph since I like to add a lot of detail to them. I have a detailed roleplay style usually written in third person like using “Wei Ying” and he instead of talking in first person being words like I and so on. Spelling mistakes happen so no worries if they are made, I’m not gonna make a big deal out of it if they appear since I’ve made them before myself.

7. Silly/goofy roleplays are allowed. Gotta have fun with ones that can make anyone laugh once in awhile. Sometimes taking a break from serious roleplays needs to happen and turned into something funny.

8. I am not a smut roleplayer! Please do not ask me to roleplay smut because my answer will be no. I don’t mind roleplaying things to where the roleplayer shows affection by kissing, cuddling or things that couple will do in public. Anything that isn’t smut is okay with me!

9. Please feel free to remind me about forgotten replies or if I owe you a starter. I am a college student and my classes are important to me right now. Just send me a message or whatever you want to remind me. If anyone wants to, you can randomly tag me in roleplays if anyone would like to roleplay with me.

10. Just have fun! Main purpose on this blog is just to have fun roleplaying! I want to keep this blog drama free as possible because that doesn’t make things very fun at all. Hope that we can have a good time roleplaying together though!

11. Do not reblog roleplays that you aren’t apart of, I will block you if you do reblog any roleplays of mine. It makes it harder for me and the other roleplayer to keep track of it. Liking is just fine, but please DO NOT REBLOG!

12. Roleplays that haven’t been answered in two months will be removed from my RP tracker unless I’m told otherwise or reason given on why RPs haven’t been answered. Just makes it easier on me instead of dealing with a cluttered mess of having a large number of inactive roleplays on the tracker.

13. Do not use me as a meme source! If you want a source go to @mkayswritings

14. I will not follow blogs that don’t trim their threads or put asks in a new post since it just clutters up my dash. I don’t like scrolling through long untrimmed threads. Sorry!

15. Personal blogs will be blocked unless their roleplay blog is a sideblog.

16. I will be following back from @achromaticstars since this is a sideblog.

#soundxofstars #mkay talk

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weaponizedembrace · 4 years

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~Tracker public views are sorted by tracked partner by default~

All Tracked Threads: My Turn || My Partner’s Turn

Bucky’s Threads: My Turn || My Partner’s Turn

Steve’s Threads: My Turn || My Partner’s Turn

Queued Threads

Unanswered Starters*

Archived Threads

*Please tell me if something is on this that shouldn’t be. I could have just forgotten to edit, or I could have your url wrong.

Notes on archiving threads & my Thread Tracker use:

I will generally archive things on my partner’s turn on the following timeline (unless communicated with about it):

Unplotted starters** - after 1 month without a reply.

Plotted starters** & unplotted interactions with at least one reply - after 2 months without a reply.

Plotted interactions with at least one reply - after 3 months since the last reply.

Anything semi-plotted with at least one reply - after 2 or 3 months since the last reply, depending on my level of investment.

Misc:

Anything starting as unplotted may become semi-plotted/plotted for the purposes of my tracker due to ooc discussion later.

Answered asks will not be tracked automatically, even if started in their own post. I will track them if continued.

If I have archived a thread, please feel free to let me know if you want to pick it back up and continue again. I’ll probably say yes, but if I happen to be overwhelmed, plotted things will get preference. (If I’m really not feeling it, we can always discuss something new.)

If I untracked (not archived) something on my turn that I had previously tracked, I likely lost muse for it and have dropped it. Sorry! (Again, we can do something new, if you want!)

**If I start noticing a growing pattern of archived starters I have written you that were never replied to (regardless of plotting status), I will be much less inclined to write you any more until IC interaction picks up on your end.

#bucky barnes rp #steve rogers rp #marvel rp #captain america rp #fatws rp #two targets; level six || to do/blog organization/etc #sorry for the repost i blorked it up #and a couple of starters are #about to be archived soon #just fyi i'm not @ing anyone

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strelitzicae-arts · 5 years

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I decided to design a quirkless vigilante deku! His vigilante name is Asteroid (mainly just bc it sounds cool and matches the jacket that he found at a thrift shop).

Info about his gear and backstory under the cut!

If you can’t read the picture, it says little details about his gear.

He has gloves for hand to hand combat, which is his main specialty.

His mask has a voice modifier built in, with buttons and knobs so that he can change the volume, what voice he is using, turn it off, change the pitch, or mute his voice in general.

He has a knife that he only uses in emergencies, and hes only willing to use it on villain’s arms and legs so he doesn’t critically hurt them

He has eskrima rods, which is what he mainly uses when hand to hand won’t suffice

He has a FAKE gun, which he uses for intimidation purposes in emergencies

He has a backpack, which is thin enough that he can hide it under his jacket

He keeps a gps tracker on him, which he can stick onto a villain or can be used to track him if he is kidnapped

He has a first aid kit for obvious reasons

He keeps no less than 3 water bottles on him because hydration is key to success

He has a burner phone that he can use to call the police or family or whatever in emergencies

He keeps a locked notebook on him, so he can take confidential notes about villains and important events

As for his backstory, he’s still quirkless. After coming home injured from being bullied too many times, Inko signs him up for martial arts and self defense classes. She knows that he’ll need them in the future due to prejudice against quirkless people, but he ends up really enjoying them. He ends up taking multiple disciplines, and going into competitions.

However, he still wants to be a hero to help people, so Inko ends up going with him to start volunteering at soup kitchens, clean ups, etc. At first he doesn’t really get it, but as he volunteers more he becomes more invested in helping other people in small ways. He starts volunteering at bigger projects, like building houses for the homeless, to try and make a difference.

Because of this and school, he doesn’t have as much time for quirk analysis, but he still enjoys theorizing and talking about quirks on forums. He’s rarely at school outside of class due to training and volunteering, so he isn’t bullied all that much either.

However, the years of bullying from his childhood left their mark, and he is very shy and doesn’t trust easily. He has to work in the back at soup kitchens, because he cant handle interacting with so many people at once when helping serve. At clean ups and builds, aside from other people he sees there regularly, he keeps to himself. He doesn’t have any friends from martial arts classes or school, either.

Not to mention his self doubt issues. Despite what everyone says about him being a hard worker or helping others, he has a hard time believing it.

He never actually intended to become a vigilante. However, one day on the way home he passed by someone who was being mugged in an alley. And because of his nature to help whenever he can, he used his martial arts skills to easily take down the villain. The person thanked him profusely, but he deflected the praise, saying that helping people wasn’t anything special. The person wouldn’t budge, and finally he relented and took a coupon they offered him, and went on his way.

And then it happened again. And again. And again.

By the 20th time, people begin to talk about it. Sure, its nothing big - just a forum thread with less than 100 views, but still, people know him. People think hes a vigilante.

This isn’t exactly an ideal situation, but he can’t stop himself from helping others. Which leads to him defending a pink haired girl from some bullies who were beating her up.

Thats how he meets Hatsume Mei, 13 year old genius, same age as him. She insists on making him his friend, which he can’t argue against because a. he would like a friends, but friendship is hard b. Hatsume Mei is an unstoppable force, and Izuku is the furthest thing from an immovable object.

And then one day, while their hanging out, Izuku once again steps in to stop a purse snatcher, and Mei has a realization.

“Hey, are you like, a vigilante or something?”

“Uh, I don’t think so? I just step in when someone is in trouble, which happens, uh, a lot.”

“So you’re a vigilante.”

Despite clarifying that he, a quirkless 13 year old is not a vigilante, Mei decides she will be his tech support. Plus, its good practice to try and get into UA by building Izuku some gear.

So that how Izuku ends up with a thrift shop hoodie with a shit ton of kevlar sewn in, other sturdy gear, some combat boots painted green with stars to match his hoodie, a back pack, a tool belt, and some self defense weapons. In order to not give his mom a heart attack by coming home with a stab wound, he and mei sewed kevlar into just about everything he was wearing, and he kept a gps tracker on him at all times so that, if he was kidnapped, they could find him.

Mei eventually also builds him some smoke bombs, flash bangs, and pepper spray, and in the process of helping her he realizes “oh hey, building things is fun and im good at it.” He even builds himself a pair of goggles with a zoom function, barely needing her help.

He mainly deals with small crime- the things police and heroes don’t notice, but he makes a name for himself. He tells everyone that he is Asteroid- small compared to planets, but still bright enough to be seen in the sky. No one knows who he really is because he covers his freckles with make up, he has a mask with a voice modifier, and he covers his hair with the hoodie, but they still thank his vigilante persona. One girl invited him to go to the bar with her and her friends, and two guys have tried to give him money as thanks.

Being a vigilante was actually pretty fun. He and Mei worked together to build better gear, and all the research that building gear required helped him do good in his science classes also. His teacher recommends him going for a tech school, or even UA’s general or support department.

He would like to go to UA with Mei, but he isn’t an idiot. Anyone who has been online knows who Asteroid is. There are multiple hero forum posts about him, and theres a small subreddit filled with people thanking him for helping them. One wrong move and someone at UA would realize who he is, and he’d be arrested. Sure, it isn’t technically vigilantism because he doesn’t have a quirk, but he’s still using force against others, and he doubts that smoke bombs are something a 14 year old is allowed to have. So, hero school is out of the question.

He thinks about tech school, and almost has his mind set until one night, he finds a villain with a fire quirk. He has scars on his face, and has cornered a few girls in an alley. So Izuku steps in, and probably has his first real fight.

Sure, he’s been in skirmishes before, but nothing as extreme as this. The girls get an opening to run away, but Izuku doesn’t. This guy knows how to fight, and how to use his quirk to help him fight. Izuku is almost impressed. They trade blow for blow. The man with the fire quirk is wearing extremely thin clothes, so he feels Izuku’s blows harder, but Izuku is getting burned easily. Just barely, however, Izuku manages to knock him hard on the head with an eskrima rod (not how it was intended to be used, but it works), sending him down. Some zipties and pinching some pressure points, and the man is completely down.

As he walks away, nursing his wounds, he thinks about what could’ve been done better. If his fabric was fire proof, he wouldn’t have been burned as hard. If he had something like a taser to shock enemies, he would’ve gone down faster. If he had better gloves, his knuckles wouldn’t be so bloody after that fight. It goes on and on.

And Izuku knows the best way to gain access to those materials is UA’s support department.

He calls Mei that night, and with a sigh, reveals probably he stupidest idea since becoming a vigilante.

#bnha #midoriya izuku #deku #vigilante midoriya #vigilante deku #art #my art #vigilante au #my hero academia #god i didnt think i would spend that long talking about this au #i was originally gonna do a bunny theme but uh. bunny ears on a hoodie is a great way to get pulled into a headlock #And yes the man withe the fire quirk is dabi. izuku realizes pretty early on that he and todoroki are siblings #also idk if/when deku will be caught and moved to heroics #im also making an animatic for this au bc i love it so please stay tuned

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donofdepravity · 4 years

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Please read my rules before interacting, weather you are a prospective RP-partner, or a Spectator. All Blog navigation is centralized on my Links page, which is also mobile friendly.

Greetings: -This blog is R18+ because of NSFW. Being upfront. -You can call me Rave. They/Them pronouns. I am 25+ (Timezone is The Future™) -If you interact with me, I will assume you have read these rules in full. (And vice versa if I interact with you.) -This blog is Indie & Private. (No RP group affiliation. If you follow me I’ll check out your blog, but I won’t follow everyone back.) -FF7 characters preferred, but I will consider crossovers. Anons are welcome! -Regarding OCs, I will only be interacting with OCs of current mutuals. Any interactions outside of this are purely at my own discretion. Do not request otherwise. (I used to just be selective with OCs but recently I’ve had a difficult time with an OC mun not respecting that and pushing interactions.) -No drama / rudeness / hostility. I will not publish asks stirring trouble, and will block people if need be. -I lose track of Tumblr IMs easily, so if you are IM only and I seem like I’ve forgotten our convo, hmu again so I get a refreshed notification.) -Discord is available for mutuals. Please, I prefer it over Tumblr IMs!

Spectators, please do not reblog my threads. I’d love to hear from you if you’re enjoying things in IMs or my inbox, though!

Dark Themes: -THIS IS A FUCKED UP VILLAIN MUSE. PLEASE BE AWARE OF THIS. He WILL be gross. -Angst / Violence / Death and other dark themes not limited to the aforementioned will appear on this blog. If these bother you, do not follow me. I do tag everything, if you are selectively uncomfortable please check my TW tags page to check what I tag. -Anything verging on or in the extreme (Re the above, or within smut topics) will be hidden under cuts. (I don’t hide general NS/FW, but it is tagged if you wish to avoid it.) -Basically, if a post I’m writing or replying to involves what I believe to be a triggering topic, I’ll tag it. -If you need anything specific tagged, please let me know. -I do not have any particular triggers myself for you to tag.

Basis of engagement: -General RP etiquette applies. -No god-modding. Don’t control my muse. Minor implied things can be okay within reason, like opening doors, or if in a character moves some part of another character. But please be reasonable and fair. -Related to above, I have no interest in RPing with someone that has a control complex / Must be the ultimate / best at everything. (There are logical muses that get a pass on this rule, ie Sephiroth, but within reason.) -This is not a multi-muse blog. I try to plan 1-1 encounters in threads. While I don’t mind brief character appearances, please don’t rely on the thread having an ensemble cast. It doesn’t work well with Tumblr’s reply format IMO.

Ships -Where to even start. Uh. So ironically I’m not particularly looking to ship on this blog since he’s not a primary muse of mine. But ships will be considered within a plot context. -My Corneo is primarily hetero. He won’t knowingly fuck a guy, but he will appreciate a pretty boy, and he’s not above wanking off to, or with other men. Maybe if he were drunk enough he’d fuck a guy. -In general as a person I am a Multi-Shipper. If for some disturbing reason you ship your muse with Corneo, you’re welcome to tell me. But ask first rather than presume. He’s got a rep for one-night-stands with his brides of course, but I will still be selective threading. -Romantic involvement however he is much more selective, so there will be chemistry required. -UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE: ALL SHIPS, EVEN WITHIN A VERSE, EXIST IN SEPARATE MINI ALTERNATE VERSES. -Please do not pre-establish a relationship with my muse without discussing it with me. Talk to me first if you are interested in that.

Smut -Smut will occasionally appear on this blog if my my brain decides it’s in the/a cursed mood. But if you want to write it with me, let’s discuss it a bit first privately. -While I do love me some good horny writing, I can appreciate its not for everyone. I am open to fade to blacks / morning after if you are not smut-inclined. -Once any flirting progresses to smut it will be tagged with: ‘⋙{ ns/fw }’ - It is my general NS/FW tag. Any TWs will be applied additionally.

Dark Themes -As I mentioned dark topics before, I’m not adverse to some borderline topics, acknowledging mun does not equal muse. -I will tag Selfcest or anything grey-zone ‘problematic’ if relevant in case you prefer to block it. -Where relevant dub con / non con or other such triggers will be tagged. Please be aware that any threads containing as such serve a plotted narrative purpose and are not rape fetishization. I’m not changing my content. If you have a problem with grasping this concept, please leave. Your mental health and safety is important, but also your own responsibility.

I use RP Thread Tracker to keep track of all my threads. Please let me know if you change your username so I can update my settings.

Memes: -I will try to respond to memes / asks! Mutuals, Non-Mutuals, Anons all welcome. -Please don’t take it personally if I don’t answer your ask, sometimes things just don’t click. -Starter-memes, unless I pm you and discuss otherwise, generally these are for smaller-format threads. Just to balance out my lengths of things and make it easier for me to get something back to you.

Reply lengths: -I’m occasionally prone to writing larger Multi-Para starters. It’s just my nature. I don’t expect you to match it. Please don’t be intimidated. (But also, typically my average reply length tapers off after the starter for a more reaction-based format. -Multi-Para style is my main tendency writing with an average of 2-4 para replies. Shorter semi-para may occur at times, particularly in dash commentary or shitpost threads.

Reply Frequency: -This is not my primary muse, so I will only be checking this blog occasionally. Consider it low-activity. -When my threads start crowding I queue posts to help stagger replies. -Neither length nor reply-speed is an indicator of my interest level in a thread. Some threads are intended to be larger formal threads while others are shorter that I want to remain light for enjoyment. A varied thread diet is best. -Please do not compare my threads against each other. I plan my replies around how I know I’ll best be able to manage my schedule, as well as meshing in with my various RP partners schedules. Occasionally this means one person may receive a burst of replies in a short space of time. This is usually because we only have a narrow window to mutually be active as they may only be able to reply every few days. It doesn’t mean I’m ignoring others. I’ll get to you, just chill. Things are fine. Bother me about this? You will be likely dropped. -That said, if it’s been around a month, you are welcome to check with me if I got your reply on a thread! I’m aware Tumblr sometimes eats replies and notifications. Likely it’s sitting in my drafts to write soon. But please don’t demand constant responses. I run multiple blogs, sometimes am in the mood for different muses, and have things I do outside of Tumblr as well of course.

Threads: -If life is getting fairly busy, I can’t promise replying to random starters/tags, so please message me if you want to start something. :3 -I will post Starter/Plotting/Ship calls etc occasionally, so please hmu on those if you see them. -My ‘Open Starters’ are open to mutuals. -If we’re not mutuals and you’re looking to get my interest, you’re always welcome to send something to my inbox and I might answer it. If you don’t know what to send, please check out my meme tag for ideas.

My rules used to be so short, but unfortunately certain encounters, and trying to avoid confrontations has led to it growing into a monstrosity, sorry. If you do anything in breach of them, I’ll bring it up with you. If a reasonable solution cannot be reached, I have no qualms blocking people.

Theme: OctoMoosey Icons by myself (rave-rps) Icon Frames by myself (rave-rps) Post-Graphics by myself (rave-rps)

#DonOfDepravity || Info

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benevolentgodloki · 6 years

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Roleplaying Profile Meme: PLEASE REPOST, DO NOT REBLOG! Feel free to add to any of your answers! The purpose is to tell your partners about the way you write! For the multiple choice ones, BOLD all that apply and, if you want, italicize if it’s a conditional answer!

– B A S I C S –

NAME : Pirate ARE YOU OVER 18? Yes / No IS YOUR MUSE? Yes* / No

* {what the heck is it with me and muses that are over 1000 years old I swear.}

ARE YOU SELECTIVE ABOUT WHO YOU WRITE WITH ON THIS BLOG? No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes / Highly / Private (mutuals only) ARE YOU SELECTIVE ABOUT WHO YOU FOLLOW ON THIS BLOG? No (anyone) / Semi / Yes / Highly

{It may have been noticed that when I first started out I had my blog as ‘highly selective’, which isn’t particularly helpful for starting out ;D So for now I’m ‘selective’ and will very likely try to calm down soon with how much I take on as I’ve not even touched my ‘main’ blog since I started on this loser, oops. }

IF YOUR MUSE IS CANON, HOW MUCH TO YOU ADHERE TO CANON? Not at all / A little / Some / Mostly / Strictly / (OC)

{I try to keep Loki ‘canon’, but, well, for me, roleplay is about playing with what you’ve got and having fun. It’s fantasy. If you want to have Loki in a situation that would otherwise be totally OOC then it’s my job as a writer to find a way for that to be believable. If I wanted to write Loki just for me and keep him strictly to one ideology, then what would be the point in me sharing him? You wanna ship him? Cool, we’ll see how that works out. You want him taking over the world? Sweet, I’ll find a reason. You want him fluffy or angsty or redemptive? I can work something out. I’m a sandbox, I’m not trying to write the next Marvel movie here}

WHAT POST LENGTHS DO YOU WRITE? One Liners / Single-Para / Multi-Para / Novella

{If memes require it I’ll do one-liners or novellas if doing drabbles etc. They’re circumstantial. I’m not against one-liners, it depends on what’s happening in a thread, but I also don’t want to clog up people’s dashes except for brief crack!}

DO YOU USE ICONS AND/OR GIFS? No / Gifs / Icons / Gifcons DO YOU WRITE ON OTHER PLATFORMS? No* / Yes

{I do write some instant roleplays with Will (araedi) on Discord but generally I find these highly stressful because I have this thing where I have to immediately respond to messages (thanks anxiety, you’re great) so I literally only play with Will and a side-order of rare chat instances - or in Cards Against Humanity!}

WHAT LEVEL OF PLOTS DO YOU WRITE? Unplotted / Open Ended Plots / Semi-Plotted / Fully Plotted Epics HOW QUICKLY DO YOU USUALLY RESPOND TO THREADS? Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 Weeks) / Average (1-2 Weeks) / Fast (Less Than One Week) / Very Fast (Less Than Three Days)

{When I get back on track with my main blog, unfortunately my posting speed is likely to deteriorate drastically. At the moment I’m taking only a few days because my health’s keeping me from doing much but enjoying Loki and I’m buzzed enough about him to even post on work nights. In anticipation of me being a slow bean, I started this blog off with this very warning in my rules. I do have a thread tracker, however, so if you’re wondering where your reply is and it’s been anything up to a week, please ask in case I’m a dumb and I lost it <3}

WHAT TYPES OF THEMES DO YOU LIKE? (feel free to add!) Fluff / Angst / Smut / Action / Tragedy / Domestic / Family / Conversational / Hurt-Comfort WHAT GENRES DO YOU LIKE? (feel free to add!) High Fantasy / Supernatural / Science Fiction / Historical / Horror / Comedy / Romantic / Drama / Action / Adventure / Espionage / Everything

{I unbolded horror but it’s dependent. Written horror isn’t like visual horror, which is something I don’t do well with. I’m a total wimp. But I can do some pretty dark nasties with fiction. I’ll try most things}

ARE THERE ANY THEMES YOU’RE UNCOMFORTABLE WRITING ON YOUR BLOG? (not triggers) No* / Yes DO YOU HAVE ANY TRIGGERS? HOW DO YOU REQUEST IT TAGGED? No / Yes*

* {I’ll answer both these in one asterisk. My one trigger I don’t need anyone to tag because it’s very specific and unlikely to come up. If something of that ilk happens in our thread I’ll IM you to explain and it will entirely not be your fault so never worry :P I’m generally fine with most themes to write so if you’re looking for someone to try something out who’d normally say no, you can always ask.}

– S H I P P I N G –

WHAT TYPES OF RELATIONSHIPS ARE YOU OPEN TO? Romantic / Platonic / Familial / Physical / Sexual WHAT TYPES OF PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS ARE YOU OPEN TO? Romantic / Platonic / Familial / Physical / Sexual

{So for Loki this one’s a bit more unusual. I’m up for varied things but some stuff requires first meetings etc. Romance will take chemistry and time (if at all, that dumb frost giant heart). Family can be pre-established if you’re playing a muse from the movies who is one of his family. I may consider AUs/OCs with other pre-established family members but plotting is key for that too. Some ships I lean more toward and may be more easily persuaded to just assume sexual things have already occurred or at the least flirting. It’s entirely muse and situation dependent basically.}

DO YOU HAVE OTPS? No / Chemistry only / Yes DO YOU HAVE NOTPS? No* / Yes / I don’t know

* { I don’t really but it’s possible? I’ve not got any on blacklist. I wouldn’t say I’m raring to go for Thorki (I don’t intend at this time to do so with my bestie Thor) but if you’re a Thor out there who’s just at their wit’s end unable to find semi-incestuous love, well, I won’t necessarily rule it out. I’ve even considered Helki because hot damn. I’m supposed to be talking about NOTPs where was I? Tbh I’m not a fan of Stucky. Each to their own. If I see too much of it on my dash I get a bit ‘ewww’ but hey if you love that, then you go love that! And that doesn’t affect Loki anyway. Basically if something feels good fictionally for me and him, I’m up for trying it)

WHAT IS YOUR MUSE’S SEXUAL ORIENTATION? - Heterosexual / Heteroflexible / Bisexual / Homoflexible / Homosexual / Pansexual / Demisexual / Sapiosexual / Asexual / Attracted to masculinity / Attracted to femininity / Attracted to androgyny

WHAT IS YOUR MUSE’S ROMANTIC ORIENTATION? - Heteroromantic / Heteroflexible / Biromantic / Homoflexible / Homoromantic / Panromantic / Demiromantic / Sapioromantic / Aromantic / Polyamorous

ARE YOU COMFORTABLE WRITING SMUT? No / Selectively / Yes

HOW EARLY IN A RELATIONSHIP DO YOU SHIP ROMANTICALLY? Autoship / During Plotting / After A Couple IC Interactions / Several IC Interactions / Slow Burn /Depends on partner & muse

ARE YOU OPEN TO TOXIC SHIPS?

No / Selectively / Yes

ARE YOU OPEN TO PROBLEMATIC SHIPS? (canon history, age difference, complicated, etc.) No / Selectively / Yes

ARE YOU OPEN TO POLYSHIPPING? No / Selectively / Yes

ARE YOU AN EXCLUSIVE SHIPPER? No / Sometimes / Yes

DOES CRACK SHIPPING EVER HAPPEN? No / Sometimes / Yes

DOES CROSSOVER SHIPPING EVER HAPPEN? No / Yes / Depends

Tagged by: @heartfractured Tagging: Anyone following me who wants to do this. I know that sounds lazy but half of you have already probably been tagged XD

#outofillusions #about Pirate

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waywarddivergence · 5 years

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Rules

My rules used to be really short, but certain encounters and trying to avoid confusion and confrontations has led to it growing into a monstrosity, sorry.

General Rules:

This blog is R18+ because of NSFW & TWs.

I am mid 20s. My Mun hub-blog, is Rave-RPs and I tend to follow from there first to check out RP blogs so I can keep my specific blog dashes curated to where I think interactions will happen.

This blog is selective, and low-moderate activity I will prioritize mains purely because in my work I have super busy seasons of October to May. In order to maintain activity I limit the number of threads I take on.

Thread limit doesn’t equal interaction limit! If I’m at my thread limit, I don’t mind having small interactions like asks or quickfire short-replies etc!

Para-style (1-2ish) is my tendency for general interactions. Multi-Para (3+) I save for threads. One-liners to single-Para replies will happen in spontaneous quickfire-interactions, dash commentary or shitpost threads.

Angst / Dark themes / Violence / Death will appear on this blog. If these bother you, Please do not follow me. Anything verging drastic will be hidden under cuts.

All my tags including trigger warnings appear on my links page. If I’ve missed tagging something or you want a tag added, message me and I’ll fix it. I do not have any particular triggers myself. My usual tw format is ‘tw Trigger’

No god-modding. Don’t control my muse. Minor implied things can be okay within reason, like opening doors, or if in a character moves some part of another character. But please be reasonable and fair. Injuries: check with me.

I use RP Thread Tracker to keep track of all my threads. Please let me know if you change your username so I can update my settings on it or I may not notice your reply.

When my threads start crowding I schedule thread releases to help stagger replies. My reply-times can range from same-day up to around two-weeks. (Depending on my backlog) But I tend to aim for a week-average on threads.

If after I’ve replied to a thread I haven’t heard back on it for a month (four weeks) and there hasn’t really been any discussion of the thread OOC between muns in that time, I consider the thread dead. This is so I can open up to other interactions rather than waste my limited time waiting for something that may never come. If a thread is dead please don’t just revive it without checking with me first.

If you wish to drop a thread for any reason (lack of muse, stuck or disinterest) you’re welcome to ask me to drop it too. That way we’re open for other interactions without stress! But please let me know, I need closure.

I will try to respond to memes / asks / tags / mentions, however, this usually takes some time to get around to due to my activity levels. I can’t promise replying to random thread starters due to thread limits, so please message me if you want to start something. :3

Canonical characters preferred. May consider OCs but typically only if I know the mun.

For my own dash curation purposes I don’t tend to follow multi-muses unless I’m familiar with all fandoms on it. (May still follow from Rave-RPs instead.) but you are welcome to interact from a multi-muse!

Discord is available for mutuals. Please, I prefer it over Tumblr IMs!

Spectators & Non-RP blogs:

Please do not reblog my threads (Unless you are the specific RP partner that thread is with.)

Please do not reblog any headcanon-posts or ooc posts I make. These are specific to my portrayal of my muse, or to myself specifically.

I do not mind if you comment on my dash commentary posts. (Please note this allowance is specific to me, other RPers may not like comments on their dash commentary. But on mine: you have permission.)

I’d love to hear from you if you’re enjoying things in IM!

Ships & Smut:

I Multi-Ship. Chemistry preferred, gender irrelevant.

UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE: ALL SHIPS, EVEN WITHIN A VERSE, EXIST IN SEPARATE MINI ALTERNATE VERSES.

Please do not pre-establish a relationship with my muse without discussing it with me. Talk to me first if you are interested in that.

Smut will appear on this blog, but if you want to write it, let’s discuss it first privately. Once any flirting progresses to smut it will be tagged accordingly and hidden under a cut.

Reguarding grey-zone ‘Problematic’ topics: Please be aware that any threads containing as such serve a plotted narrative purpose and are not fetishization of the said matters. I’m not changing my content. If you have a problem with grasping this concept, please leave my blog. Relevant tags will be in my tags list on my links page in case you wish to block them.

Formatting:

I will semi-format my replies by bolding dialogue, and italicizing character thoughts or emphasis, and the occasional strike through, but that’s it.

I am both dyslexic and my sight isn’t amazing. Special formatting using multiple indents and multiple special text-icons confuse me easily. If we are threading I will ask please don't use small-text for the body of replies. I don't mind specific occasional uses to emphasize things, but if I have to squint to read a whole reply: I won’t. If it’s only a smaller interaction of a few short replies and not an ongoing thread, I don’t mind the use of special formatting small-text, it’s just my eyes and brain don’t cooperate and I can’t endure large amounts of it. It’s nothing against muns or their chosen aesthetic.

Please cut posts in replies. Or if you’re continuing an ask, either make a new post, tag me and link back to the ask, or reply-comment on the original ask. If you’re mobile-based and can’t, just let me know and I’ll be fine cutting things since I only RP on my computer.

I use icons by default, however if my RP partner doesn’t, I will match iconless.

___

If you interact with me, I will assume you have read these rules in full. While I tend to check most blogs rules on following, if I send anything or reply to anything then I have definitely read your rules. (I don’t do passwords.)

If you do anything in breach of my rules, I’ll bring it up with you privately. If a reasonable solution cannot be reached, I have no qualms un-following or blocking people.

Also if at any point for any reason you wish to un-follow me, that’s totally fine: You curate your experience and make that choice, its totally okay! I totally get dash cleaning. You’re not obligated to follow my blog, I don’t do this for a following. And as a friend of mine says: un-following doesn’t have to mean unfriending.

If you don’t wish for me to follow you then you are welcome to simply block me to avoid accidental re-following. No questions asked.

Last update: 23/10/19

#WaywardDivergence | Info

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bestitproducts · 5 years

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Acer aspire desktop computer: Advanced computer skills

Assembling the PC on the knee - our old national folk fun but, at the present time Acer aspire desktop computer is made the change. However, the times are changing, for the computer in a certain sense is still not "a car for lying under its hood, but a means of transportation."

Acer aspire desktop computer

Productive habit tracker

Habit is a great thing. Since the beginning of the emergence of a more or less civilized computer market in our country, there is still a persistent tradition of self-assembly of computers, especially if this is an Acer aspire desktop computer PC purchased by a user for the first time in his life. You can understand specialists and fans that, before buying each component of their computer, repeatedly examine the characteristics and test results of new products; you can understand the managers of the IT departments of enterprises who instruct their employees to purchase wholesale components for retrofitting existing systems. However, quite often no more than frank amazement is caused by the attempts of citizens, who do not understand this technique the best Acer aspire desktop computer, to contact their neighbors or work colleagues with a request to help “gather something on their knees” for the first acquaintance with a PC. In this case Acer aspire desktop computer, of course, you want cheap and angry, and it does not matter that these concepts are often simply incompatible. It’s good if the computer master, turned up under the arm, is really an expert in his business, and there are cases when not only a competent hardware and software bundle is a misfortune, it happens that the “bad specialist” is not really friends with a screwdriver.

Best methods

The typical result of such methods of “first acquaintance with an Acer aspire desktop computer” is predictable: in the case, extra bolts that sooner or later fall on the contact tracks rollover, the monitor periodically “either goes out, goes out”. The mood because of the ineptly spent money was spoiled for months in advance, eventually the seller of incompatible iron (who, of course, didn’t have the slightest idea what they were going to combine with) ended up in the extreme, Uncle Liu, who collected at his Chinese factory it is insanely cheap (but fundamentally not working), or, at worst, Bill Gates. It is necessary to accuse Acer aspire desktop computer someone of their short-sightedness.

What is a desktop computer?

Do not think that in this material, using the example of Acer aspire desktop computer are ready-made system opposed to "self-assembly", the traditional in such cases ode to "trademarks" versus the domestic “screwdriver" assembly will be sung. There are many advantages and disadvantages in any case; moreover, there has been a new intermediate market for so-called barebones systems for several years in a row. However, really Acer aspire desktop computer is it not easier for an ordinary home or office user to buy a ready-made system and not to bother later on with the compatibility of components and legwork with warranty cards for a dozen of instances? Let's be realistic: cool gamers, scientists and other users who need non-standard desktop devices are orders of magnitude smaller than modern an Acer aspire desktop computer PC users who put a computer on a par with acquiring a vacuum cleaner, TV, bicycle and cell phone. Worldwide, DIY markets (Do It Yourself, that is, “does it yourself”) and ready-made systems for work, not for experimentation, have long and firmly demarcated. Even in our country, along with the supply of well-known foreign trademarks, over the past few years, several domestic "brands" have established themselves, whose products have long been unrelated to the "knee" assembly. Advantages of such products abound: continuous factory assembly of pre-selected and tested components, pre-sale bench testing, and certification. The disadvantages of the best Acer aspire desktop computer approach have traditionally been called the insufficient choice of ready-made configurations and the high price of "branded" devices. However, the current realities are such that no self-respecting company will allow itself to market products without first examining the demand and finding out what the buyer really needs and how too much he is willing to pay for Acer aspire desktop computer. That is why, perhaps, the time has come to pay more attention to ready-made versions of computers. Fortunately, positive examples of the use of such systems have recently become more and more.

Acer aspire desktop computer Buy Now

Acer computer manufacturer

The subject of our research today is the Acer ready-to-use desktop computer system Acer aspire desktop computer, first shown in spring 2004 and appearing in retail in the middle of summer. Acer products are known for a long time. Starting at one time as a manufacturer of various components, Acer Computers eventually became one of the well-known global brands, and the number of subsidiaries still supplying chips and various components under new brands is now difficult to account for. Who, if not to such a large industrial conglomerate, is engaged in the production of ready-made systems on their own (in most cases) components?

Acer aspire performance

The desktop system Acer aspire desktop computer is a ready-made solution "for the home" - at least, it is said on the Russian mirror of the company's website. About offices, as a target group, there is no mention. Indeed, the testing system based on the processor of the Intel Pentium 4 has a performance that exceeds the needs of the average office, but do not forget that the Acer aspire desktop computer contains solutions based on the Celeron processors, which have quite adequate prices at quite sufficient performance. In other words, the positioning of the best Aspire system line seems to me to be broader, in the form of a universal solution for the local market.

Brand quality

Choosing a chipset for the Acer aspire desktop computer does not happen: the chipset with integrated video allows you to create a fairly balanced and functional system at no extra cost. At the same time, support of all processor versions is guaranteed. Pentium 4 and Celeron for Socket 478, including FSB up to 800 MHz and support for Hyper-Threading technology, and the integrated graphics performance is enough to work with most office and "home" applications. However Acer aspire desktop computer, if the capabilities of the integrated graphics chip are not enough, the options of the system with already pre-installed discrete graphics are at your service. For example, in the case of the system being tested, there was a modest (in modern times), but quite modern, video card on the ATI Radeon 9600SE chip with 128 MB of its own graphics memory. In addition, Acer aspire desktop computer, the user is not limited to further expanding the functionality of the system due to the presence of PCI and AGP slots, there would be a desire.

Design and performance

The Acer aspire desktop computer is packaged in a tidy, mini tower form factor with stylish colors. The front panel is made in silver tone, the designers preferred to present the side and top panels in strict black. In full compliance with the overall style, the floppy drive, card reader, interface connector panel and the front panel of the optical drive are made in black. By the way, despite the fact that the CRT monitor is the typical choice of a display for the best Aspire computing system, the Acer LCD monitor in a black case (abundant in the company's model range) comes with a very elegant combination in a single finished style.

Acer aspire desktop computer

Retrofitting of structures

I don’t think that most home users will need to install another device in the 5.25-inch bay since the optical drive and universal flash card reader is already in the standard package. In the event of such a need, the user has one free compartment typical of Mini Tower enclosures. By the way, about the possibilities of retrofitting the system: in addition Acer aspire desktop computer installing a more efficient processor, a more capacious and/or additional hard drive, additional memory or a discrete video card, Acer also practices the optional delivery of a system with a TV tuner adapted to the Russian broadcast system SECAM. In the older models of the company's systems, for example, in the Aspire computer, the presence of such a tuner is standard. Buy Now

Interfaces definition

Commenting on the usability of the Acer aspire desktop computer, I would like to note the presence of the main interfaces on the front panel. To connect headphones or a microphone, the user does not need to search for the corresponding connectors on the rear plane of the system; everything is displayed on the front panel. There are also a couple of USB connectors for quick connection of a scanner, printer, and camera. It is also worth noting that when designing the front panel, Acer aspire desktop computer engineers thoughtfully approached the system configuration, which is why the front panel of the device for working with flashcards is equipped with a 4-pin version of the FireWire interface, which is usually the most popular for operational purposes. The back part of the Acer aspire desktop computer system is traditionally reserved for interface expanse. It has everything that most home users need, including a LAN connector, built-in modem, and audio interfaces. If there is a need or desire to connect a built-in ADSL modem or other peripherals, you can always use free PCI slots or, in the case of using external devices, use multiple USB ports. Let us finish the visual inspection of the system by photographing a fragment of the upper left corner of the left side of the system, which has a sticker with the name of the computer and the components of this Acer aspire desktop computer particular system that is indicated in the required order. A kind of passport computer, which lists its main characteristics.

Layout components

The internal layout of the system does not cause any special emotions: standard elements of the strapping are enough, An Acer aspire desktop computer motherboard with passive cooling systems on the chipset bridges, a regular cooler on the processor. Standard flat cables are used in the system's strapping, which is tied together during installation into a single “communication hub”, due to which the internal space of the case looks quite spacious. In short, it is a typical layout for the Mini Tower case, made with the economical use of fasteners.

Inside knowledge

Finish the study of the inside of the PC with a photo of a regular power supply system. The rated power of this component is normalized at 200 W, which is quite enough to power the already installed Acer aspire desktop computer components available; however, it may not be enough when trying to seriously upgrade the system. We look at how the power of the channel, which is most critical for the system upgrade, is normalized. Indeed, +12 V is only 10 A, which confirms the above assumption: for a serious system update (for example, installing a top-end processor or video card) you will also have to say goodbye to a regular power supply unit, replacing it with something more substantial.

Keyboard and mouse converter

Just a few words about the supplied peripherals Acer aspire desktop computer - the keyboard and mouse. The keyboard has a set of keys of a standard Windows system. Its only differences from similar inexpensive twin brothers are in a pleasant design of the case and a color selected by the general style of the system. No special comments on ergonomics and convenience: the usual convenient tool for everyday work, without gadgets. The mouse that came to us for testing complete with the Acer aspire desktop computer system was somewhat surprised by the fact that it was an archaic constructive with a ball, and no longer an optical manipulator corresponding to the current times. Not sure what it was worth saving on such a manipulator, because the price difference between these types of mice is now a few cents. For the sake of fairness, Acer aspire desktop computer body, I note that on the company's website, an optical mouse is indicated as a standard part of the delivery. In conclusion, we present to your attention a photo of the Acer aspire desktop computer system in full set, that is, with optional speakers and an Acer monitor. To whom as, and the complete set LCD monitor with the black case like a little more. This option, by the way, is also available for delivery.

Framework solutions

It is clear that the performance of the budget Acer aspire desktop computer PC, positioned by the supplier as an "entry-level system focused on novice users," is unlikely to be its most powerful place. Rather, it is more appropriate to talk about the ratio of price and component compliance with modern requirements for solutions to this class. Therefore, within the framework of this material, we decided to refrain from publishing any figures. Fortunately, the performance of the Acer aspire desktop computer system are the best-reviewed in this review roughly fits into the standard framework for such solutions. I think that everyone, if they wish, can decide on the approximate performance of systems of similar configuration, referring, for example, to our detailed material on testing systems on chipsets for Socket 478 processors. Performance of the Acer aspire desktop computer is quite typical for entry-level systems. To perform the daily tasks of such a configuration is more than enough, to achieve any breakthroughs you will have to think about improvements: the purchase of additional memory, graphics card or processor (along with the new power supply).

Summarize written text

Summing up our brief acquaintance with the entry-level desktop system are Acer aspire desktop computer manufactured by Acer Computers, I would like to note that if you wish, you can, of course, independently assemble something similar on your knee. True, you will have to run around looking for similar components, and if you want to collect something in the same style, then run very hard, plus, take care to search for an inexpensive, licensed OEM version of MS Windows XP Home, the sale of which is, that is Acer aspire desktop computer, without ready PC is prohibited. The result will be a hill of dissimilar "hardware" that has yet to be made to make money with each other, plus a bundle of dissimilar checks and warranty cards from different places, with which you will have to run around different instances. Now it makes sense to arm yourself with a calculator, calculates how much it cost you to buy your iron slide with a licensed operating system, and then compare the result with the price of a similar configuration from the price list of the representative office of Acer aspire desktop computer.

Acer aspire desktop computer

Final conclusion

I do not argue, in some cases of the best Acer aspire desktop computer is the independent assembly of a PC is an independent and even intimate matter, not to mention all upgrades of the existing systems. However, consider whether the game is worth the trouble when it comes to buying a new PC, especially for a novice user who is familiar with a computer only from TV shows and magazines? Is it time in such cases to move on to the usual practice of buying ready-made systems, as is done in the case of purchasing the rest of electronic equipment "for the home, for the family" - a TV, laptop or mobile phone? It is hoped that the civilized market for the acquisition of ready-made by Acer aspire desktop computer class systems will eventually come to the computer market, for the number of newbies and users who want to use such systems for their intended purpose, and not engage in "tambourine dances" Buy Now Read the full article

#AcerAspiredesktopcomputer #aceraspiredesktopcomputerprice #aceraspiredesktopcomputerreviews

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