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m1d-45 · 1 year

Note

if my favorite characters wanted to kill me i would simply let them. my only request would be that they do it from up close so that their pretty faces get to be the last thing i see <3<3<3

on broken bones

a/n: you…. you are my target audience.

(P.S: please note that the full fic was too long for tumblr! this will be in 3-4 parts, but dw, they’re all already mostly written!)

word count: ~2.5k

-> warnings: minor spoilers for liyue archon quest, the most minor of spoilers for mondstat’s archon quest, you are literally about to die, and do so but it’s ok i get revived, uhh blood mention but no gore, imposter au things yk? reader is Down Bad for zhongli at one point

-> lowercase intended!

taglist: @samarill || @thenyxsky || @valeriele3

< masterlist > || next part >>

you never had the highest level of self-preservation.

when you’d come to teyvat, the world seemed so kind, so you never learned to fear it. bugs never stung, any allergies you had never really acted up besides a sniffly nose, and the sun never burned. if you tripped, you landed softly, in the hands of grass that would never dare to harm you, and a breeze swept by the soothe the sting of your palms. the wind carried you down from high places, the water always keeping you afloat, the entirety of the natural world at your side.

or, rather, nearly the entirety.

despite wandering constantly, it took a few months to actually run into anybody. in fact, the only way you knew you were in teyvat at first were the sunsettias, and the hilichurls when you finally came across one of their camps. you have a feeling the dense forests and overgrown paths knew something you didn’t, looking back on it.

maybe you should have listened.

you stopped in the middle of a well-worn path of yours, stilling the sweet flower you were twirling in your hand. a few feet ahead, a stunned amber mirrored your look of shock, though her recognition was tinged with something more… bitter.

“amber?”

the bowstring in her hands doesn’t lose its tension. “greetings.”

that’s not the knights’ prescribed greeting, your mind says. you tell your mind to shut up, because that’s not what you should be thinking about when you’re looking at amber.

you wave, trying for a smile, and emotions you can’t catch flash over her face in rapid succession.

“how do you know my name?”

whoops. “who hasn’t heard of the knights of favonius?”

“those from other lands.” for being so young, her voice is so tired. she sounds like she’s barely 18, yet she’s so worn out… nobody this young should be so exhausted.

after a moment’s thought, you step forward, extending your flower-

her arm moves faster than you ever could, raising, aiming, and letting the arrow fly before you can blink. her shoulders are tense, her chest barely moving despite how harshly she breathes, arms still posed around her bow.

it’s only then that you’re aware of the white-hot pain in your throat, the sting of icy numbness swiftly taking its place.

the sweet flower falls to the ground, your body soon following.

when you wake up, the first thing you do is press a hand over your throat, but all you feel is the chill of your own skin. no arrow. no blood. you check your shirt, but there’s no blood there either.

it’s like it never happened. but you know it did.

still keeping a hand to the area, you sit up, ignoring how your body protests. you’re in another field, unsurprisingly, green grass and blue skies and red birds all around. it’s hard to believe that your run-in with amber wasn’t a dream.

even if you know it wasn’t.

you rise shakily, feeling very much so like you’re relearning your body. how to stand, how to dig your fingers between the sections of bark on a tree so you don’t fall, how to breathe when it feels like all the air in your lungs was in a race to get out. still, you breathe.

still, you stand.

still, you move on.

the earth seems angry.

looking out from the jade chamber, this is clear. the skies are an irritated gray, billowing clouds heavy with rain. they had come from nowhere, suddenly washing in from the north in with no warning, but a single drop has yet to fall. the ground occasionally shakes, enough to make leaves quiver, but no earthquake has come. it’s odd, like the very rock is holding in its breath, waiting for the trigger to let loose what is certainly disaster upon the land above it.

even the tianquan’s gems, normally large, sterling rocks swirling around her fingertips, refuse to answer her call. as she flips over a small coin of amber, the most she’s been able to summon, she wonders why.

one of ningguang’s many assistants comes out of the chamber, telling her that keqing has a report for her, and she tells them to send her out with a wave of a clawed finger. normally, she’d come inside—normally she wouldn’t be out here to begin with—but this… oddity in the landscape has her attention.

the door behind her silently slides open and shut, the clicks of the yuheng’s shoes the only indication of her presence.

“it’s odd to see you outside at such an hour, my lady.”

it’s midday.

“what is it, keqing?”

“this letter came in for you.”

an envelope enters her periphery and she takes it, careful not to damage the paper as she inspects the wax seal. it bears the insignia of the favonian knights.

“that’s hardly a rare occurrence.”

“indeed, but this one carries significant importance.” she takes a breath, an explanation on her tongue, but it dies. she knows she shouldn’t let her biases get in the way of the tianquan’s work, but this situation feels so wrong. her vision burns at the back of her neck despite her attacks doing less damage, the electro that dances across her skin hurts more than it should. it’s wrong, horribly so, but she needs to-

“keqing?”

she meets the tianquan’s eyes. ruby red dissecting her every move, and keqing is quick to look away.

“apologies, my lady. as i was saying…”

the dead refuse to rest.

they have always been unruly, leaving behind legacies and lingering feelings, leaving the living and letting them deal with it. what would be known as the wangsheng funeral parlor was established to battle these lingering debts, and it seems that even after 77 generations, the current director still has to pick up that mantle.

she’s felt it all day. the rowdiness of the undead, the spirits dancing and twirling around where they shouldn’t be. her soul told her there was one too many around, and so she had set her mind on going.

the director adjusted the flowers in her hat, watching in annoyance as her consultant thought over her words. she thought the answer was quite simple, and had rushed to fix the problem, but he was adamant that she explain herself first.

“and you’re certain?”

hu tao groaned, squeezing her eyes shut so they wouldn’t roll. “yes, i’m certain! surely youve noticed too, or is that vision for nothing?”

a glimmer of irritation crossed zhongli’s calm eyes. “this is a matter of utmost importance, director. the dead refusing to die is a serious issue.”

“you think i don’t know that? i run a funeral parlor-“

“director-“

“no. i’m going to wuwang hill, and all i need you to do is take care of the parlor while i’m gone. that’s it.”

“director, please. you cannot throw yourself into dangerous situations and expect me to sit by idly.”

“what are you, my dad?”

“i would hope not, as your father is currently deceased.”

in the gaping silence that followed, hu tao couldn’t decide if she was more shocked at the fact that he brought up her father’s passing, or that he had borderline joked about it.

zhongli cleared his throat, the only sign of apology she would receive. “i will go alone if i must.”

“you want to go-“

“indeed. i cannot allow you to venture into such an unsafe area on your own, and i myself wish to find the answer to this. if you cannot find anybody to run the parlor in your stead, then i will simply go alone.”

names and faces of employees ran through her head, options brought up and discarded quicker than any decision she’s ever made before. something in her soul demanded she go to wuwang hill, her pyro vision an insistent press between her shoulder blades, urging her to leave zhongli and just go. it was illogical, irrational, and she knew that if he saw he’d be worried and when all she needed was to simply leave-

a name emerged from the clutter.

“ferrylady.”

though his jaw ticked, zhongli nodded.

wuwang hill itself is uneasy.

zhongli has seen many things during his lifetime, but few of his memories could compare to this. the ground quivered underneath his feet, only truly steadying where he, as the lord of geo, stepped.

in truth, he had felt the same disturbance as hu tao, but had wanted to preserve his reputation as zhongli, ignoring the cold sting in his soul from where his gnosis used to be. his plan was to go after hours, when the dark could shadow his form, but now that he was here he was glad he didn’t.

the forest’s canopy was denser than usual, it seemed, barely any light filtering through the leaves. the will-o’-the-wisps shone brighter and more frequently than normal, and not a hilichurl was in sight. it was strange, unnerving to walk the familiar path, and he found himself prepared to summon a stele at any moment. the air itself felt tense, his element not resonating right.

how can stone feel hollow?

hu tao stepped closer to him, eyes uncharacteristically wide as she looked around. “why does it feel so… empty?”

he moved a hand to her back, urging her on faster. “i don’t know, ms. hu. please, do hurry.”

her fingers play with the tassels on her shirt as she walks, speeding up at his side. she’s always been fond of the macabre, but this… this isn’t that. this isn’t slow and sticky, raw honey made of skeleton bees that drips through bones and pulls at the hair atop skin, this isn’t the abrupt hit of symbolism or the stop of a heart as you’re face to face with a corpse, the smell of rotting flesh mixing with the bile climbing up your throat.

this is sharp. angular. a spike with every step she takes on the familiar dirt, thorns clinging to the lining of her lungs and digging in to hide from the chilling air. the sense that she doesn’t belong here, that she should leave, is steadily growing in response to the drive to keep walking, and she wonders if and when it’ll balance before tipping over. regardless, she keeps walking, steeling her spine and forcing assuredness into her walk.

besides her, zhongli isn’t doing much better. the air reeks of the sweetness of the divine, and the thundering in his heart matches, but here? of all places? he knew his god—he prided himself on it—and knew that they didn’t like places like this. and the feeling of wrongness, the stone beneath him seeming to slip under his feet and forcing him to walk quicker to make up for it, the claws of tree branches and roots of bushes somehow larger than before. as they approached the stone steps, he didn’t know what to expect, for once. he was unsure whether to be on edge, or to scold himself for being tense over nothing.

surely, he thought, rounding the corner, it couldn’t be nothing?

you watched the water ripple from your safe spot on the edge of the stone path cutting through it, smiling at the way the fish followed your hand when you hovered it over the surface. they were beautiful, some kind of koi by the looks of it, and certainly not what you expected.

when you recognized the wisps of wuwang hill, you had initially been afraid. it was dark, even during the day, and filled with monsters. not to mention it held the barrier between life and death, something you were not keen on ever getting close to. but as the shouts of the qingce villagers echoed in your ears, you decided it was the safest option, at least for the moment.

and it was. there were no hilichurls, no cicin mages, and the wisps seemed to float alongside you, lighting the way for a while before another came up and took over. they’d guided you to the domain, whose stone was shockingly warm. it was the crimson witch domain from what you remember, so that checked out, but for it to physically affect the stone…

you wondered what the archaic petra domain would feel like if that were the case. could stone feel more stone-like? if you were to somehow break off a chunk, would it do more damage than a regular rock? would that even count as geo damage?

you let your hand trail across the water, feeling scales bump against the pads on your fingertips with another smile. you wondered where they got their food, as the pond seemed both shallow and fairly barren, but there seems to be more and more greenery as you look. were your eyes adjusting to the light better, or were they the kinds of plants that only bloomed under certain conditions? but no, that would be for flowers, not-

“who are you?”

the harsh voice makes you jump, the fish jerking back before crowding the water near where you’ve fallen over. your surprise nearly made you fall in, but as you see who’s approaching you, you think that might have been better.

boots stomp over the stone that’s been your tentative camp, not stopping until they land toe to toe with yours. eyes carved from cor lapis glare down at you, cutting any argument you may have had to shreds.

yes, partly because zhongli is intimidating, but…

lighter shoes click and draw your attention, but you don’t get to turn your head far before you’re met with the pulsing black and gold point of vortex vanquisher.

“do not interest yourself in that which is out of your reach.”

oh.

you swallow in attempt to remedy the sudden dryness in your throat, following the handle of the polearm up to meet his eyes once more. his eyeliner looks sharper than on his in-game model, you note, and he has an earring, the golden jewel on it a perfect complement.

his eyes narrow, the set of his jaw making you think he’d sneer if he were anybody else. he rips his polearm from the stone besides you, “what could you possibly be looking at?”

you know this is it. you know exactly why he hasn’t spun his weapon back around, you knew it from the moment his sunset gaze fell upon you. so.. why lie?

“you’re beautiful,” you whisper.

and for the second time that week, you die.

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daily-hanamura · 7 months

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#persona 4 #p4 #persona 4 golden #p4g #hanamura yosuke #souyo #this scene revealed so much of their relationship in one go #yosuke has already long been established as yu's confidant at this point but this moment really drove it home!#yosuke anticipates each of yu's behaviour #but even though he disagrees with it he doesn't judge yu for it #even going so far as to help yu hide it from the rest of the team #its debatable whether thats necessarily a good thing #but it demonstrates yosuke's unwavering loyalty to yu while also making clear his disappointment #and of course yosuke has much to feel sad and disappointment over - one the one hand it felt like yu didnt trust him/them enough #he phrased it as a matter of “you should trust us more” as opposed to “you should trust ME more” because talking about trust in the singula #would hit too close to home and risk making too many demands of yu. demands that yosuke didnt feel he was allowed to make #afterall why would yu trust him but not the others? but the team is made up of other more reliable people than he was #and bringing up the team gives yosuke a defensive cover #so as usual it's part of yosuke's self doubt creeping in #but theres also honesty here - yosuke wasnt here to accost him or be angry at him; he really showed up just to make sure that yu was safe #and once hes confirmed it yosuke falls back to his usual habits of cracking a joke to lighten the mood #to end the conversation on a joke feels like its as much a service for yu as it is for himself #we know yosuke tends to joke to make the people around him feel better and i think in this instance he was also trying to cheer yu up #whether it was to make up for yosuke approaching him or to alleviate any guilt yu might feel #or even to manage whatever it was that adachi might have said to yu (which yosuke undoubtedly picked up on)#yosuke doesn't let his disagreement with yu get in the way of supporting his partner #to some extent i also wonder if this loyalty was also coloured by their previous interaction with namatame and Yosuke's anger #it's been less than a week since that incident after all and i think theres this contradiction for yosuke #and i think there was probably a contradiction in Yosuke's heart in that moment: he doesn't trust himself to make good judgements #but as much as he'd rather take yu's lead in this instance he also feels like his leader was wrong here

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strawberri-draws · 2 years

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Argyle <3

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iknowwhereyousnoozeatnight · 22 days

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couple of mello + near doodles

#death note #mello #mihael keehl #near #nate river #meronia #bright colors #eyestrain #been having fun w colors recently :3 #these are the product of me really really really not wanting to do some discussion boards #like i don’t even hate discussion boards but something about them has been filling me with dread i’d rather just do exams tbh #i'm like dragging myself through the rest of this semester but it's different from last semester last semester i was losing my mind #this semester i've been able to sleep more than 4 hours a night and go outside bc it's not freezing but also i'm just so fucking done #with school i've been here too long i'm tired but i'm always tired and will always be tired it's tragic honestly i think i'd be more cool #with school if i weren't living how i am rn w my family but eh i don't have the money to move out so it's whatever and it doesn't really #help that i know i'll have to get at least a master's to really do anything in my field and the though of doing more of this makes #me so tired i think i might take a gap year after i get my bachelors this fall idk #anyways enjoy my doodles or don't if you don't want to i'm not the boss of you

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mymp3 · 1 year

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it's doodle dump time again 👍

if yu bonus doodle makes my post fuck up again I'll cry

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literatureandshit · 2 years

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ok i feel like i need to make some sort of post about this because if i don’t i’m going to start eating my walls

billy hargrove is a racist

no matter what way you try to spin it, defend it, or tell his story, he’s a blatant racist. and the reason i know this is because i’m black and i watched the show. and frankly, i’m tired of seeing posts about how hot he is and how misunderstood he was when he sacrificed himself and how he was just an angsty teenager who didn’t know how to express himself after he lost his mom

billy tormented max to the point where she was terrified to be in the same close vicinity to him. both dustin and lucas were pursuing max, but who was the one that got threatened? who was the one billy told max to stay away from? who was the one that was called “the type of person you shouldn’t associate yourself with”? the black boy. lucas sinclair.

lucas was a 13 year old boy. billy was 17 or 18. if dacre had let the original script go through, lucas would have been clearly hate crimed. he would have been called racial slurs by billy, he would have been putting his hands on him. but a part of me thinks that even if that happened, so many of y’all would still be all over billy’s dick

he didn’t make up for anything when he sacrificed himself to save the others and that’s the issue with characters like him. they do nothing but horrible things, sometimes unforgivable shit, but they die for the greater good and that makes up for everything? i don’t fucking think so…

this is why it’s so funny to me when people have been saying eddie is a knock-off billy because how exactly is he a knock-off? eddie doesn’t terrify his friends. eddie doesn’t target black people. eddie didn’t put a broken bottle to steve’s throat just because he could, but because he needed to defend himself. he didn’t attack steve for fucking fun

and so many non white people have been telling white people this from day one, that hargrove is a racist abuser. but you don’t listen to us because you don’t care about us. you don’t actually give a shit about us, do you? and those same people will scream about standing with black people and listen to their stories, but when push comes to shove as long as the racism is with a fictional character, well who gives a shit? the racism within the stranger things fandom is so telling because no matter how many posts black people make, no matter how many posts i make, there will be people in my reblogs and my comments calling me a billy anti because i continue to spread the information that he’s a racist bigot

i’m not just a billy anti im an anti racist

#fuck you #fuck you billy hargrove #and fuck every person who likes him #fuck you fuck your dad fuck your mom fuck your whole family #fuck everything you believe in #billy hargrove #steve harrington #eddie munson #dustin henderson #lucas sinclair #stranger things #stranger things 4 #st4 #i won’t rest until i take that ugly sweaty mf down #long post

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agapemoon · 10 months

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ok but Roier finding out q!Cellbit is going to run as a candidate for the elections while he was roleplaying as Abueloier is the funniest shit ever, i just know his “WHAT” was 100% genuine, he broke out of character and im sure that the first thought that came into his mind while processing the new info was “ya valió verga todo/it’s all fucked” as the paranoid karmaland fan that he is lmao

#a serious rp conversation awaits for qcellbit and qroier ksndkdnsjdndjdnd #But im sure everything is going to be fine …. as long as qcellbit explains all his plan to qroier yk #which i think he will do ? so yea anyway our ship is going to be okay and i just hope this is the canon event for roier to be kidnapped #by the federation or by q!ElQuackity when he goes to spain for only 4 days but probably will take a whole week off streaming 😎#qsmp #roier #cellbit #spiderbit #guapoduo #saw people saying we hispanic are really paranoid and tbh ITS TRUE !! WE ARE !!! Its all karmaland’s fault #But remember Roier’s been watching karmaland since he was chikito🤏🏻 like the rest of us !! he is a fan !! he is one of us !#we share the same paranoia dkxndkdf #alessa's posts

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ecogirl2759 · 5 months

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Mako2; Electric Boogaloo

-Note-

All of these photos are from the Danganronpa 4コマ KINGS series. I do not own any of the drawings, but these photos are mine. All credit goes to Spike Chunsoft for the characters and the books themselves.

Check out part 1 here! Now away to part 2!!

(Lon g)

HE- JUST-- HIM--

He's just a smol boi lookin for love <3

*squish*

NO THAT'S WRONG!

Thonk

He's constantly worried about the status that is the goings on in his life

BANG :D

More fever dream Makoto. I still have no idea what's going on lol

LOOKIT HIM KICKIN HIS LITTLE FEET

He eepy, but he mad lol

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

HIS FACE MAKES ME WANT TO CRY

BE HAPPY PLEASE :(

LMAO he looks like he's choking on something

NOOOO SOMEONE HELP HE'S TURNING 8-BIT!!!

"Haha, I'm in danger!"

Makoto is just so done with life.

He bumped his head :(

What even is this

And he's off! Say bye to Makoto :D

~~~~~~~~~~~~

(Okay it's technically tomorrow but it's only midnight so it's fine)

There are so many pictures of him that by the time I was taking pics of the fourth book I realized I only had two spaces left until I reached my limit :(

But here he is! Makoto 2! Isn't he adorable :D

That's not a question, that's a threat :)

I wasn't planning on making this post so soon, but it was requested, so you shall receive!

Hope y'all enjoy another trip down Makoto lane lol

Next up: Celestia Ludenburg!

Contents || <-Previous : Next->

#danganronpa #dr1 #trigger happy havoc #manga #4 koma #4コマ #danganronpa thh #dr1 thh #thh #dr thh #drthh #makoto naegi #naegi makoto #I'm always happy to look at Makoto pictures #I really like his interactions with the rest of the class in these books #They're so fun :)#long post

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lynzishell · 6 months

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Prev // Next

Transcript:

Phoenix: I can’t believe I let you talk me into going to this thing. Dawn: It’ll be fun, I promise. It’s time we get out of our bubble and be social. Besides, Atlas’ workmates are great, and Kiyoshi will be there too.

Phoenix: Are you sure it’s okay for me to go? I don’t think plus-ones usually get a plus-one. Dawn: It’ll be fine. I think technically you’re listed as Asher’s plus-one. Phoenix: Who’s Asher?

Dawn: He’s Atlas’ friend. He has the biggest crush on him but refuses to ask him out. Phoenix: Why? Dawn: He has a stupid rule about not dating people he works with. Phoenix: That’s probably smart. Dawn: Pfft, don’t act like you don’t miss working with me. Phoenix: Of course, I do. I miss spending my days with you. Dawn: Aww me too.

Phoenix: Guess we’ll just have to move in together to make up for it. Dawn: Whaaat? Are you serious? Phoenix: Depends on your answer. If it’s yes, then I’m serious. If no, then I’m joking. Dawn: [laughs] Well, there’s not enough room in this place for the both of us. Phoenix: True. My lease isn’t up for another three months, so I guess that gives you time to think it over. Dawn: Hm, okay.

Phoenix: You look incredible, by the way. Dawn: Thank you! Phoenix: Are you sure you don’t want to stay in tonight? I can think of some creative ways to get you out of that dress. Dawn: Later, I promise.

Dawn: Hi!! It’s so good to see you guys! This is my boyfriend, Pheonix. This is Asher and Lex. Asher: Ah, you must be my plus-one. Phoenix: That would be me. Asher: Well, it’s great to finally meet you. Phoenix: Yeah, you too.

Lex: I’m so happy you were able to make it! Dawn: Me too, it’s been too long. We’ll have to catch up soon. Lex: Yes, definitely!

Asher: Well, Dawn, since you’ve clearly stolen my date, where’s your brother hiding? Dawn: I’ll give you one guess. Asher: [laughs] How long did he last? Dawn: Oh, about twenty minutes. Asher: Impressive. I’m gonna go say hi.

Asher: How’d I know I’d find you here?

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babbimetal · 8 months

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PA PA YA! AND MEGITSUNE WHAT ARE YOU DOING ON THE FLOORR

#MY LONGEST YEAH BOY EVAAA #WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK Y'ALL #THE 4 YEAR LONG BATTLE IS OVER WAR IS OVER KISTUNES WE CAN REST #lowkey was NOT expecting tom morello to be in the m/v😭😭😭#AND IT WAS MOMOKO DOING THE KABUKI-ESQUE PART #TO ALL YOU DINGDONGS SAYING IT WASN'T HER DOING IT LIVE OR IN THE SONG ARE YOU NOT EMBARRASSED ???#ALSO MOMO CENTER SPOT FOR A FEW SECONDS WHO ELSE STARTED CONVULSING #STUDIO M/V LOOKS BEAUTIFUL THE GIRLS LOOK BEAUTIFUL THEY LOOK LIKE THEY'RE HAVING SO MUCH FUN #STREAM METALI FOR CLEAR SKING AND A FAT ASS #babymetal #sumetal #moametal #momometal #momokometal #metali #tom morello

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redrobin-detective · 6 months

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the things we lost to the ice

It didn't quite sink in until Gunter put on the crown and became an Ice... something that it was all over. He was back as himself, with his body and brain and awkward personality, permanently. It didn't feel like last time, like each breath was bringing him closer to his last. Simon was also somehow back in his old favorite suit, with its worn elbows and his glasses clean and unbroken. He even couldn't feel the crown whispering in the back of his mind anymore. It was as GOLB had taken him back to just moments before he'd worn the crown for the first time, intending to tease Betty.

Oh Betty.

"Hey so uh, who are you?" Simon looked up from the rock Marcy had set him on to see Flame Princess staring at him curiously. Right she was... literally made of fire. He knew that, Simon blinked. Wait he did actually, his brain retained lots of facts about Ooo and it's people. It was his or, well, Ice King's personal experiences that felt fuzzy. "Because you came out of the GOLB thing together with Finn but I've never seen you before. Marceline seemed to know you though." She tilted her head and frowned, "Finn told me he was the last human, was that another lie?"

"Get away from him!" He heard Marcy screech as she rocketed over from where she'd been talking to Bubblegum and some other candy people. Her arm wrapped protectively around him, her sharp nails digging into his clothes and her batlike face pressed against his own. Her skin was cold like death. He hated how he tensed with instinctual fear at having a predator so close. This was his Marcy, his precious little girl. She was different than he remembered but she loved him, she wouldn't hurt him. He clenched his fists so they didn't shake.

"Hey Marcy! Don't worry, F.P. is cool!" Finn shouted, galloping over with a big grin on his face. "Oh man, so much just happened but Simon are you back-back, like for realsies? That is so math!" Finn hug tackled him and Marcy.

"Still waiting on an explanation," Flame Princess grumbled.

"So she actually got you free, how joyous," Magic Man -no, Normal Man- said with a small smile but his eyes were sharp. "I suppose the power of GOLB is the only thing strong enough to undo elemental wish magic. Congratulations, Ice King, welcome back to reality."

"Wait Ice King?" Flame Princess gaped and Simon realized that -with the major world ending threat neutralized - they were now the center of attention. It's only just occurring to him that his window to divorce himself completely from Ice King and pretend he was someone else was about to close forever. Just like the chance to hold Betty in his arms again.

"Yea!" Finn explained, wrenching around to address Flame Princess and gagging Simon by putting him in a headlock. "It's a long story -seriously long, he's like over a thousand years old or something- but Simon put on the crown only he didn't know it was hecka cursed. It possessed him and piloted his body like a meat puppet, turning him into Ice King and made him act all Banaynay."

"It took him a while for him to become Ice King though," Marcy said, shifting Simon slightly out of Finn's grip so she was hugging him from behind with her chin propped on his head. "He rescued me when I little before I was bit by the Vampire King. Simon took care of me after the world ended, he even showed me the basics of playing guitar." She nuzzled him and gave him a gentle squeeze, "I missed you so much, you have no idea."

"I missed you too, Sweet Girl," he murmured back. He'd been here the whole time but at the same time, been very far away. There's hazy memories of this older Marceline, her songs echoing somewhere in his head. Mostly he remembers her frowning over whatever crazy thing Ice King had been doing at the time.

"Whoa, you taught Marcy! I had no idea you were so musical," Finn shouted before looking thoughtful. "Well I guess IK used to play on his drums or his keyboard a lot now that I think about it." He smiled, a goofy teenage smile despite the missing teeth and scars from numerous adventures. "I guess you weren't totally gone."

"It doesn't justify the constant harassment and kidnapping of innocent Princesses," Bubblegum said primly.

"Bonnibel," Marcy growled.

"But I'm willing to forgive past grievances so long as it doesn't happen again. You are, after all, practically a new man." Bubblegum noted. "I presume it was born out of subconscious desire to find Betty again, the crown fixating on that desperation for love. Of course, Betty is gone now so it's all rather a moot point, isn't it?"

"Bonnie, seriously, now is not the time," Marcy warned. The fresh reminder of Betty's sacrifice, the permanence of it hit him again. Insanity had overwhelmed his depression and loneliness and loss of identity, redirected it. Now nothing could distract him from that sucking chest wound of loss threatening to consume him.

"Uhhh hey Simon!" Finn interrupted with a manic smile. "Can't wait to learn all about human stuff from you! I bet you can even teach the Islanders a thing or two, pretty sure they've forgotten what it's like to be human. But you know all sorts of humany stuff I bet. It's gonna be awesome learning where I come from." Good lord, was someone going to love and support this beautiful child or was it up to him again?

Finn reached out with his remaining hand and grabbed one of Simon's own, lacing them together. Simon jolted and looked at their conjoined hands before spreading their palms and fingers together. His pinky finger only met empty air.

"Oh my god Finn, have you only ever had four fingers?" He balked. Ice King's memories weren't that reliable, he couldn't actually recall.

"Don't you mean glob and uh yeah, that's the normal amount I think," Finn shrugged, squinting at Simon's pinky. "What do you need that extra one for anyhow? Does it have special powers or something?"

"Yeah, I always thought that was weird," Jake said from somewhere behind Finn. "Marcy has an extra one too, figured it was just how things were before the Mushroom War."

"It was actually a nuclear holocaust that wiped out pretty much all life on earth and mutated the rest beyond recognition but sure," Simon said with a hysterical edge in his voice as the weight of his situation pressed down on him.

He was a thousand years removed from the world he knew, a world that now only existed as ruins or twisted, funhouse mirror replicas. Simon was totally alone, the only person who remembered the way things were before. Marcy was here but she'd made the journey through time naturally, she'd adapted and likely forgotten. He no longer had magic and, without it, he wouldn't be allowed into Wizard City. The Ice Kingdom was now Gunter's and the humans of the future have changed in ways he could hardly recognize.

Sometimes the past is a different country, sometimes it's a black hole taking everything down with it.

"Hey dude, you've probably gotta use the bathroom like super bad," Jake said as he broke through the crowd. He gently manhandled Simon away from the well meaning arms of people who were both dear loved ones and strangers all at once. "You haven't whizzed as yourself in like a million years, we better find a place to get your man biz done."

"Wait but-" Marcy said reaching out but Bubblegum grabbed her hand and pulled her away. The rest of the onlookers slowly backed off, going back to the post fight cleanup. As Jake led him away, he made brief eye contact with Normal Man who'd once been a magical god and was now just a man. Simon would probably have out and out collapsed if Jake wasn't steadying him.

"Look, we're just gonna walk away and when we round this corner where no one can see, I'll leave you alone to do whatever you need to do." Jake soothed. "I can hold off Marcy and Finn for maybe 10 minutes, 12 tops. You focus on your breathing and if you gotta hurl, just do it, holding it in jacks you all up." He lowered Simon to the ground once they were out of sight. Simon immediately went into the fetal position.

"You're good at this," Simon noted even as the stress and panic and misery washed over him. He pushed his glasses up into his hair and buried his face in his knees. Jake rubbed his shoulders, it felt good, grounding.

"I've talked Finn through a lot of these episodes before, the kid's been through a lot. You have that in common. You and Finn might have some different physical traits but you're both human. You just had a lot of junk thrown at you so you don't need to figure it all out now. That's what the rest of your life is for. I'll keep the worry squad off your back as long as I can. Take it easy, Simon but, either way, you gotta take it."

Jake went back to the crowd leaving only his wisdom. He was right, no matter how miserable or overjoyed he was over the circumstances, this is the way the dice fell. He had no choice but to take it, to use Betty's sacrifice on his behalf to do whatever he wanted with his remaining time. And he was mortal now, time affected him once more so he had to learn quick.

He had no idea what he would do or even who this new Simon Petrikov, PhD student and aspiring antiquarian was. Just being able to think coherently and regulate his words and actions was a strange miracle he hadn't fully digested yet. Things would be okay, he would be happy once more but, for now, he thought it was okay to sit here in the dirt and cry for everything he'd lost to the ice.

#adventure time #simon petrikov #finn the human #marceline the vampire queen #its been so long since Ive done any writing this was fun #takes place like right after Come Along with Me #still thinking about simon coming to grips with being himself again and now he has to DEAL with all that baggage he didnt as IK #not to mention the rest of Ooo matching up IK with Simon #Jakes a good dude #also lol sometimes Finn is drawn with 5 fingers sometimes 4 #I think its a fun nod to cartoon characters having 4 fingers but also an easy way to show that Finn and Simon are both humans but different #simon is also adopting him no take backsies #anyway here's a sad old man

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