#so we could have gotten a bigger focus on it and it's fall out

[telyscope]

neteyam and lo’ak when human!readers mask breaks when they’re with them

okay so this was originally an anon req but i accidentally deleted the ask i am so sorry anon. BUUUT LUCKILY i was able to remember the request. if i remembered incorrectly, or if you wanted headcanons instead of whatever this is (idk what to call it) then please send me another req! if it also just wasn’t what you had in mind, i’ll be more than happy to rewrite it for you!

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pandora is a place made to inhabit 8 foot tall creatures. every form of life on pandora is stronger, bigger, and a threat to humans. even the air.

neteyam

“watch your step. we wouldn’t want you plummeting to your death now would we”

“very funny.” you throw a glare at neteyam, clearly not amused by his joke because you’re afraid that may actually end up becoming your reality

neteyam had decided to show you around the forest. well, the parts of the forest you haven’t yet seen. you’ve been around the omatikaya people for years now so you’re quite familiar with the forest, but you’ve never gone in the tops of trees or climbed mountains tops. i mean, you’re a human after all, the amount of dangers you could’ve faced if you’d tried are endless

sooo neteyam offered to finally show you the places you’ve always dreamed to see. you felt safe with neteyam, he knew how to fight and he could fight well. you knew he’d protect you the entire time, so you agreed

you two were hopping along the tree tops, bouncing through the huge leaves provided by the trees. it was nothing like you’ve ever seen before. you had the best view from here. it was so beautiful.

you were in such awe, adrenaline was rushing through you. you were too busy admiring the view that you seemed to have forgotten that the only thing keeping you up right now was a leaf. you weren’t paying attention to where you were walking, your mind occupied by the view. in fact you forget you were walking at all. you were just mindlessly taking steps. alas, you stepped on the tip of the leaf. it couldn’t hold you up.

a scream of your name. that’s all you heard. it was neteyams. a branch had broke your fall. you had landed on your stomach, so there was no severe pain but you were sure it would leave a nasty bruise. the branch wasn’t too far down, just slightly below the leaf, so you thought you were fine. you were too careless and fell, but you were fine.

until you felt a breeze on your face. you didn’t even need to feel your face to know that your mask broke. it seems a smaller branch had cracked your mask and the impact of the fall shattered it.

neteyam hurried down, jumping down from leaf to leaf to get to you as quick as possible. his typical calm character was gone, he was terrified.

you didn’t acknowledge him. you froze. you couldn’t move, or speak, you were just frozen. your mask was broken, and you guys were nowhere near the lab, there was not a single chance in hell you would be able to last long enough without breathing until you reached the lab.

neteyam pulled you up off your stomach and layed you in his lap. “hey focus on me alright? please, just try to stay awake for as long as you can, please.” he swoops you up and starts going down the tree. “ i promise i’ll get you to somewhere safe.”

you could hear the worry in his voice. but even so, he pursues his promise without hesitation.

—

god, your head was pounding. you sit up to find yourself in the lab with neteyam nervously pacing back and forth around you. “i passed out, didn’t i”

he shoots his head toward you with a huge sigh of relief to finally hear your voice. “i tried to get you here as quick as i could, but you could only hold your breath for so long, im sorry. how are you feeling?”

“hey, at least i’m not dead,” you shrug. “but honestly, this is all your fault. if you hadn’t made that awful joke about me falling i would’ve never fell. so, thanks for that, teyeam.” you give him a teasing smirk and he playfully whips his tail at your arm

“this is not the time to be joking, you could’ve seriously gotten hurt you know,” he walks over to you and kneels down to your level. “im sorry. im glad you’re okay. i promise to keep you safe from now on.” he places a kiss on your forehead and tucks a piece of your hair around your ear. you smile to yourself, relieved that you’re okay and so grateful to have someone like neteyam.

lo’ak

you and lo’ak were always sneaking out around the forest and doing things you probably shouldn’t

no matter how many times you two go out and about on some sort of adventure, you’ll never stop being so clumsy

i mean really it’s unbelievable. you’d think that somebody would learn to not be so careless after doing something so many times. but you, oh you just seemed to get clumsier every damn time

nothing too bad has ever happened though, you usually just end up with some scratches from walking into branches or bruises here and there from tripping over your own feet

that’s all it ever was. a funny little incident that leaves you and lo’ak both laughing at how reckless you are

this time wasn’t the same though.

you and lo’ak were running along a big branch that was connecting two trees. you’ve crossed this branch several times with ease, but this time there was a particular dip in the branch that you hadn’t noticed

“cmon hurry up, i know you can go faster than that” lo’ak calls out from up ahead

“i hope you havent forgotten that you’re 7 feet tall and your legs are as long as my entire body.”

“excuses, excuses,” he sarcastically rolls his eyes

not wanting to hear him continue whining about how slow you are, you speed up your pace quite a bit

as you’re about to reach where lo’ak is, your foot falls into the dip in the branch you’ve never seen before.

you fall face first, hard. and you earn yourself a rather harsh tumble down the branch.

lo’ak is struck with panic. “shit shit shit.” he races down to where you landed, luckily only a couple feet below the branch.

you groan in pain, pushing yourself up with your hands only to find shards of your mask scattered across the ground. oh fuck.

“lo’ak.”

“don’t move, you’ll only hurt yourself even more” he shouts from above. he’s too busy trying to get down to you.

again.

“lo’ak.”

“are you okay?? what hurts??”

again.

“lo’ak.”

he finally gets there in front of you and looks down to see what happened.

oh.

oh.

“your mask-“

“it’s broken. i know.”

well, shit. you just wasted your breath by talking.

he stands there for a moment with wide eyes unsure of what to do. guilt rushes through his chest. all he can think about is how this is all his fault. if he hadn’t told you to hurry up you wouldn’t have tripped.

but his emotions are irrelevant right now. he can deal with them later. he needs to get you somewhere safe.

luckily, you guys aren’t too far from the lab. if he sprints fast enough, he could get there in a couple minutes.

“oh fuck- okay. i need you to hold your breath for just two minutes. could you do that?”

you nod in response not wanting to use up even more of your breath. never in a million years did you except to be this thankful for the stupid ass things you and lo’ak would do when you were younger. he would dare you to see how long you could hold your breath without your mask. it made you a pro at holding your breath, and oh boy were you thankful for that foolishly earned skill right now.

he picked you up, careful not to place his hands on your injuries. you wrapped your hands around his neck and closed your eyes hoping that would somehow get you there faster.

he rushed into the lab, startling everyone that was peacefully working just seconds ago.

lo’ak sets you down gently and you let out the biggest breath you’ve ever held. you began practically panting and you hunched yourself over in exhaustion.

lo’ak opens his mouth to say something, but no words come out.

“thank you, lo’ak”

“no. no don’t thank me. im the reason that all happened. what if we weren’t near the lab?? im sorry, it’s all my fault.”

you’re not sure if it’s because you just held your breath for two minutes or because you think he’s speaking nonsense, but you laugh. right in his face.

“you’re kidding me right?? there is no way you’re laughing right now.”

“sorry, sorry. i just couldn’t take that seriously. it wasn’t your fault lo’ak, you know how clumsy i am. you saved me, so seriously, thank you.”

he pulls you in for a hug, smiling to himself.

#avatar #neteyam headcanons #neteyam x reader #lo’ak headcanons #lo’ak x reader #neteyam imagine #lo’ak imagine #neteyam x human reader #jake sully #neteyam sully #lo’ak sully

[beebopboom]

A Case of Missing Weaponry

Probably the thing Archangel Michael is most known for in biblical lore is striking Satan down with a sword/spear (i see them used interchangeably) and yet it seemingly has not been touched on in the show.

Granted it is a story largely in Revelations and we are shown that that is not an entirely truthful book in the show so it might not even be a something that proves to be anything

but I have a theory for you anyway.

Michael has continued to be a mystery in this show with their motivations, their past, and their knowledge all called into question.

and yet another thing we haven’t even gotten a verbal mention of is their weapon - the legendary weapon that stuck Satan down from the Heavens.

With all the mentions of the fall and the Great War it’s an interesting detail to leave out but I was willing to leave it alone for the reason mentioned above.

However,

In @drconstellation future of echos past meta she points out the Michael parallel indeed being the one to take the shot at the Lucifer parallel - which is then later confiscated by police (ok maybe not that exact meta but i couldn’t find the one where you went into detail about it😭)

@youryurigoddess pointing about the Michael statue in the trash mountain is missing its sword

and the scene being depicted within Agnes Nutter’s book

It makes a person start to wonder yknow?

but where could this weapon be if it’s not on Michael’s being? The logical explanation is that it’s just up in Heaven somewhere, I mean it’s not like Michael has a use for it right now anyway.

So up in heaven? Confiscated? Never existed? Misplaced?... Maybe

There is one small offhand comment (you know I love those) in 1941 that threw me down a rabbit hole of what could maybe be Michael's weapon.

When Aziraphale is handing over the books he compares Agnes's book to the Holy Grail but that's not the one I want to focus on rather something mentioned right after,

The Spear of Destiny, or the Holy Lance

This spear is said to be the one that pierced the side of Jesus as he hung on the cross to make sure he was dead

The spear which was said to guarantee victory in battle. (That was until it made its way to Hitler and he lost) 

but probably one of the bigger success stories about this spear is one that actually connects it back to Michael

Emperor Constantine

He was the one to bring Christianity into the Roman Empire and believed in the power of this spear - bringing it into battle with him as his main weapon.

Constantine and his co-emperor Licinius were the ones to sign into law that Christians could worship publicly and have churches

later they fought each other with Constantine coming out victorious near the Michaelion - which caused him to attribute his victory to Archangel Michael

even going as far as comparing Licinius to the serpent that Michael defeated, as described in Revelations. Using the serpent as a symbol for Licinius in money and art

he then continued commissioning statues and art of this event eventually replacing him and Licinius with Michael and Satan, which then lead to it being standard of what Michael is known for - spear and all.

Interesting (very shortened) story isn’t it?

Now this spear has been passed along all throughout history with many people claiming to have it and different pieces of it displayed throughout the world, so maybe it just was a replica of Michael’s spear just like they did with Aziraphale’s sword - the Romans seem to have a type for their weapons

there is also a very interesting conspiracy that after the Americans found it after ww2 they brought the real one back with them and leaving a replica behind - yknow considering the hints at America having something to do with s3

How Michael’s spear would have ended up lost on Earth I do not know but I do think that this could be interesting if nothing else

either way the lack of talking about it in the show has always had me intrigued

What is up with you Archangel Michael?

#*sees like three tiny pieces of evidence* #yeah I can work with that #good omens #good omens 2 #good omens theory #good omens speculation #good omens meta #archangel michael #good omens michael

[beautifulpersonpeach]

BPP! This might be a tough one for you.

What do you think about BigHits tactics with regards to album releases and promotional tactics for members? Hobi and Namjoon have been the only ones (not without other issues) thus far who’ve gotten proper time to promote their album and allow it to sit with Army and other fans. Today with the announcement of D-Day, it basically means Jimin had only 2 weeks to promote and allow his album to sit with Army (not counting the time that was divided with In the street by JHope).

Now the focus, as you can imagine, will be divided. It is a bit unfair to jimin but this is more a company planning issue rather than an issue with the members themselves. It could be that Yoongis album also get affected because Army just spent tonnes on buying Face 🤷🏻‍♀️

What are your thoughts around this?

**

Hi Anon,

I’ve talked about this a few times before but it seems several people still have the same concerns, going by the flood of asks I just got on the topic, in addition to yours. So let me try a different tack.

...

Fuck BigHit.

Fuck BTS.

Fuck HYBE.

Do we look like fucking ATMs? Are they trying to cause a burnout in the fandom? To see how far they can push us before we break? Do the members in BTS, those ungrateful fucktards, take ARMY so much for granted they think it's okay to push out albums one after the other like fucking pop tarts?

I just spent a shit fuck ton of money on Jimin and my wallet is still recovering. Now here comes Yoongi not even two weeks later shipping his shit out. And this is when his concert tickets are running up US$5,000 a pop on reseller sites. What does BigHit think they're doing? Writing this, I was initially going for a 'sarcastic' pitch but nah, I'm actually kinda ticked off. Fuck BigHit for their tacky, unorganized, chaotic and cluttered as fuck roll-out, and fuck BTS too for agreeing to that bullshit.

You're probably reading this and going "BigHit is the problem, not BTS", but those grown men agreed to this shit. You think Yoongi’s tour and album date was only decided yesterday? No. He and Jimin knew months before how everything would be phased, and they agreed to it. I held them responsible for agreeing to the PET and Dreamers, and I'll hold them responsible for this. You know, I actually can't believe Jimin. The actual gall to sit there and say the FACE album is very precious to him, only for him to agree to dip after two weeks of promotions. It's like he's begging to free fall off the charts. I wonder if he has a masochistic kink since he religiously keeps up with charting and social media lately. Anyway, Yoongi is the even bigger problem here since he's encroaching on Jimin's promo time. There's literally no need for BigHit to rush any of this, not even Yoongi going to the army is...

...

Oh.

The army...

Oh, right.

The military...

*

Enlistment... that thing they've been talking about lately. Yoongi has to enlist this year, and if the members all intend to do their service before returning in 2025, then they all have to enlist sometime in the next 10 months. And as the maknaes (taekook) will likely be having big debuts like Jimin, they'll need some time too. And, though it's possible he does, I doubt Jimin plans to enlist soon after promoting FACE. The guy I heard in Set Me Free Pt 2 sounds like he plans to be around for most of this year, active and trying out different projects. So BigHit will have to plan/stagger Jimin's next solo projects around Taekook's solo activities...

Hmm, now that I think about it, Joon did seem agitated when he said on his WLive, he's running out of time. Jimin and Yoongi both expressed a strong desire to return as a group ASAP on Suchwita. Jung Kook, who watched them, agreed and felt so inspired watching them that soon as it was done, he went to work and the context of his speech suggests he went to work on a solo endeavor. Oh, and if he's still working on music, that really shows how involved he is in the process, doesn't it? I mean, it's not Jung Kook who selects BTS's distributor (it's YG btw), but it's hard to say how there would be a complete album if he's still working on the song, and so he might need more time...

Enlistment is a real pressure all the guys are feeling this year, JK too even if he doesn't go, I promise you. I doubt they want these tight deadlines either. And that's all this roll-out is: tight. I refuse to call the roll-outs messy and insufficient because the guys' promotions have all without fail, even Hobi's, been thoughtfully done. And I'm saying that as someone who still thinks JITB packaging is pathetic and JITB should've come with a CD.

There’s a real possibility the fandom deals with some whiplash between releases.

Personally, I'm having the time of my life with the barrage of new music. Everything I wrote in that angry rant above is hogwash. BTS are keeping us so fucking fed, the music is incredible, they're all expressing themselves in so many ways, I can't stop gorging myself on them. As someone who has watched them for some years, it's nothing but pure fun seeing them be themselves and making great records. ARMY has already dealt with almost 20 releases since June 14th and all of them have done very well, plus it's not like BTS see themselves as competition anyway, so why should we?

That said, I can see why you think it’s unfair Jimin has likely had only two weeks to fully promote his album. I also sympathize if it all feels very overwhelming for you. Please remember it's always okay to step back and detach. In fact I recommend doing it often if you like. The music isn't going away, engage at your own pace.

*

There's also the issue of solo stans and their diet versions kicking up a stink about missed goals/targets after Jimin's Hot100 win. It's a shame and it will be annoying, but also that implosion has to happen somehow right?

If you're saying this cause you worry about ARMYs (or at least the OT7-ish core), don't worry. Those people showed up for JITB, Indigo, OTS, Jimin, and they'll show up for D-Day. Of course listenability, genre accessibility, preferences in general etc, definitely also impact what people like to listen to, and metrics will also vary for that reason. It's not always solo stans who determine these variances.

If the money is an issue for you, very understandable. It's money after all not toilet paper, it's a very valuable resource and there's a real fear fans will significantly spend beyond their means. Thus far I haven't seen this happen, and people seem to always forget the fandom has a lot of people and a lot of funders. It's just that not all of them pitch in unless it's for their biases. I have an ask sitting in my inbox of an Anon noticing that many people who had spent the last year talking about how ARMYs are 'obsessed with charts' and that people should allow music to be 'organic', those people themselves got really into charts when trying to chart Jimin's FACE. For that Anon if you're reading this, I agree with your observation but that sort of mean spirited shitposting ask is just unnecessary so I'm not posting it lol.

Anyway the point is, even the fans who don't consider themselves part of ARMY will show up to support their biases. They might dip right after, but they'll show up. That's just the effect BTS has on people. So Anon, ARMY will do what they do: enjoy the music, support the guys, and bicker.. feel free to do the same.

#bts #jimin really did take home number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 didn't he? #Happy and proud. So pleased and glad for him. #Breaking out my wallet for Yoongi next lol #goodnes #jimin #park jimin #min yoongi #yoongi

[hearthouses]

top 4 works of 2023

I was tagged by @nameslikeguns and also @preseriesdean was an inspiration, but I modified it to four because I'm not super proud of any of my edits this year and I wasn't able to squeeze out another fic before the end of the year, so we're going with top four! I am also not going to rank them, but list them in chronological order from their posting date.

This year was a better year than the last two in terms of writing output, I had a rough 2021 and posted nothing, and only posted one fic in 2022, so four is a massive improvement, even if it feels miniscule compared of other people's outputs. The Fall was when I was most productive and I am very proud of what I wrote then, exploring concepts I was particularly interested in, even if it's not the most popular and putting myslf out there regardless.

I think I would have continued that streak had I not gotten covid, then 2+ months of complications from covid, but I am trying to drag myself out of that funk. I am hoping to write more in 2024 as I have so many WIPs I want to get to and finish.

Anyway, here's the list:

1. when you're smiling and astride me

This was the first work I posted this year. It felt good to write it, but it also came with some challenges because I wrote it for an exchange and I was very nervous with some of the concepts and how they would go over. But the exchange itself was based on the idea of freeing your id and going wild, so I eventually just went with it and this was the result. I really love exploring Dean's feelings about his body and gender expression, and how Sam helps with it, and my only regret is I wish it was longer.

2. you say, go fast (i say, hold on tight)

This was written in a haze of early Fall because of another exchange that created a level of freedom that unlocked something in my brain that kept me from second guessing myself. It sprang from a concept fanvid and I came up with the idea wholesale from some mental images and let the story happen. I'm very fond of the result, even if it feels saccharine and too sweet and romantic for some. I really love the vibes and the imagery, plus how in love Sam and Dean are.

3. the landscape after cruelty

The process for this fic was grueling. No idea was working the way I wanted, so I needed to come up with a new idea altogether and at times, I almost didn't finish this fic. I have no playlist because I needed quiet to work on this. None of my usual preparations for writing fic worked for this one. The subject matter was daunting and I'm still unsure if I accomplished what I set out to, but I am proud of it. It's not very popular and I wonder if I hit the wrong notes often, but I'm also very protective of it. It's a weird fic that I'm not sure how I feel about the end result 100%, but I had to at least try and explore my feelings around the subject matter.

4. we could live forever in each other’s faces

This fic was written during the height of my illness. It wasn't supposed to be the fic I wrote because I had bigger plans (longer, more complicated fics), so I needed to scale them down to something more managable. How I did that was I chose to write the scenes in a series of drabbles, double drabbles, and triple drabbles, so I could focus on the preciseness of the word count. While this style of writing might feels limiting, it helps me to focus. I really love the dreamy, fairytale-like result of this. I still want to write a longer fic about these themes, but I am glad I wrote this all the same.

#end of the year works list #wincest #sam x dean #masterlist #of sorts? #idk what to tag this as

[pityslash]

IN THE WATER. chapter five

SHIP: bakugo x fem reader

A/N: sorry for the long wait! i hope it isn’t disappointing, i’m sure yall wanted a sweet happy ending sooo tw character death lol 💀💀

TAGLIST: @smashboxgirl26

　　V. WHEN THE LAST HOPE RUNS OUT

katsuki was in the kitchen putting a small portion of food away, dirty dishes in the sink. “the kids already ate..” he was quick to ask the usual questions, and you answered. “i ran into more revenants today. they’re wandering outside again.”

if you ignore it, maybe it will disappear.

“i know. that’s what i wanted to talk with you about—“ you suddenly took a sharp breath, loud enough to cut him off. it was like a gasp, so natural he almost could have ignored it.

"what was that?" he straightened up, leaning to grab your shoulder. you got cleaned up and dressed in clean(er) clothes when you got back, taking a bath, but he saw the blood.

then he noticed mahoro, peeking around the corner. she was always the one to tattletale or run and tell him things around the house, but now she was keeping her distance.

katsuki tugged at your leg and you turned away, afraid of what he would say. he felt an unpleasant coil in his stomach, and he stared, as if he had never seen you before. “what did you do?”

his tone said it all, and you wanted to cry. “fucking shit, why didn’t you say something? get up, you’re staying in the other room and— y/n?”

the light in your eyes goes out of focus, dimming the way the sun does as it sets, and it makes him realize death still loomed over. it isn’t bound to outer walls. katsuki yells your name and then everything goes black.

his heart pounding the entire way back, buildings turned into trees and the city disappeared. katsuki fell silent and only the sound of breathing could be heard, because that’s all he could do.

white blankets crunched under heavy boots and his legs burned, or maybe it was the cold, but it felt like he was being strangled by his own neck.

it was snowing outside. really, truly snowing.

ever since that day, it had been tense and uncomfortable. the long, treacherous journey north, just the two of you. it was hard, finding out you were infected and only had a certain amount of time. you and me, katsuki thought, how it started.

the air was freezing on your skin, not at all prepared for the weather, red and bruised. that one on your arm has gotten bigger..

flakes fall from the sky and you dare look out the window, you are so cold.

the sound of footsteps made your heart skip into your throat and close your eyes, squeezing a fist as tingles numb your fingertips. katsuki slammed the door behind him, kicking off his boots and the snow was already starting to melt on the beautiful wood flooring.

“there you are.”

you greet him softly, tired from just boiling water —katsuki told you to start melting snow while he was out. the amount you melted wasn’t enough, he sighed. katsuki had been gone for hours, probably, you couldn’t keep a train of thought anymore.

he takes off his damp gloves and tossed them on a table, before shrugging off his jacket and hanging it up. “i didn’t have much luck with the houses around here either. i have to get more wood, we won’t last the week.”

katsuki starts to tell you about plans for tomorrow. he grabs a small blanket from the closet and drapes it over your shoulders.

“i’ll make you something in a minute.” and true to his word, it wasn’t long before you hold a bowl of soup; mouth watering. your stomach has been hurting more recently, sometimes katsuki would throw a tantrum. it was hard to find food— harder for you to keep it down.

the sound of a single gunshot made all three of you flinch, katsuki pushed katsuma and mahoro behind him out of instinct. you couldn’t look into the eyes of your attacker, too afraid. “just hand them over.”

he’d been looking for these children for months, and word gets around when there were eyes everywhere. dead or alive. “.. i’m impressed they’ve survived this long.”

so much blood was shed that day, too many had fallen and it was all your fault. this world changes people, better or for worse, all that mattered was who was the meanest.

“izuku, we trusted you!” you screamed, looking up to meet green eyes, dull and void of pity. he opened his mouth but you couldn’t hear a word. katsuki glanced at you confused.

“is this a joke?” and then you instantly recognized the young man, shoto. “izuku midoriya is gone.”

shoto was full of grief, remembering the petty tears and begging from his best friend before a bullet silenced him. they were supposed to end this together, if only some bastard wasn’t trigger-happy.

“what?” you blink once, blink twice, and izuku disappears. maybe his luck did run out after all, you wanted to throw up. a woman stepped forward, short in height and she had red hair. one of the others called out her name; kiruka.

katsuma grabs your hand, and you couldn’t look down. “i’ll go with you! i’ll go, just don’t hurt my friends.”

“katsuki.. have the kids eaten already?”

it’s been weeks, months. why is that even a question? katsuki bit his inner cheek before starting to eat.

“i don’t know.” he said with a sigh of resignation and leaned back against the chair. windows were broken and he didn't get much sleep that night.

the next few weeks were excruciatingly long, and he is almost thankful for it. the silence never bothered him before. time flies sometimes, and other times it doesn’t. the sound of his newfound family was replaced with passing groans outside the door.

everything was dwindling down, all the food and the supplies and the energy. when he looked at you and saw how you either slept all day or not at all, it held him back, and he hated the feeling.

maybe it was a thursday when he noticed just how tired you were, you had barely spoken in the past five hours. katsuki’s knees were scraped by the broken glass and threads were torn more than designed; his stomach hurt, too.

“y/n,” he struggled to keep you upright. your lips were dry and you looked so ill. “it’s almost dark.” you were so distracted that you didn’t notice when katsuki moved closer; his body radiated heat while yours didn’t.

maybe this was the plan for your character this entire time —pain, loss, small burns from his touch. maybe the gods were having sympathy.

katsuki reached for a bottle, unscrewing the lid and eyeing the clean water since it had finally cooled from boil that morning. he winced to himself when he realized that was it, and for a split second he had to think about giving this water to you.

he felt like a monster waiting for your end.

“you’ll need to keep the fire going, i’m getting a few hours in.” katsuki told you, tossing shavings of wood into the small flame.

it was a hard morning with no sleep. the mental ticks of minutes turned into hours but he never stopped, and pride filled his chest and made his hands shake when you praised the smoke.

he watched you move and stretch out your legs, having been cross-cross for an hour, to reach for the small rabbit he hunted.

the flames were burning bright, they were like your souls and hearts but some day, they would become ash. “okay, get some rest.” katsuki waited a second in case you had something else to say, before he turned around and pulled up the sleeping bag.

“it’s okay,” your voice cracks in a way that makes his heart clench.

a wave of relief washes over you, like the world had come to a brief stop to catch a breath itself. katsuki held you the entire night, even when he could feel your restlessness and heavy breathing. “i’m not going anywhere, y/n.”

nothing could have prepared him for when you finally succumbed to this infection. you leaned closer and katsuki accepted the kiss, his hand slid around the back of your neck. “thank you.”

the light was fading from existence and it felt empty. the entirety of this home felt empty. alone. his cheek pressed into the side of your head and you felt his heartbeat.. soft and steady.

but you left katsuki with a lingering echo of emotions. terror, trust, love. the late night talks and reassuring smiles and this stupid romance story, it was all for nothing.

hands quiver and his eyes were glassy, fresh tears gathered to match your own. something broke— deep inside of him. katsuki bakugo could scream and cry until the sun comes out, but no one was around to hear.

your skin was stained black by morning.

we vow our lives and blood, but this is not our home.

#bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou x reader #bakugou x you #apocalypse au #bnha x reader #mha x you #mha x reader #bakugo x reader #my writing

[gwenbrightly]

(Re) Building the Future Chapter 4

Her entire body hurts, but at the same time she's floating. Weightless. Everything feels so far away. So muted. Her mouth feels cottony and there's a nasty aftertaste of rotten lavender mixed with lemon, along with a slight metallic tang. She feels like puking. Is this what dying feels like?

Dying. Cassie has never really thought that much about death before. Not even when her mom died. Though that was probably because she was too little to really understand things, back then.

But holy heck. The pain is intense. She hurts in places she didn't even know existed. On a pain scale of paper cut to mauled by a bear, she's giving this experience a solid 12/10.

If Cassie is dying, this is probably a good time to regret not leaving a note for anyone to find. Her dad won't know where to look for her. He'll be so worried when he gets back from his trip. So heartbroken when she never comes home. There'll be no more hugs. No more cheesy horror movie nights where they pick apart the horrible special effects and cringy writing. No more Cassie.

Oh, well. At least when she's done dying the pain will stop. Hopefully. Her… Her… Those human spaghetti thingies that allow you to feel pain? … Oh, right. Nerves. That's what they're called. Her nerves are on fire.

She longingly waits to be swept into the sweet oblivion of death, but her body seems to be taking its sweet time with that whole thing. After what feels like hours of agonized waiting, Cassie slowly cracks open one eye, then the other, blinking back tears from the painful blurriness of doing so. Maybe she's already dead and she needs to see heaven in order to accept reality? But no. Unless heaven looks like the inside of the Pizzaplex's Daycare, Cassie hasn't died (yet). Not that being in the daycare makes a lot of sense when the last thing she remembers is falling deep, deep below the sinkhole in Roxy Raceway. So maybe she's hallucinating to make herself feel better about being on the edge of death. Or something.

"Oh, good. I think she's waking up," Cassie hears a voice say. There's more, but she can't quite focus on any of it. Everything is still so foggy. She squints up at the source of the voice, trying to identify it. Milky white eyes come into focus. Cassie screams as everything goes black again.

"Get away from me, you monster!"

—-----

"Vanessaaaa!" Gregory calls, banging loudly on her bedroom door. Cassie has disappeared into the sinkhole and he and Freddy could really use some backup. When Vanessa doesn't immediately reply, he rattles it again and threatens to find his lockpicking kit.

"We've been over this before," an indignant Vanessa finally calls from the other side of the door, "You don't disturb me during Me Time and I don't judge your ability to turn video games into a contact sport or question your choices when you impersonate famous Metubers online."

"I knowwww, but this is an emergency!" Gregory insists, choosing to ignore the comments about his semi-legal internet habits.

"The last time you said that, you and Freddy had nearly succeeded in setting fire to our microwave," Vanessa points out. She sounds tired. Her latest therapy session must have been draining.

"We just wanted to see how many grapes we could explode at once," Gregory mumbles,"but forget about that for now. This is a way bigger emergency than that!"

Vanessa finally cracks her door open. She makes that 'I don't believe a word you're saying' face she's gotten so good at lately. The one with only one eyebrow raised - how does she do that, anyway?

"Uh huh," she says in a tone that matches her facial expression perfectly. How can he get her to listen?

Deciding there's no time to lose arguing with her, Gregory grabs Vanessa's arms and starts to drag her down the hallway as he frantically tries to explain the last few hours of Cassie getting herself into a buttload of trouble.

"Gregory, what the heck?" Vanessa starts to protest, but Gregory keeps bulldozing through his story.

"I… um… Might have hacked into the Pizzaplex's security program awhile back… And today while me and Freddy were playing Fazcraft, I got an alert. And when we checked the feed, somebody - a friend of mine - had gotten into the Pizzaplex and someone who sounded like me - butwasn'tmeIswear!"

"Okay, you need to slow down and breath. I can barely understand you," Vanessa cuts in, worried now. She plants her feet to prevent Gregory from dragging her any further. He tugs on her to no avail. Vanessa isn't going anywhere.

Gregory reluctantly gasps in a fresh breath of air.

"My friend is at the Pizzaplex and somebody talked her into deactivating the security nodes," he says more clearly, "Got it?"

Vanessa nods.

"Whoever it was - maybe that… Thing below the pizza? Which would be really bad if it was that." Gregory and Vanessa share a knowing look, "Got her to deactivate all the security nodes and now she's down under the sinkhole! Freddy and I tried to stop her but we couldn't and now she's all alone down there and we have to help her NOW!"

Vanessa says something that would normally prompt Gregory to demand she added a significant amount of money to their swear jar. He, however, decides that the situation will probably call for a great deal of swearing before all is said and done. Who is he to stand in the way of progress?

“So, uh,” Vanessa begins after a moment of awkward silence, “Now that I've had a chance to process all of… that… Have you ever wanted to hack into Freddy's restricted files?”

“Have I ever,” Gregory replies, stepping into the living room where Freddy is staring hopelessly at the monitor. “But how is that gonna help Cassie? It's not like hacking Freddy will turn him into some epic ninja bot or anything.”

Vanessa draws up a chair next to Gregory and Freddy.

“All of the animatronics are programmed with maps of all areas within the pizzplex grounds, from the VIP areas to the parking lot. Including the restricted ones, the ones no one is supposed to know about.”

“Why don't I have any knowledge of this?” Freddy questions. Vanessa looks uncomfortable for a moment.

“Let's just say the map program for these areas is only triggered once you hit a certain point. It's designed to make you forget the exact details once you've returned to the main pizzplex. For… Security purposes.”

“I… See.”

“Erm. Anyway, I was thinking we could use the maps to find your friend and get her out of there before something bad happens,” Vanessa explains.

“Okay if we poke around in your head a bit?” Gregory asks Freddy. Using the maps seems like their best shot. If they can get through to Cassie, that is.

“I suppose so. Just be careful not to cross too many wires or send me into cowboy mode again,” the bear relents. It's not like he has a choice, really. But he does so hate it when people mess with his programming.

“Freddy! Now is so not the time!” Gregory isn't proud of some of the places his curiosity has taken him. Vanessa clears her throat, interrupting their rabbit trail of distraction before it can continue.

“Focus, you two. Now, once we get access to Freddy's maps, we'll need a way to contact Cassie. Any ideas?”

The trio is silent for a time. Hacking deactivated bots didn't seem to be working earlier. There are no intercoms in the sinkhole. Only…

“Wait! I got it,”Gregory jumps up, “Cassie had one of those Fazbear Entertainment walkie talkies with her. I think I still have one in my room. We just need to find the right frequency!”

“You go get that while I get Freddy hooked up,” Vanessa instructs. With the speed at which he takes off, she is suddenly reminded why it was so difficult to catch Gregory at the pizzplex.

It doesn't take Gregory long to dig through the box of ‘spy equipment’ located at the back of his closet. He retrieves the walkie talkie and whacks it a few times to ensure that the (finicky) batteries are jammed in all the way. Satisfied with his work, he returns to the others. The first channel they try manages to get a response from the twins a few houses down, who are playing capture the flag. The second channel somehow connects them with all the police car radios within a 50 mile radius? Fazbear Entertainment probably needs to do something about that. Not that they care enough to do so. It would be a fascinating development for Gregory if there weren't more pressing matters. (He'll have to revisit this later).

The third channel is static. So much static. They're about to move on to channel number 4 when someone on the other end asks, “Gregory? Is that really you? I mean REALLY you?”

Cassie. She's not dead! (yet)

No one is surprised by her question. She's clearly had a run in with It. Gregory does his best to explain while the others jump into action. They move quickly, overriding the programming that usually blocks Freddy's maps as Cassie races through tunnel after tunnel. Vanessa and Freddy relay as many details as they can to Gregory, who practically shouts into the walkie talkie. Occasionally, they can hear It running in the distance, trying to catch up to Cassie. Thunk! Crash!

“Go right! Go right!”

“OK. Tell her there should be an elevator just up ahead,” Vanessa finally announces after what feels like hours of navigation.

“Almost there!” Gregory tells Cassie. She's so close to being safe. So close. They hear the elevator doors grind open and the sound of Cassie stepping inside.

“We did it!” Gregory screams, relieved. He hugs Freddie (who doesn't seem to mind) and Vanessa (who is more than a little surprised). Figuring Cassie probably needs a little more context for whatever horrors she's just experienced, Gregory begins to tell her what little he knows about It. But then… He hears another voice on the walkie talkie. A voice that sounds exactly like him. And a sinking feeling fills his very soul. It has something truly awful planned for Cassie. Gregory just knows it.

It's in this moment that Gregory truly learns what it means to be powerless. Never in his life has he been so totally unable to do anything to affect his circumstances. There's always an option. Running away, biting someone, simply using Google. Even when he himself was at the Pizzaplex, there was always something he could do to save himself. But this time… No matter what he does… No matter how many buttons he mashes trying to take charge of the elevator's controls… There is nothing he can do to stop the elevator's plummet into parts unknown as he listens to Cassie's screams.

#fnaf sb ruin #Fnaf fanfiction #myfics #Rebuilding the future #Cassie fnaf #Gregory fnaf #fnaf vanessa #Roxanne wolf #freddy fazbear #five nights at freddy's #Five nights at Freddy's fanfiction #Fazbear has no respect for life and limb

[cutthroatcarnival]

Revered Deity, Unknown Hero (7/10)

Read chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

Find it on AO3 here!

Specter Sightings

The discomfort radiating off of Wind’s fellow heroes was thick enough to cut with a sword. Wherever the portal had spit them out was not somewhere any of them wanted to be. It was eerily dark, the flickering torches not providing much light, and the floor was covered in sand- not that he minded, growing up on an island and all, but he felt he would like it a little less after this.

“I thought I was done with quicksand…” A few small chuckles rose from the group at Sky’s exasperated remark, but it fell flat with the oppressing feeling of the location. Wind wasn’t fully listening or paying attention to the others, for his focus was entirely on the translucent hands reaching out of the mentioned quicksand. Their wailing pierced his ears. He inched closer to the nearest Link- despite dealing with ghosts for two of his quests, seeing them did not get easier. Whoever he bumped into wrapped a cautious arm around him.

“We’re in my Hyrule… specifically Arbiter’s Grounds.” Twilight sounded almost fearful, which made the uneasy feeling in Wind’s stomach grow bigger. The arm around him tightened, making him look up where he was met with the underside of Warriors’ chin, the way the captain had his jaw clenched was concerningly visible.

The hands reached the edges of the sand, gripping and clawing against the stone. Their cries and pleads echoing in the stony cavern.

“And what exactly are these Arbiter’s Grounds?” The local hero turned to Legend, whose snark masked his own uneasiness. Twilight looked reluctant to speak.

“It’s a now abandoned prison that also functioned as a coliseum, made to house the most ruthless of criminals. Trial, execution, banishment to another realm… you name it. No one knows exactly what happened inside these walls.”

Wind had a pretty decent idea as to what happened, if the amount of ghostly hands in the sand were anything to go by. A sharp intake from Warriors made him look up again, the older hero was facing Twilight’s direction, which gave Wind a good view of his face- that was painted in unease and fear. The younger’s unease once again grew, but he tore his eyes away from Warriors to focus on the conversation. Legend’s regret for asking was visibly clear.

“Good, great, awesome, even. How do we get out of here?” The veteran suddenly seemed very invested in his rings as Twilight shot him a glare, but the rancher continued on- luckily for them, they were close to the exit.

A screaming plea made Wind pin his ears back, choking on his breath as the cold of the dead washed over him.

The arm tightening around him squeezed a breath from Wind, and he felt more than heard the growl Warriors let out. That drew Wind’s attention away from the other heroes.

“A god scared by a mere specter? How ridiculous.”

Floating in front of the two of them was a ghost, one that had to have climbed out of the sand, judging by the grainy particles falling from her mouth. Not the worst Wind had seen- ghosts from the sea and the temples took the cake on that. But his curiosity piqued elsewhere; what did the ghost mean by “a god”? Last he remembered, they were all some form of not-god, so why had she said it? Had she gotten them confused with gods? Wind shook his head- she had probably said it to confuse them. He then realized that the ghost had disappeared from sight.

Her fellow ghosts fed off of her boldness and rushed forward with ear-piercing shrieks. The unforgettable searing cold of the touch from the dead. Wind could see both everything and nothing; flashes of lives long gone. Warriors gasped above him- he could feel how much his brother was trembling.

Then, like a string was cut, Warriors crumpled, the floor rushing to meet Wind’s knees, and Warriors curled himself around him- like a shield- slightly muffling the cacophony of wailing. Something wet dropped onto his face- tears, his older brother was crying as barely audible apologies tumbled from his lips; he pleaded like the dead surrounding them.

Faintly, Wind could hear the exclamations of the others but the screeching had him shoving his hands against his ears to block them out more.

The begging from Warriors increased, the air surrounding them growing warm and bright. A quick glance towards the captain’s hand revealed that no, it wasn’t the Triforce’s influence; it had to be from Warriors himself.

Wind slammed his eyes shut as a blast of brilliant gold infiltrated the room. When the starburst disappeared from behind his eyelids, he dared to crack open an eye, his body sagging with relief; the ghosts had dissipated. Warriors groaned above him as he shifted to let the sailor free.

Time skidded to a stop next to them and- oh, the old man’s scarred eye was open. Battle-worn hands gently cupped his face, and Wind leaned into it like a cat, seeking the heat from a living body to fight the leftover chill of the deceased.

The others were not far behind, all rushing over in their worry. Hyrule’s hands were lit up in his signature healing magic, eyes wide and scanning them for any injuries. Wind waved him off- his knees hurt, but they weren’t bruised or damaged- and slowly leaned away from Time, who took the hint and drew away to cup Warriors’ face. The old man murmured to him in a low tone he couldn’t hear- except for the phrase “focus spirit”- and was met with a nod.

“They’ll be fine. Just a memory and some magic.”

Wind grabbed at the nearest Link and was swiftly pulled up, nodding his thanks he turned to his older brother, who was shakily standing, using Time as support. The two were again conversing in low tones, but the steady ebb of Warriors’ shaking was all he needed to know about it.

Slowly, the group regained their bearings and made their way to the door, Twilight in the lead with a slightly less uneasy Legend next to him, who was scanning over the map. Wind and Warriors brought up the rear, with the others just ahead.

“You can see ghosts.” It came out more like a statement than Wind had meant for it to, but Warriors just chuckled, although it didn’t hold much humor.

“I always have been able to see them, I guess…” he trailed off, clearly fighting with himself on what to say. “One day, when we were battling at the Temple of the Sacred Sword, I noticed the field was flooded with them. They weren’t meant to be enemies. They were meant to rest.”

The end of that sentence could be unpacked later. For now, it was time to direct his attention and mind off of the encounter.

“So… no ghost-seeing spell? No magic sand? No leftover adventure magic from a magical spirit train?” Warriors gave a sharp and loud laugh, throwing his head back. Wind mentally fist pumped in victory. The others turned to the duo with eyebrows raised, the sailor waved them off with a flapping hand, but he made eye contact with Time and smiled, which he got in return- a check-in.

“No, no, nothing of that sort, sailor.”

Now that he knew, maybe he would share how he learned to block ghosts out… who was he kidding? Of course he was.

#linked universe #linked universe chain #lu chain #lu warriors #lu sky #lu time #lu twilight #lu legend #lu wind #lu wild #lu four #lu hyrule #god of war warriors #mars writes #cross posted on ao3 #lu fanfiction #linked universe fanfic #lu fic #linked universe fic #revered deity unknown hero

[tenpintsofsundrop]

i know that this is such a random question, but...

for the Titans show, do you think all of the cast for the show fit their characters? or do you think there could've been someone else to play their role?

(tbh I love random questions like this omg. I love any chance to discuss Titans at length)

And genuinely, I wouldn't change any of the casting.

It's actually so interesting, because Titans is the first piece of live action DC media that I have gotten really sentimentally attached to. I was always a bigger fan of DC than Marvel because I always enjoyed the Batman films, and I did watch episodes of the Justice League cartoon in passing, or I watched other random animated Batman movies or Justice League movies and really enjoyed them - and I have always enjoyed how DC has so many different styles and tones across each piece of media, rather than the homogeneous boring schlock that Marvel puts out.

Young Justice was the first piece of DC media in general that I got really, really personally attached to, because @nctzenkane is a huge DC fan (and when we first met, it was one of the first things we ever talked about that made me start falling for him) - and he really sparked my interest in certain things and caused me to convert my casual enjoyment of it to a very hardcore nerdom. And him encouragining me to watch Young Justice was definitely the first step in me becoming a full blown DC nerd.

And he also encouraged me to watch Titans - just because Ryan Potter is hot in it - and it's so funny because Jaycen is not even the biggest Titans fan, but I developed such a distinct emotional attachment to it. So in my mind, all of the actors for those characters in Titans - they just are the live action versions. Whenever I am reading fanfiction of those characters, no matter what version the writing is talking about - I always picture the Titans cast in my head.

I know there has been a lot of (idk how to phrase it) controversy? Around Curran Walters as Jason Todd because people think that he's not bulky enough to be Jason and people think he somehow should have shredded and bulked up to become Red Hood?

Honestly, I am fucking relieved that the show didn't pressure him to make major changes to his body just because in the comic books he magically went from a skinny fifteen year old kid to the hulking body of a 6.4" shredded pro wrestler (for those of you who don't know, I have described it as: The Pit makes comic Jason go from looking like Titans Jericho to looking like Titans Hank in five minutes) - like there is already so many gross unrealistic body standards when it comes to men in superhero roles. There doesn't need to be more

And in terms of emotions, and the actual acting, Curran is literally the best fit for Jason possible in my opinion. He brings so much power and depth to Jason's scenes, he makes the character eager and excitable yet worn and jaded at the same time, and he makes Jason's mental illness and struggles so layered and relatable.

One thing about Titans, is that they have some of the most phenomenal actors ever. They might not have the best special effects, or storylines/writing that makes the most sense - but the actors take the material and elevate it so fucking much.

Ryan Potter brought so much depth to Gar (which is something I could rant about for hours), Brenton balances Dick's hardened outer shell and his tender moments so fucking well, Anna makes Kory such a pensive and thoughtful character beyond being just intensely powerful and 'badass' (not to mention, casting a black woman in that role was a risk with whiny fanboys complaining about POC on screen and I am sure she puts up with way too much bullying and hate because of it), and Tegan was so young when she started as Rachel, but she brought an intensity and professionalism that carried Rachel so well (especially during the first season, where her character was the focus) that not many other young actors could have pulled off.

And that is just the core four - I could also go into how Joshua Orpin balances Conner's anger, inner turmoil, and troubled mind with his naive optimism of seeing the world for the first time so well.

And genuinely, I don't think Hawk and Dove could have been played by anyone else than who was cast.

And not only that, but from what we do see of the behind the scenes, it feels like Titans is a true passion project for all of them, and that's why they put so much care into these characters (even if the writers sometimes neglect the details). I think the actors bring so much to the show.

I think possibly my only 'what if' - would have been Tim Drake being an Asian character as originally planned?

And this is absolutely no hate to Jay Lycurgo, I think he did end up being fantastic in the role. He plays the character wonderfully, balancing Tim's bright optimism, gentle fears/insecurities and heroic confidence well.

But I think a visibly Asian character who is clearly connected to their heritage would have been really great to have on screen, and it would have only added to the amazing array of representation in the show. And as far as Asian actors go, I don't know who I would replace him with. (Especially because I think it's interesting when lesser known/up and coming actors play these roles, and all the ones I can think of are popular from other things, or too old to play this role???)

But I do think that it's really cool how he was also in The Batman, so there could be headcanons of him also being Tim Drake in that universe (which I haven't seen anyone mention?)

But overall, I wouldn't change anything fundamental about the cast of Titans. I think they are amazing and I think they did their job so well. They made the show what it truly is for me. They made it close to my heart.

#anonymous #sundrop answers #dc titans #titans #discussion

[scarletsaphire]

Danny's ectocontamination has recently spiked to incredibly concerning levels. Despite that, Maddie can't seem to find anything wrong.

---

For Ectoberhaunt Day 10: Occultism Occult: Hidden from view. Not manifest or detectable by clinical means alone

Maddie frowned at her computer screen. She'd been staring at the data for the better part of an hour, trying to decipher it, make sense of what it meant, but she couldn't. The data in question was from Danny's latest physical, performed by Jack about a week ago. The tests were thorough, but that wasn't why she was struggling. After all, the two of them had been performing checkups and physicals on the family since before the kids were born; Jack and her may have focused on ectobiology, but they knew enough to run routine checkups on their kids. 

No the reason she was so confused is because Danny's results were fine. They had been bad for ages at this point, ever since his accident. They'd brought him to the doctor, of course, but all they were able to do was confirm that Danny's vitals were weird. His heart beat was abnormally slow, but not dangerously so. He ran colder than most other people, but not enough to cause any actual damage. His body had a higher base level of ectoplasm, which had been concerning at the beginning, but they'd monitored it closely. It never went away, sure, but it never got worse. With no real issues surfacing, and ghost attacks becoming a bigger priority, Maddie and Jack had agreed that, overall it wasn't a major concern.

And then, two years later, Danny's ectocontamination had gotten so much worse. Bad enough that him just walking through the door to Fentonworks was enough to trigger the defense system. After checking to see if he was possessed (he was not) Jack had hurriedly done a full physical. With ectocontamination that severe, Danny should have been suffering from some kind of adverse side effects. His contamination had been what they blamed for his other medical abnormalities before, and it getting worse should exacerbate the preexisting issues.

But they hadn't. Danny's temperature and heart rate were his normal. He didn't report any kind of pain, nausea, dizziness, or disorientation. His physical had come back clean, or as clean as his reports had been recently. That was what Maddie was trying to figure out. There should be something different, something wrong, other than their Fenton EctoDetectors finding higher levels. It didn't make any sense.

Maddie heard Jack making his way down the stairs to the lab. "Danny didn't have any issues falling asleep. Besides the issues with me standing and watching him, but not everyone can have my awesome sleeping prowess."

Maddie didn't respond with words, instead humming to show that she'd heard him. She listened to his heavy footsteps thud against the metal floor, until he came to stand beside her chair, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. "Still nothing?" he asked.

Maddie shook her head. "It doesn't make any sense!" she complained, letting her head fall against his arms. "He has a proper, measurable ectosignitature, and yet his vitals are all normal! " She sighed. "He hasn't said anything about it bothering him?"

She felt Jack shake his head. "Nope. Not outside of the house defenses targeting him."

"We have to be missing something, dear. I just don't understand what it could be!"

"We'll find it Maddiekins!" Jack said, planting a kiss on her cheek. "After all, we're Fentons! And Fentons are known for their can do attitude!"

Maddie allowed herself a small smile before turning her focus back to the reports. Whatever it was that was missing, she'd figure it out. She wouldn't let anything bad happen to her baby boy.

#danny phantom #danny phantom fanfiction #ectoberhaunt23 #day 10 #eh magic #maddie fenton #jack fenton

[literaticat]

Hi Jenn. I know you haven't read my book or my query so this might be hard to answer, but I was looking for some tips on how to construct feedback. I've gotten feedback that my query letter(s) read more like "high-level back jacket blurbs" instead of "what is needed for the query". They also said they almost moved on from the letter in their inbox but was hooked by the time they read it all. Could you break this down a bit for me and offer any advice? I can parse most of it but am still confused. (It also says at one point that that there should be more about the MC.) Does this mean I've written nice-sounding blurb that would entice a reader but not an agent? Why would a blurb entice a reader but not an agent? If it would entice a reader, surely it could hook the agent too? I kind of see what they're saying - but I'm also confused and not sure I'm analyzing the feedback right. Thank you so much.

As you note, it's hard to say really, since I don't know what the material is, and also I'm not sure what kind of "feedback" this was -- like was it a paid critique from an agent or editor? A friend just giving advice? MULTIPLE friends? Input on a writer's forum? Random offhand comments from different agents you actually queried put together? (Something else?) -- I feel like all these different people or groups might have different kinds of feedback, and I'd take some of it more seriously than others, you know? BUT ANYWAY:

When I see "high-level back jacket blurbs", that implies to me that you've given a big-picture kind of set-up in the pitch. ("High Level" not being synonymous with something like "Fancy and Sophisticated" or "Gifted and Talented" -- but in this case meaning more like "birds-eye view" kind of thing). Combined with them wanting "more about the MC", I suspect you are giving us a taste of the setting and world and a broad-strokes indication of the problem -- when what tends to be more effective is giving us a way in through the main character, and what THEIR problem is and what the stakes are for them, personally.

It would be like if you described the Wizard of Oz by telling us about how this is a fantasy about a magical world ruled by four witches, two of them good, two of them evil, and when a girl gets sent there from Kansas by a tornado, and accidentally kills one of the witches, she must go on a dangerous quest with her band of misfit friends, meeting all kinds of munchkins and whatnot along the way to meet a wizard in the Emerald City who might be able to grant them all wishes, but they face a variety of perils and all is not as it seems. In other words, the focus here is "big picture" and mostly setting up the world and the main thing that happens, but not setting up the main character or the stakes.

When what would probably be a more compelling pitch is focusing more on DOROTHY, what she wants, what her problem is, etc. She's the reader's way in to the story -- we want to care about her and find out what happens to her, right? So you might start by asking yourself some questions about her.

*** [ETA: It wouldn't hurt you to follow this "But" and "therefore" advice, either -- the literal "buts" and "therefores" do NOT have to be in the query itself, but it might help when writing out the story beats as below to help you from falling into a boring "and then" trap where you are just listing off events.]****

WHO IS OUR HERO? She's Dorothy! A plucky, resourceful farm girl who lives a hardscrabble existence in Dust Bowl Kansas, but has big dreams of a bigger and brighter world.

WHAT DOES SHE WANT MORE THAN ANYTHING? To get tf out of dusty old Kansas and find rainbows and happiness!

WHAT'S STOPPING HER FROM GETTING IT? She's a child, she has to live with her family, she loves her family but her family lives in Kansas, etc.

WHAT PROBLEM DOES SHE FACE? First there's a massive storm, which is scary -- BUT, her wish to leave Kansas actually DOES come true -- her house is swept up in a twister and deposited in the glittering realm of Oz! YAY! BUT, unfortunately, her wish came true at a cost -- her house crushed a witch when it landed. THEREFORE, though the people of Oz are happy about the witch thing, actually, she's now a murderer, and has been separated from her family with seemingly no way home. :(

SO WHAT CHOICE DOES SHE HAVE TO MAKE? Will she stay and embrace her new life as the pampered Hero of Munchkin-land with every treat and beautiful, magical thing she has ever dreamed of? Or put herself in danger and give up the lollipops to find a wizard nobody has ever even seen who MIGHT be able to help her get back to the farm and her family?

OK, THAT'S BAD -- BUT HOW DOES HER PROBLEM GET WORSE? Not only would the journey be lengthy and hard under normal circumstances, it's made significantly worse by a witch hell bent on killing her and her friends as retaliation for the death of her sister.

If you can answer these questions about your main character in the pitch, I suspect that it will help it feel less "High Level" and more High Stakes, and get the reader wanting to know what happens to the MC more quickly. (Maybe???)

[mcwscollective]

@kitxkatrp || gets a starter~

Biology might not have been the main focus of his studies, but science was science. Getting to know the ins and outs of the medical profession (or whatever else he ended up doing while completing his internship requirements) was all part of the bigger picture. He wasn't sure how he lucked into finding someone that would take him in so easily, but he wasn't about to complain about it when it would bring him that much closer to collecting the credits he would need to finish school.

"Hey," he said as he allowed the door to fall closed behind himself. "My name is Senku Ishigami -- we spoke on the phone about me doing my internship here?" As usual, he tried to dress as professionally as possible; bright eyes awake and alert as he took in his surroundings.

"Where do you want me to get started?" He didn't bother to set down his bag or make himself comfortable anywhere... not right away, anyway. Every medical office was different, as far as he knew, and he felt eager to get things started (although, he was sure that excitement would drain right out of him if all he could do was run errands or get coffee. Menial tasks were more suited to office staff and assistants, and he'd stubbornly made sure his point had gotten across during their call: he was a bio student, not an appointment setter.)

#kitxkatrp #(c;; senku)

[whentherewerebicycles]

2022: a year in review

all right all right let’s do some REFLECTIVE JOURNALING about this year!! this has been a year of major life upheavals for me, some of them chosen and some not, and to be honest i still feel like i’m in the middle-to-late stages of a major transition rather than comfortably settled & looking back on it all! but that’s okay, that’s okay. it’s still good to pause, take a breath, and reflect on this year.

i decided to do a separate post about what i want to prioritize or focus on changing in the coming year... so this long journal entry is just about what was hardest about this year, what was most joyful, and what some of my favorite memories were looking back on 2022.

what was hardest or most challenging about this year?

changing careers was by far the toughest thing i’ve had to weather in a while, and that includes the pandemic year(s). every part of that change felt so disruptive to my life, my relationships, and my routines. it really shook my understanding of myself, and if i’m being honest i still have a hard time seeing any silver lining to this experience apart from the financial flexibility my new job has afforded me. which isn’t nothing (more on that later), but also doesn’t totally feel like it makes up for the cost.

sigh ok let’s reflect. the drawn-out process of trying to get my old program extended was so disheartening, especially with all the pushing and prodding i had to do to get the deans to even care enough to send the requisite emails. then the very positive meeting we had with the foundation followed by the swift, no-explanation rejection of our proposal a couple months later was such a disappointment. like, i built that program from the ground up! i believed so much in the work i was doing with kids and i loved going to my job every single day. i had a clear sense of purpose & i felt professionally competent in my role. it wasn’t a perfect job (i still had too much unstructured time and too little real demands on my time/energy) but in terms of the blend of teaching, mentoring, and program design work, it was the closest to my ideal i’ve ever gotten. watching it all just get flushed down the drain because people didn’t care enough to send in the right paperwork at the right time, or because institutional priorities at the foundation had shifted and they wanted to clean house of old projects, or whatever, just sucked. blehhh. i’m no longer actively grieving it, and i DO feel like i was thoughtful and deliberate about giving myself good emotional closure in the final weeks of that last semester. but some part of me still feels pretty bad and sad about how it all went down, and even though i loved my time in that job the ending soured the experience a little. so yeah: that sucked.

and then of course... as you know if you’ve been reading along with my public diary this fall... the job change itself has been pretty depressing. my hope was that even if i had to work in a field i didn’t care about as much, i could at least gain professional experience in a new role that might push me in different ways and challenge me to learn new things. that hasn’t been the case. let me pause here and say that i understand how fortunate i am to have a flexible job that requires very little of me & compensates me really well for it. the change in my financial situation has changed my entire future. it’s now financially feasible for me to pay for IUI cycles and raise a kid on my own. plus i’ve been able to finance a cross-country move, get a bigger place in an area i love, and replace basically all of the slowly-falling-to-pieces stuff (furniture, clothes, appliances) i’ve had since i graduated college over a decade ago. that’s all good! and i’ve now gotten through the phase of the transition where i cried every night after work (and sometimes at work lol) because i felt such despair over what i’d done. so that’s… good. that’s fine.

but hoo boy. i really hate my job. and more disappointingly: i hate the person i am in this job. in my old job i got to think about other people all the time—what they liked and what made them anxious, how best to motivate and connect with them, how to tap into their strengths and help them develop their weaknesses, etc etc. i thought about myself a lot too, but largely in the context of my relationships to other people. i thought about how to be a better listener, or how to slow my knee-jerk jump to judgment, or how to manage my own insecurities in ways that would help me more effectively build connections with kids. i thought about my values and how i could enact those values in my daily interactions with others. i was people-focused! and now i’m self-focused. all the time. like, i still have interactions with friends and family, but at work i’m just by myself 95% of the time. by myself and, because I don’t have enough to do, thinking about myself-my priorities, my needs and desires, my little plans, etc etc. me, me, me. i do feel way more connected to family since the move and that’s providing me with some interpersonal joy and meaning. but i just. bleh. if i sit with it for too long, i have to confront the fact that i don’t like myself very much right now. or I guess like, i don’t like a person who would be content living like this. but i also feel kind of stuck, for reasons i don’t fully understand. i keep dragging my feet on putting together this teaching letter and i don’t know why. i feel like the longer i stay in this really me-focused space the harder it is for me to jolt myself out of it. sigh okay more on this later, when i move onto thinking about things i want to change or prioritize moving forward.

phew! that was a real downer! let me talk about a more positive change in 2022!

what was best and most joyful about this year?

i’ll do two: one big life change and one big perspective change.

first, the big life change. i left texas after ten years and moved to washington state. it was a big scary decision and it felt like it happened very fast. there were lots of logistical headaches involved (including some very costly lease-breaking and moving stresses), but on the whole it’s been such a positive change and i’m so happy i did it. i’ve said it here before but: this was the year i learned that you can just up and change your whole life. you can just do that. anytime you want. i think that is valuable knowledge that i really want to hold onto in the future. you’re not stuck where you are, and if you’re not happy or you need a change, chances are that you can figure out a way to make that happen for yourself. i love the area i live -- it’s further outside of seattle than i was expecting, but i love being so close to the water, i love being able to afford a big place, and i love living in a beautiful area where i’m within walking distance of at least four parks or trails and within easy driving distance of probably a dozen more. the natural beauty is stunning and even after four months i still gasp quietly to myself every single time i walk to the crosswalk across from my complex and see the mountains (they’re just right there). the rain doesn’t bother me nearly as much as i expected (it turns out that if you have the right clothes you’re just... fine? it’s fine?) and so far i’m handling the short, often overcast winter days pretty well.

but obviously, the best part of ALL is just being closer to family, especially my sister. i get to just casually hang out with my sister multiple times a month, something that we NEVER thought would happen (or at least not for many many years to come). i get to have my siblings and SIL over for dinner & just hang out with them all evening. plus i have somehow lucked into having a hockey-going fandom friend here (la) AND one of my best college friends + her girlfriend here... and i’ve somehow convinced my best friend and her partner to move here this summer, so then my life will just be, like... the best. i’m so happy about it. i mean i’d like to eventually make new friends too haha but for now it’s just really, really nice to have a small but very loving built-in social network to cushion the transition.

as i’ve been reflecting on it... i think i was a lot lonelier in austin those last couple years than i realized. and it was mostly my own fault! i just wasn’t as good or diligent about re-investing in my relationships after the pandemic, and i just kind of got used to other people periodically reaching out instead of me taking the steps to really strengthen the friendships that were important to me. i regret that!! and it makes me sad because i love my austin friend group, especially my grad school friends, and i was really, really happy there for such a long time. but idk, i just let things slide! i maybe derived a little bit too much of my social energy from my job and kinda counted on habit to maintain my out-of-work relationships. and re: the city itself, i think i just kinda let myself slip in a post-pandemic funk where i was so stuck in my routines i stopped trying new things or going new places. i really needed to change my whole life. and i did it.

i haven’t fixed everything yet. i still think some things in my social life & in the way i’ve been acting in my friendships is a little out of whack. i feel like i’m not doing a good job of reciprocating thoughtfully and lovingly in my relationships with others, or of communicating to people (through actions, not just words) how much i value my friendships with them. i think that’s partly, again, because this year has just been such an obsessively self-focused year for me.. due to the job search, the move, the lingering pandemic emotional funk, the bleh feelings about the new job and that disconnection-from-core-self i’ve been feeling, etc etc. but i think patterns of behavior that started out as situational (‘i’m thinking obsessively about me, me, me because i’m dealing with big life transitions’) can all too easily become habitual if i’m not thoughtful about interrupting them. so: that’s another thing i want to think about as i look forward to the new year.

okay and then the second best/most joyful thing about this year was the perspective shift i’ve experienced around parenting. i think even as recently as the late spring and summer, i was still feeling really really unsure about having a kid. i never doubted that i wanted to parent someday, but i felt all this uncertainty and reluctance around actually taking the necessary steps. i feel like i was really focused on what i’d be giving up (free time, flexibility, ease of travel, energy for creative pursuits, whatever) and it was hard to weigh those against an uncertain future. from that vantage point, all i could see with any clarity and certainty was what i’d be losing, and i could only very hazily imagine the kinds of things i might be gaining. so i felt like i was dragging my feet a lot, moving forward without feeling ready, still going back and forth on timelines, etc etc.

and then... i don’t know. something shifted. i can’t pinpoint how or where—maybe during liz’s wedding week? maybe as i was settling into the new place & delighting in being so close to my siblings? but suddenly i was just... ready. i’m ready. i’m one hundred percent ready. i mean i know you can’t ever be ready for the realities of parenting, but i do think that you can have that moment where things just click, and you’re like, yeah, i want to do this. i’m all in. i have never in my entire life experienced ‘baby fever’ and i’m certainly not experiencing it now lol. but at some point this fall, something crystallized for me. i want my life to include motherhood (whether i get there by giving birth to a child, by fostering, or by adopting). i want that to be part of my human experience. that’s been unexpectedly joyful for me—that click, and the sense of clarity and purpose that comes with it. it’s kind of funny to me that i spent so long dragging my feet... and now i’m literally counting down the days (13!) till my next cycle starts and calculating out how many IUI tries i can fit in this spring with my travel plans. but you know what?? i’m glad i waited for the click. i feel really good about it.

favorite memories from this year: 

finishing a 50k story that i think is the highest quality thing i’ve ever written and feeling so proud of both the product & the incredible amount of work that went into the process. flying to kansas & driving to iowa to surprise my sister on her residency match day. the incredible symposium my kids put together, including the panel that was so moving and so lovingly done it made multiple audience members cry. that beautiful goodbye luncheon with my kids, where i got to listen to them talk about what they were proudest of and what they most admired most about each other. getting to experience the beautiful, beautiful dream week that was liz’s camp wedding... god that was just the most joyful, life-affirming, soul-expanding experience imaginable. fourth of july at K & N’s place with all my grad school friends, spending spent the afternoon drinking lukewarm beer and pressing bags of melting ice to our faces in a futile effort to cool off. some truly incredible summer sunsets. my favorite hockey guy re-signing with the team in the most dramatic way possible. walking the neighborhood loop i’d walked for six years with the dogs one last time, and then just standing there in the dark, looking out at the lights of the big fields with the moon over them, feeling excited but also feeling the bittersweet grief of losing a familiar place. starting a silly delightful little hockey podcast with two of my favorite fandom friends. visiting my sister in seattle to look at apartments and floating for hours with her on the lake. finding the secret woods with my brother. driving to my new house shortly after moving in and hearing the gps say ‘welcome home.’ getting to host lots of beloved friends and visitors in my spacious new place. wandering costco with my brother sometime in that first week, both of us cracking up and making up bits. being in the same time zone as my best friend and getting to see her every single month. playing twenty questions with liz on a long road trip except all of the things we were guessing were deep cut inside jokes from ten years of friendship. obsessing over greens and then at last finding the right one. my parents coming for thanksgiving and changing all the lights without me asking them, meaning i had to change them back lol, which i understand & accept as a gesture of love aha it’s very very them. going to the fertility clinic with my sister and spending our whole lunch afterwards looking through sperm donor profiles and laughing about it. hosting christmas eve dinner at my house for my siblings and SIL, then driving to my sister’s after her shift on christmas day and just getting to lie around on her couch eating indian takeout and talking about our dream gardens. picking a donor. feeling the click. walking out of my complex on a clear day, looking up, and holy shit: mountains.

#year in review #2022 #end of year journaling #my year in review #idk what my past tags have been lol

[battlekidx2]

Amphibia Season 1 Re-watch Thoughts/Review

Amphibia season one was really fun and had an amazing finale. The choice to be an episodic comedy series works wonders for this season and I believe makes Reunion and season two hit all the harder. 

This season falls into a few of the usual trappings that almost all first seasons do but its biggest strength is that it knows what the series is about at its core and it focuses on that.

This show knows what themes are at its heart. Amphibia is about friendship, change, growth, and becoming your best self and that’s what the first season is just on a smaller scale than the second and third.

It allows for a gradual build up to the huge scale of the third season. The first season keeps the focus on Anne’s growth and how she learns self-love through her relationship with the Plantars. And it slowly opens the world to us by introducing one of the toad towers in Prison break, halfway through the season, then Reunion opens up how much the events of the season have effected the rest of the valley. 

All these actions that felt like they were occurring in a vacuum have wide reaching consequences. This is bigger than we initially thought. And that final shot in season one before the “End Part I” showed up on the screen where we see Anne and the Plantars overlooking the valley while hugging perfectly encapsulates how the world has now opened up to them. That the scope we saw in the first season will be widened exponentially.

The show needed this gradual build up. Suddenly making the show about all of Amphibia during this season wouldn’t have worked and expanding the view beyond Anne’s growth would have made it so that moments later in the series wouldn’t have felt as earned. 

I believe this was a good choice for the show but also a big reason why Amphibia was so underrated for so long. A lot of people looked at the more episodic problem of the week formula that the first season followed and didn’t think twice about it until the finale came along and shattered the status quo. It wasn’t noticeably serialized right out of the gate.

This is an unfortunate issue because it is based on first impressions. Something like the Owl House is an obviously serialized show from episode 1. Everything flows into one another and that draws in an older crowd easier than the seemingly episodic formula that Amphibia had out of the gate. 

There were hints of serialization in “Anne of Beast?” and “Best Fronds” but as early as “Cane Crazy” the show started with the problem of the week formula, which I want to emphasize once again was a good choice for the show because it really emphasized its themes of change and growth, but that also caused some people to not give the show a fair shot.

The choice to have the season air over the course of a single month also stunted Amphibia’s ability to garner a following. There wasn’t time for people to talk or speculate about the show episode to episode because a new one was coming out every day. 

Episodes that likely would have gotten fans talking and speculating about the finale like Prison Break, Bizarre Bazaar, and Anne of the Year weren’t given any time to breathe so this could happen.

It was just an unfortunate choice that caused Amphibia to be underrated going into its second season (which is phenomenal).

There are some genuine drawbacks from the episodic formula that Amphibia used in its first season though. Some episodes become formulaic because they use a similar structure with a basic life lesson being learned in almost every one. The interesting and unique world and how it was used could save some of these episodes from falling into tedium but not all of them.

It also takes a while for anything about the lore, Sasha and Marcy, or plot to really come into play which can become frustrating, especially for people that have never seen it before but were drawn in by what they’ve heard about it online. 

It can be a bit slow with divulging information with Sasha not being formally introduced until the episode Prison Break which was 10 episodes in and nothing about the Calamity Box explored until Bizarre Bazaar which was episode 15. 

There are long stretches that don’t expand on these very important and interesting plot points. This can exacerbate the flaws in certain episodes and make the pacing feel off or slow at times which is something the show greatly improves upon when season 2 comes around. This structure and slow build up isn’t for everyone.

This was what initially kept me from watching it when this season first aired (I regret this choice). Interestingly the thing that sold me on watching the show the first time around was the opening. Specifically this shot: 

This moment in the opening never failed to intrigue me. It was a hint of the themes this show would grapple with and how all the events seen are because of this broken friendship. There is genuine care between the people in the photo which can be seen by their closeness and the writing around the edges but it is literally out on a limb in the middle of a storm. It’s struggling to hold on and brings an air of tragedy to their current situation.

The lightning strike provides an even more ominous tone to the moment. The rain alone could have just made it seem tragic, friends torn apart by circumstance, but the lightning strike is what tells you there was something off/toxic about the friendship even before Amphibia. 

It never failed to make me wonder what exactly that was and it kept me watching to see what the reality behind it would be. This comes around in a big way with Sasha.

In Sasha’s introduction she is shown to be cunning and manipulative. There is genuine care for her friends but it is overshadowed at this point by her flaws.

It starts to paint a picture about what Anne’s friendships were like at home. This portrayal of toxic friendship and outgrowing connections is one of the things I think the first season does best in retrospect.

The first season makes it so that Sasha's (and Marcy’s) influence can be felt on Anne long before she even speaks through things Anne says and does. 

This makes it so that even though Sasha’s screen time is limited and she and Anne don’t interact until the very end of Anne of the Year the audience can understand why their clash in Reunion is so important for Anne’s character.

This is a great but subtle build-up to the finale.

Reunion is a fantastic and very interesting episode. It is in many ways the most formative episode of the series. It creates the mold that Amphibia’s finales follow moving forward.

For example, it makes the decision to bring the audience back to the day Anne, Sasha, and Marcy get whisked away to Amphibia and provide context for what led Anne and Sasha to that point. This is an important part of True Colors, All In, and The Beginning of the End as well.

It also starts the trend of what I’m going to call Amphibia’s “wham” moments with Sasha letting go of Anne’s hand. This is continued in the other season finales with Marcy getting stabbed and Anne’s death.

Lastly is how the episode addresses change and the ways people fight against it. The series as a whole tackles change but the finales are where the trio and their issues with accepting change come to a head.

Leading up to Reunion Sasha has had her negative traits encouraged by amphibia- they allowed her to flourish at toad tower- and as a result she hasn’t grown and changed in the same way Anne has. Anne landed in Wartwood with the Plantars and has had her old mindset challenged constantly which led to her growth. This growth allows her to stand up to and best Sasha.

This is repeated in True Colors, where Sasha and Marcy’s bids to fight against change cause things to come crumbling down for them, and in The Hardest Thing where the core (a being that can’t let go of the past) is taken down by Anne because of the calamity trio’s growth and acceptance of change.

These similarities make it so that all the finales feel like they build on one another. This creates a cohesive through line in the series.

Overall I think this season built a solid foundation. There are instances of the show struggling to find its footing and it does become repetitive in some areas, but it’s really fun and has a strong heart.

Extra Thoughts

This is more of a deleted scenes/excerpts of analysis that didn’t fit in my review.

Reunion also plays into Amphibia’s overarching themes of change. The way it interweaves present day with flashbacks to what led Anne and Sasha to opening the music box really showcases this. Sasha is practically unchanged. She landed in toad tower where her negative traits are encouraged and cause her to flourish. Whereas Anne has grown so much because she landed with the Plantars in Wartwood and has had her mindset challenged constantly by those around her. The clash between Sasha and Anne can be seen as a clash between accepting change and staying stagnant with accepting change (Anne) coming out on top.

There’s an interesting parallel between Toad Tax/Prison Break and Reunion. Toad Tax has Anne stand up for what’s right instead of taking the easy path and submitting to “bullies” to gain the Wartwood citizens’ respect. Prison Break introduces Sasha’s toxic traits and shows how they help her get free and flourish at toad tower. This is exactly what their conflict is about in Reunion.

I love how Anne’s heritage is explored this season in Lily Pad Thai. The exploration of Anne’s culture is one of my favorite things about the series.

The use of someone to lean on in the finale is really interesting because on the one hand it stands out in a jarring way because the show doesn’t use non-diegetic licensed music at any other point in the series but on the other hand it fits really well thematically and provides insight into Sasha and Anne’s mindsets during this moment. 

The music in this season is the weakest of the 3 but that doesn’t mean it’s bad by any stretch. It is more washed out because of the sound mixing and not given the chance to shine until the finale. Reunion has a very good score with my favorite part being after toad tower falls and Anne makes eye contact with Grime. It’s tragic and foreboding and it’s the first time this season that the score is allowed to be the loudest part of a scene. This decision makes it so that this scene is given a different feel to all the ones that came before. It’s a transition in the music just as much as it is in the series. The music paired with the look clearly indicate that the conflict is far from over. This is just the beginning.

The only other episode where the music is allowed to shine is Prison Break. TJ Hill goes all out giving toad tower a completely different feel from Wartwood and I believe the music/title card (”far, far away from Wartwood”) is in part a Star Wars reference/homage (I could be wrong).

The dark humor of this show is amazing. Hop Pop is the one primarily used for this type of humor this season and gets the best jokes because of it.

Sasha doesn’t embrace or even really have to accept the changes that living in Amphibia naturally brings unlike Anne. After she is released from prison she gets herself plumbing and makes the toads make human cuisine. She forces things to be like they are back on earth (the parts she likes anyways). 

I know Reunion isn’t the first episode to use flashbacks in the series, Best Fronds is actually the episode that has that honor, but the way Reunion uses the flashbacks is what is brought back in True Colors, The Beginning of the End, and All In. 

I really like going back to the beginning of a series like this to see how all the characters changed as the show went on. Watching Anne in this season right after watching season 3 kind of smacks you in the face with just how much she changed (in the best way. It reminds you of just how far she’s come). It’s a lot easier to remember in a fair amount of detail just how much someone like Sasha or Grime has changed because of their limited screen time and massive character growth in that limited time. But Anne is the main character so her change is more gradual and can blend together because of this. I just like this aspect of re-watching a series.

#amphibia #anne boonchuy #sasha waybright #reunion #sprig #polly #hop pop #season 1

[oddeyevibes]

Chapter 9: The Final Performance

Summary: It all comes to head as you all face Vanya.

A/N: And we are officially out of season 1 and will be fully entering chapter 2. I'm still working out the kinks of what reader will be doing in Dallas but I do have one idea for them to keep their head above water 🥴🥴🥴

Warnings? Click Here!

Everyone was scrambling as the walls of the house as Pogo urged everyone to get out of the house. Luther had gone to get Allison to safety, something she couldn’t do on her own due to injury. When you, Klaus, and Diego had gotten to the main hall, you opted to split up and find your mother after she wasn’t seen in her normal spot. 

“Mom!” You shouted through the rumbling halls. 

Almost as if nothing was happening, Grace exited your father’s office like a Disney princess. She had her signature smile as she saw you. 

“Y/N…are you hungry, I can fix you a snack?” 

Her casual demeanor had caught you off guard. Did she not realize what was happening? “Mom, we have to go! The house is falling apart.” 

“Falling apart?” She gazed around but didn’t move, you wasted no time in grabbing onto her arm and pulling her along through the destruction. “Oh, your father won’t be happy about this.” 

“Dad’s not the one that has to worry about this, let’s go!” 

“We should find your siblings.” 

“Mom, they’re already on their way out. We have to go!” 

You both managed to make through the main hall, only stopping when you spotted Pogo anxiously waiting by the living room. 

“Pogo? What are you doing?” You asked him. 

“You go on, I’ll hold off Vanya.” 

You stared at him in disbelief. “Hold her off? With what?” 

“Just get your mother to safety.” 

You looked back between the both of them. Pogo, determined. Grace, spaced out. You let out a reluctant sigh before ushering Grace out of the house, telling Pogo to be careful as you had done so. 

The two of you left the house and you looked back in anticipation for your siblings to make their exit but once the rumbling picked up, you figured it was time to move to further safety…across the street. From the alleyway, Diego and Klaus came stumbling. 

“Klaus!” 

Klaus over to you with a look of relief as he helped Diego over to you, sitting him down on the steps of someone’s apartment. 

“Are you both ok? Anything broken?” 

Klaus shook his head. “A little bump but all’s good. Diego took a bigger one.” 

Grace quickly crouched down to his level as his vision started to focus. 

“Mom…you’re ok.” 

“Shh…it’ll be alright. Doesn’t look like there’s any bleeding.” 

Not too long after, Allison came out and you waved her down. Not too long after, Luther came out and spotted you all, coming over and making a head count. 

“Where’s Five?” 

“He left a while ago.” You replied. “Where’s Pogo and Vanya?” 

Luther gave you a solemn look but didn’t immediately answer. 

“Luther?” 

“He’s gone…Vanya she…she killed him.” 

All of you looked at him in a mixture of shock and disbelief. Feelings only amplified as you all watched in shock as Vanya exited the building and it completely crumbled in her wake. None of you could move yourselves to call out to her, let alone stop her. 

But there was no need to. 

As far as you all were concerned, her destruction started and ended with the school. The place where all her issues and trauma stemmed from and while the collective thought was that this was all your dad’s fault, there was no denying that you all had some part in it. Whether it was through fear of disappointing you father or each other. 

Vanya never counted in that “each other”. 

And this was the culmination of it all. 

——✨——

A few hours had gone by. Luther had been rummaging through the rubble in a sad attempt to try and retrieve Pogo’s body. The rest of you were wallowing around the rubble in your own thoughts. Ben couldn’t believe all of this happening. From him being able to drag Diego from harm to everything surrounding Vanya. 

How could none of them had known? 

Ben prided himself on being somewhat of a wallflower. Someone who says little but always sees but Vanya went under his radar. Something about that fact shamed him. Especially when he and Vanya were more alike than they were different. 

As a ghost, he had nothing but time to recognize how he often fell victim to the trappings of peer pressure and it was one of his bigger regrets. He wonders if everyone else could see him, if he was still alive, could he stepped in for Vanya before it got to this point. 

As a kid, no. 

As an adult, maybe. 

But for right now, there was nothing he could do but hover around his family wishing he could do more. His eyes landed on you, cradling yourself from everything that happened. He remembered…you saw him. Earlier. If someone else beside Klaus could see him...why wouldn’t it be you? 

So he calmly approached you, seated just the right amount away from everyone else and called out to you. 

“Y/N?”

You looked up and, whether you were aware of it or not, stared up at him with a doe-eyed expression that filled his heart with an unspeakable joy. Hell, any acknowledgement of him from you at this point would be welcomed.

Meanwhile, you looked at him in confusion. “Ben?” You asked softly. 

He crouched down to your level with a smile. “Yeah, it’s me.” 

“Holy shit, Klau-” Ben quickly raised his hand to your mouth, muffling your voice.

Your eyes widened and you looked down in shock as you felt his hand covering your mouth. He was touching you??? Somehow???

“Don’t say anything.” He urged. “I don’t--” He stopped himself for a bit. ��I kind of…want this moment just for us.” He meekly let out, eyes darting from you to the others as if they could see him. “I just…” his hands trailed down and gently brushed against your arms before they reached your hands. 

He then gently took your hands into his own before making eye contact with you once again. 

It’s been so long since he’s just looked at you and had you looking at him. Warm memories of staring longingly into your beautiful eyes. Years felt like centuries now. He couldn’t remember the last time he just got to…lose himself in you. Pretend that the academy and Reginald didn’t exist. Memories of wondering what it would be like if you two had met in different circumstances. Maybe while one of you was traveling, you’d meet the other. 

Meeting each other’s parents. Not Reginald or Grace but the ones that gave you away. In this other life, they had you on their own terms. You both were expected and being waited on with open arms. 

“How can I even see you?” You asked. 

Ben shrugged. “I don’t even know. Maybe it’s cause the world is…sort of ending. Maybe whatever limits were on are off or something. I don’t even care.” He shook his head. “I’m just so happy you can see me.” His smile made your heart flutter. 

“We have to tell Klaus this.” 

“No, we really don’t. At least…not right now. Klaus is only gonna think about this and we kind of need him to focus.” 

You shrugged. “I guess. Oh Ben, this whole thing is fucked.” 

“Yeah. I never would’ve guessed that Vanya would have powers….but I guess it makes sense. I mean, even after discovering she didn’t have any, why would dad keep her. Instead of letting her be normal?” 

“You got a point.” 

“He spent all these years making Vanya feel worthless and maybe he thought her powers were just dormant.” 

“Then treating her like that? What was that supposed to do?” 

“Did anything dad do make sense?” 

“No, not really,” You let out an exhausted sigh.  “This is my fault.” 

“Don’t blame yourself, Y/N.” 

“No, it is. If I just fought a little bit harder for Vanya, this wouldn’t have happened. I’m such an idiot.” 

“Y/N, this would’ve probably happened even if you did everything you could’ve. Maybe not this way but some way. Some things are inevitable.” 

You gave him a solemn once-over. Yeah…some things are truly inevitable. 

That’s what Pogo told you after Ben had died but you didn’t believe it then. If the group hadn’t been separated then you would’ve been there to save Ben from his injuries. As much as you despise him, your dad was right about that. 

“Look, I’m so happy to be able to finally talk to you and when all of this is said and done, I wanna…I want to actually say goodbye to you. I want to make sure you’ll be ok when I go over to the otherside, alright?” 

You let out a soft laugh. “I just got you back and you tryna leave me?” 

He smiled, knowing you were joking. 

“No…I get it…I kind of feel bad now. You’ve been here this whole time because you wanted to make sure I was ok?” 

He softly nodded. “Yeah. When you left after my funeral…I couldn’t even fathom leaving without making sure you were ok. I wanted to be optimistic about it but…a part of me was just worried that…something bad happened to you. I don’t even know what I would’ve done if I ever find out you died. But then I saw that poster of you. I know it was a drawing but something about it…reminded me of you and I needed Klaus to go in there but-” 

“He showed up too late.” You finished his thought. 

“No, just in time. Just in time for you to be one of the last people there. And it was you again and you were…” His face lit up. “Glowing. I’ve only seen you glow like that a few times when we were younger and it felt so good to see that you were in a better place.” There was a pause. “But you were still hurting. The way you kept trying with Klaus, I really wanted you to give up. I didn’t want you to run yourself in the ground.” 

“Ben…you knew I wouldn’t have been able to do that.” 

“I know. But…I didn’t know what else to think and I couldn’t talk to you.” 

“You know, there were times where Klaus mentioned you and I thought he was just doing it to make me feel better….so it’s always been you?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Oh…well…sorry for taking so long to realize.” 

“Don’t be. Only one of us can see spirits.”

“Ben, I just want you to know that I’m sorry I let you die back then.” 

“Y/N, you didn’t let me die. Bad missions happen all the time. It wasn’t the first time a mission went sour. It was only a matter of time before he drove one of us to our deaths and…I’m happy that it wasn’t you or any of you. I had nightmares about it. The worst ones were all of you dying and I was the only one that survived. I don’t think I would’ve been able to handle it on my own.” 

“No, I don’t care what you say. Your death was my fault. When we…you decided to verbally break it off I was so mad at you that when we split up, I wanted to go with Diego instead of you. I was being a brat but if I had just kept it together for the mission, I could’ve stayed mad at you but at least you would’ve been home. If I there when it happened, I could’ve saved and I let my emotions kill you.” 

“Y/N is that what you think?” 

“No, I know that. I grew to accept that it should’ve been me that died that day.” 

“I wouldn’t have let you take a hit for me.” 

There was a part of you that wanted to be snarky and say you wouldn’t have seen the hit coming, remember but that impulsive part was quickly shut down. 

“Y/N, it is not your fault.” 

“You’re right.” 

He smiled but it was wiped away when you continued. 

“It’s not just my fault. It’s dad’s fault. His fault for putting us in this situation to begin with and my fault for being a brat and letting you die.” 

“Y/N-”

“GUYS!” Despite the distance, Five’s voice boomed among the sounds of the city. 

You glanced back at Ben with a sorrowful look before walking away towards the others. 

 The teleporter stopped as he saw the wreckage before approaching the two of you, newspaper in hand. 

“Guys!” He called out, catching everyone’s attention. “This is it. The apocalypse is still on. The world ends today.” 

You all looked at him in confusion. 

“I thought you said it was over.” Luther said. 

“I was wrong, okay?” He held up the newspaper, emphasizing its importance as he gripped onto it as if worried a gust of wind would come to take it away. “This newspaper. I found it the day I got stuck in the future. The headline hasn’t changed.” 

Diego shook his head. “No, that doesn’t mean anything. The time could’ve been altered since that newspaper came out this morning.” 

“You’re not listening to me. When I found it, I assumed this place came down along with everything else. But here we are. The Moon’s still shining, the Earth is in one piece, but not the Academy.” 

Klaus quickly snatched the paper. “I’m confused.” 

“Then listen to me, you idiot! Vanya destroys the Academy before the apocalypse. I thought Harold Jenkins was the cause, but he was the fuse. Vanya is the bomb. Vanya causes the apocalypse” 

It was that last bit that spoke to you. It all set in. What happened at the Academy was merely the opening act for the grandest performance of them all. 

“Holy shit.” You let out under your breath. “Vanya, what’re you gonna do?” 

“We gotta find her.” spoke Luther. 

“Um…problem…” Klaus interjected. 

You all turned to look at him before he dramatically motioned over to Grace, who seemed to be taking in the destruction as if it was just another mess as a result of a house filled with superpowered children. 

“Should we really be taking mom with us?” He asked. “I mean, if we’re gonna go after Vanya…we can’t really put mom in any more danger.” 

“W-Well, where can you take her?” Luther asked. “It has to be somewhere safe.” 

There was silence and you slowly raised your hand. “I have a place?” 

——✨——

The others all left for a bowling alley known as the bowling alley while you and Diego took your mother to your apartment. The streets, as always, had people littered about with a combination of stray party goers, homeless people, and the occasional tourist looking to indulge in one of the more “risque” parts of the city. 

You and Grace weaved through it all with ease. No real sense of unease to be found within either of you. Meanwhile, Diego was having a hard time as the budget Batman in him looked at the area as if it was plagued with villains waiting for their opportunity. 

“You sure mom will be safe here?” He leaned in and asked. 

You rolled your eyes. “She’ll be fine. Besides, even if someone DID attack, mom’s pretty indestructible. So it’ll freak people out since they won’t know she’s a robot to begin with. I think that’s why Hazel and Cha-Cha destroyed her the way that they did. They probably knew.” 

‘Right…Hazel and Cha-Cha did that to mom.’ Diego thought. He felt guilty. You all just assumed it was them and not him. Because why would you, right?

You entered the building. It was a warmly lit apartment building. There were still some signs of deterioration but the building was being actively maintained. Hera often went on tirades about dealing with slumlords and she wanted nothing to remind her of that past. 

Your door opened with a low creak revealing a darkened room. You took your mother’s hand into yours and guided her into the apartment. 

“Oh sweetie, this place is a mess.” 

You felt a little embarrassed. “Yeah, I haven’t had the chance to clean it lately. Mom, you’re gonna stay here while we go…and look for Vanya and make sure she’s ok, alright?” 

“Is Vanya in danger?” 

You looked to Diego, needing some advice on what to say. Diego came up next to you, giving your mom a reassuring smile. 

“She’s not in danger but…with the house gone we need to make sure she’s ok. Right now, you need to stay here.” 

Grace smiled as she gently caressed Diego’s cheek. “Alright. You kids have fun, I’ll make snacks for when you get back.” 

With not a single care of the world, Grace wandered off into the kitchen as if she’s been here before. You and Diego shared a glance before the both of you shrugged and left the apartment to reunite with the others. 

——✨——

Compared to the warm lighting of your apartment, Superstar Bowling Lane was filled with fluorescent lights. You had instinctively groaned when you entered the place. The others had already got there, all seated before and in varied gloomy moods. 

You and Diego didn’t have a choice but to sit there as everyone sulked and brewed on what to do. And while they would’ve rather it’d been in silence, the sounds of the bowling alley sat comfortably in the background. 

It was only until Luther finally spoke up. 

“Look, I hate to be the one to say this, but everyone needs to prepare.” 

You all looked at him as if his words were unwanted. 

Diego was already on edge enough as it is. “For what?” 

Luther sighed before he spoke. “To do whatever it takes to stop Vanya.” 

Allison quickly swatted at him with her notepad as you rolled your eyes. 

“Yeah, cause treating her like a monster worked out so well the first time you did it, right?” You snided. 

“We may not have a choice.” 

“Bullshit.” Diego instantly replied. “There’s always options.” 

Five gave an annoyed look over to Diego. “Yeah, like what?” 

Diego was silent for a moment. “I don’t know.” 

“Look, whatever we decide, we need to find Vanya and fast, okay? She could be anywhere.” 

“Or…here.” You all turned to look at Klaus holding onto a newspaper. He began fixing himself to the center of the group as he showcased his finding. “Look at this.” 

Everything else on the paper seemed to fade out against the big and dark ad in the paper that featured Vanya’s face holding her precious violin. You were suddenly reminded. 

“Oh shit! I totally forgot. Vanya’s performance. It’s tonight.” 

“Hello~” 

All of you were shocked by the random interruption from one of the employees. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to intrude but the manager says that if you’re not gonna bowl, you gotta leave.” 

You all turned to see an angry older man slam a pair of red bowling shoes onto the counter. In response, Luther groaned and haphazardly tossed a bowling ball onto the lanes, paying no attention to it as it flew several lanes over into a different lane. 

Allison quickly pulled up her notepad with the words she’s our sister written in all caps. 

“We’re the only ones capable of stopping this. We have a responsibility to Dad.” 

“Ugh! Fuck that guy.” You groaned. 

“To Dad? No, I’ve heard enough about-” 

Luther had cut off Diego before he could continue. “He sacrificed everything to bring us back together.” 

“Luther,” you called out to him. “He’s the reason we were broken apart to begin with.” 

Then Five chimed in. “I’m with Luther on this one. We can’t give her a chance to fight back. There are billions of lives at stake. We’re past trying to save just one.” 

“Hey, you know, guys, uh…maybe I could help.” Klaus came in. 

Luther tried shutting him down. “Now is not the time.” 

“No, let him finish.” Diego came to his defense. Luther gave him a confused look. “He saved my life today.” 

Ben gave Klaus an annoyed look. “Really?” 

“Is that true?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I did…take credit for it. In fact, the real hero…was Ben.” 

…….The silence was loud. 

Klaus sighed, dreading the response he was going to get but there wasn’t really any other way to explain it. “Today…listen. Today, he punched me in the face. And earlier at the house, he was the one who saved Diego’s life, not me.” 

Everyone gave him annoyed looks but you were curious for obvious reasons. “Did your powers grow?” 

Klaus nodded in your direction. “Yeah…something like that.” 

“Y/N, don’t listen to him.” Luther ordered. “You are unbelievable, Klaus.” 

“I believe him.” Now everyone’s attention was now on you. “I…can…kinda see Ben now.” 

Klaus looked shocked by your confession. “Glowbug…really?” 

“What?” Diego asked. “What now you see dead people too?” 

“Not…really but I saw him at the house. It’s only when I’m near Klaus, I think. But I see him and I talked to him. I’ve never been able to do something like that before.” 

Five would be lying if he said he was intrigued by this revelation but now wasn’t the time for it. Alternatively, you could be lying to help Klaus’ credibility but he doesn’t know you to do that. 

“You want proof, is that it?” Klaus picked up a bowling ball. “All right, it’s showtime, baby.” 

You watched as Ben and Klaus prepped themselves before Klaus tossed the ball towards him only for the ball to phase right through him. 

“It just went through him.” You said plainly. 

Luther looked between the two of you. “The world is at stake and you guys are making a joke out of it. I don’t know how, Klaus, but you need to learn to silence that voice in your head that cries to be the center of attention.” 

“You know, I liked you a lot better before you got laid.” 

“Oop!”

Everyone looked at Luther with surprise, especially Allison. 

“Luther…you whore.” You joked. 

“It--it wasn’t his fault, ‘cause he was ridiculously high, right?” Klaus tried to change the subject. “And the girl, she thought he was a furry-” 

“Stop!” 

“Okay.” 

You couldn’t help but giggle at the string of words that popped up in your head. ‘Luther’s out here fucking furries.’ you thought. 

Luther slowly turned in Allison’s direction as she walked away, obviously pissed. As she did, a woman and her son approached the rest of you. 

“Excuse me, it’s my son Kenny’s birthday today, and…uh…wouldn’t your son be happier playing with kids his own age? Assuming it’s ok with your two dads and your…aunt?” She motioned towards Diego and Klaus. 

You tried holding in your laughter as Five menacingly leaned in. “I would rather chew off my own foot.” 

The woman, now appalled, cradled her son and walked away. “Let’s go Kenny.” 

Five then walked off towards one of the other lanes as Diego and Klaus got into a light argument. 

“If I was going to date a man, you’d be the last man I would date.” 

“You’d be lucky to get me.” 

“And you get to be the aunt?” Diego asked you. 

“It’s cause you two look old and rugged and I look young, beautiful, rich, and childfree.” 

Diego chuckled. “Not with that apartment.” 

“Shut up, Boxing Ring Basement.” 

You looked over to where Five went off to only to see your old-little brother had vanished. 

“Guys…” 

Everyone looked over to you. 

“Five is gone.” 

Diego sighed. “Oh great.” He looked over to Allison and Luther only to find them gone as well. “So are Luther and Allison.” 

You, Klaus, and Ben looked over to they were gone too. However, that quickly went away when Allison walked back through the doors looking as if she had been crying with Luther trailing behind her. You approached Allison as she held onto the notepad for dear life. 

“Hey, is everything ok?” 

She nodded. 

“Did Luther break your heart?” 

She shook her head before she started writing on the pad. I talked to Claire. 

“You did? That’s great.” She still looked heartbroken. “That’s great, right?” 

Had to use Luther. 

It took a minute but you realized what she meant. She got to hear Claire’s voice but whatever she needed to say had to be said by Luther. 

“Oh, sweetie.” You gently took her into your arms, rubbing her back. “Listen, when all of this is over. We’ll all go visit Claire, including Vanya, ok?” 

She looked over to your brothers. They won’t help. 

You nodded. “Yeah, I know.” You whispered. “I don’t know what Luther has planned but Vanya is not a monster. She’s a…superpowered person lashing out at…years of abuse. We can talk to her. She’s upset.” 

Allison nodded, happy that someone else was in the same headspace. 

“Alright, so what’s the plan?” Diego asked Luther. 

“Well, I think that, uh…we go to the Icarus Theater.” 

“That’s a location, not a plan.” 

Luther was silent and fidgeting. 

“What?” Diego inched towards him slowly to mock him. “Is that all you got?” 

Luther didn’t respond. 

“Look, you wanna be Number One, fine, but you’re gonna have to get us on the same page, because right now, we’re all over the place.” 

There was a pause but Luther nodded. “You’re right. We need a plan.” 

Something past him caught your attention as the color scheme fought strong against the bright and vibrant colors of the bowling alley. Black combat suits with gas masks and red colored eye sockets that you couldn’t tell if they were glowing or just reflecting. But the most obvious aspect of the get-up was the gun seated firmly in their hands. 

“I got a plan…it’s called run from those guys that are about to shoot up the place?” You alerted the others. 

Your siblings’ attention all turned towards the door and they all caught sight of the menacing men. 

Klaus fumbled a bit. “What are the chances those guys are here for someone else? Like Kenny’s birthday?” 

You kept your eyes trained on the soldiers. “Very…very…low.” 

Eventually, everyone else in the place caught sight of the men and began panicking and scrambling. The soldiers took it as their sign to start unloading fire. Each of you ducking behind cover near Allison and Klaus. 

“Who the hell are these guys?!” Diego shouted over the bullets. 

“Whoever they are…they’re here for us!” Luther replied. 

Diego leaned forever to lock eyes with you. “Y/N, kill the lights!” 

You nodded. Feeling the tips of your fingers warm up as you began draining the lights. The lights flickering rapidly caught the attention of the soldiers, stopping the hail of bullets for a moment. This gave Diego his moment. He shot up from behind the counter and tossed one of his knives at the soldiers, sending him tumbling backwards into the nearby DJ booth, accidentally turning it on and allowing the song “Saturday Night” to play throughout the alley. 

With one of their own downed, the soldiers began firing once more. Luther picked up one of the bowling balls before he stood and fiercely chucked it at another one of the soldiers, knocking him to the floor. Klaus, probably not to be left out, tossed a whole birthday cake at one of the mercs. Not doing as much damage but definitely blinding them. 

“They’re blocking the exit!” Klaus shouted. 

“So, what’s the plan now, Luther?” Diego asked.

Allison caught everyone’s attention as she pointed towards the lanes, specifically the pits. 

You nodded. “Alright, I’ll blind them to give you guys a head start. That should work. So on three, RUN.” 

Everyone agreed with the plan with rapid nods. 

“One…” 

The light enveloped both of your hands. 

“Two…” 

The light being followed by a burning sensation that has long since become more mild as the years went on. 

“THREE!” 

You shot up from the spot, sending a blinding wave of light towards the soldiers. The bullets stopped as all of them scrambled to see again and regain their composures.

With them blinded, every then hauled ass down individual lanes. Never in a million years did you think you’d be doing this but you potentially getting stuck in the pits were the least of your worries at the moment. 

Once everyone was accounted for, you all ducked through the back and away as the soldiers began firing again in hopes that maybe they’d hit one of you. Unaware that you were all long gone. 

——✨——

It took some time but you had finally arrived at the theater. All of you had trudged up the stairs and were about to enter before Allison stopped you all, specifically Luther. She raised the notepad, Need to go alone. 

Luther shook his head. “Allison, I can’t you do that, all right?” 

Without hesitation, Allison grabbed onto your arm and pulled you in close to her. Signaling that you’ll be her protector. Luther stared you down. 

You shrugged. “I am better equipped to protect Allison if something happens. Force field remember?” 

Allison nodded in agreement. 

“You two aren’t understanding. She’s beyond reasoning.” 

“How do you know? Because she killed one of the people that lied to her for her whole life? Because she destroyed the academy that’s the center for all the bullshit? Luther, you never even tried with her.” 

“Do you honestly think she’ll listen…to either of you?” 

Allison nodded. 

Unexpectedly, Ben approached you. “Maybe you should think about this.” 

“Ben, she’s our sister!” You reasoned. 

“I know but…she’s not in a good headspace. Even without meaning it, she could hurt you. I mean…look what happened to Allison.” 

“But she didn’t mean it. That’s all that matters.” 

“I know you wanna help her, I do too. But getting ourselves hurt is not going to solve anything.” 

“Ben…just trust me, ok?” 

Diego was urging. “Great! She’s talking to herself now.” 

Klaus casually shook his head. “No, she’s talking to Ben.” He was in awe about this revelation. “Wow…you can really see him.” 

“Fine!” Luther relented. “Okay.” 

Allison nodded, thanking him for trusting her before heading inside with you following behind. 

——✨——

The giant room was darkened, only a few scattered warm dim light acting as a source aside from the spotlight placed onto the orchestra, specifically, Vanya. And she was playing beautifully. 

In all the years you had known Vanya, you had only ever listened to her play several times but all of those times were her practicing, honing her craft. This…was the culmination of her work. In this moment, it was clear that none of her insecurities were holding her back. 

And, for lack of a better word,....it was beautiful and you were mesmerized. 

You felt Allison gently take your hand. You two looked at each other. It would appear that Allison felt the same way you did. 

You smiled. “She’s great, isn’t she?” 

Allison nodded. 

Almost as if she heard you, Vanya’s eyes surveyed the crowd before they settled on the two of you as you offered supportive smiles and, in a moment that reassured you both, she smiled back. Happy to have been acknowledged by people she held in her heart deeply. 

This soft and sweet moment was soon ripped apart as you and Allison watched as Diego and Luther charged for her. 

“No!” you shouted. 

Seeing the both of them in her peripheral vision, Vanya stood as a white light enveloped her and she swung her bow with force, sending a wave that not only knocked back Diego and Luther but also pushed through the crowd and pushed them against their seats. You had blocked the wave from attacking you or Allison. 

Panic settled in as everyone began screaming and trying to escape, even the other musicians on stage but they were quickly sat back down by another white wave from Vanya. They immediately resumed the concert. Meanwhile, Vanya had slowly turned back around, sending off another wave into the crowd. 

Allison panicked, pulling down into hiding in one of the rows before spotting Diego and Luther, you followed. 

“What the fuck, guys?” You were pissed. “We had it handled.” 

Allison threw her purse, hitting Luther in the face. 

“We’re fine, thanks for asking.” Luther tried being snarky. 

“Oh don’t give that bullshit! She was fine until you two tried tackling her.” 

“Look, I lost Allison once, okay? I’m not trying to lose her again.” 

“Will you stop acting like she didn’t receive the same training you did? She’s not glass!” 

“Well, Allison can tell me that herself.” Luther seemed to have caught himself too late. 

Both you and Allison shot him dirty looks for the remark. 

“Well, Number One, now that you’ve fucked our plan, what’s yours?” 

Allison banged her hand against the carpeted floor, catching everyone’s attention. She then made a motion imitating the violin. 

Diego felt annoyed. “No shit, Allison. Tell us something we don’t already know.” 

Luther corrected him. “She’s talking about the violin. It’s her lightning rod. If we can take it from her and stop her from playing, we might have a shot.” 

As if everything couldn’t get worse, the sound of bullets came along and threatened to overcome the music. The orchestra took this as their opportunity to finally be able to flee but Vanya remained unphased. And just for kicks, the signature sound of Five’s power alerted you all to his presence. 

“What’s with all the lollygagging?” 

“It’s not by choice!” You shouted. 

“Five get down!” 

Spotting him, the soldiers aimed their weapons and fired as Five ducked behind a row. 

“Five, I thought you bailed on us.” 

“I had an errand to run.” He surveyed the mercs in the balconies. “This isn’t good.” 

Diego looked back at him. “You know these guys?” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

“...And?” 

“Well…we’re screwed.” 

Diego threw two knives towards a pair blocking one of the exits and in their place Klaus came charging in. 

“GUYS! IT’S CHA-CHA!” 

“KLAUS GET DOWN!” Luther shouted. 

Klaus ducked once he noticed the same mercs from the alley aiming at him. Five blinked over to land on one merc’s back, spinning and causing him to fire at two of his allies, killing them. Suddenly, a soft blue hue emanated from Klaus’ hiding spot as he summoned forth a spectral of Ben who then proceeded to use his own powers, specifically dealing with the gunners that were perched on the balconies. 

The rest of you watched on in awe. Everyone else because they were seeing Ben. You because you had never seen Klaus demonstrate his power in this way before. 

Once all of the soldiers were dispatched, everyone’s attention moved back to Vanya as her black suit gradually turned white right before everyone’s eyes. Diego was nowhere to be found however but now wasn’t the time to split up and look for him as the specks of dust and tiny rubble spilt during the concert with cracks forming in the columns. 

“Fuck, she’s powering up.” 

Out of nowhere, Diego casually approached the rest of you. 

“Welcome back, where were you?” 

“Honoring a memory.” 

You all huddled in the circle, sneaking glances back at Vanya in the case that she moved. 

“So, how do you wanna end this thing?” Diego asked Luther. 

“We surround her. All right? We come at her from all angles.” 

“So it’s a suicide mission.” You heard Klaus mutter. 

You shook your head. “Luther, I don’t think that’s gonna work.” 

“It has to Y/N. There’s no other way.” 

As much as you wanted to argue. You and Allison’s initial plan went bust and now you were all LITERALLY left with no choice. 

“If one of us could get through. It’s the only chance we’ve got.” Five added. 

“We all in?” 

All of your brothers nodded. Luther’s eyes met yours waiting for your answer. You felt like shit for it but you ended up nodding, gaining you a swat from Allison who looked at you with huge disapproval. 

“I’m sorry. We don’t have any other choice anymore. We’re not gonna kill her, Allison.” 

Her eyes locked onto Luther’s as he waited for an answer from her but when he didn’t get it, he continued on, directing all of you. 

“Stage left. Stage right. You guys take the front.” 

You all split up, you trailing after Diego. 

Once you all were in position, Luther gave the signal and you all charged in; however, you were instantly stopped by Vanya and the bright tendrils that sprouted out of her. You felt yourself levitating and felt yourself getting weaker by the second. It was like she was draining the life force out of you. You tried to weakly reach out to Vanya, who stood firm and menacing. 

In the hazy moment, you saw Allison…with a gun…pointed at the back of Vanya’s head. 

If you had the energy to panic, you would’ve. You reassured Allison that death wasn’t on Vanya’s plate only for Allison to be the one holding a gun. You wanted to call out to her. Even now, you wanted to keep what semblance of your fucked up family you had left in tact. But maybe that was a naive dream.

But the look on Allison’s face was somewhat reassuring…because she was crying. 

Time felt like it was slowing down as you closed your eyes waiting for the inevitable bang. 

BANG!

The shot echoed throughout the amphitheater as you felt yourself falling and the draining feeling of the tendril faded away. You regained your composure just in time to see a white beam shoot out towards the sky. 

You huffed, stumbling as you regained your footing. “Vanya? Allison?” You softly called out, climbing onto the stage with your brothers doing the same once they regained themselves. 

You approached Allison as she cradled an unconscious Vanya. Luther came around to kneel next to Allison. 

“Is she alive?” 

Allison nodded, whispering a yeah. 

“Oh thank god.” Klaus let out. 

You let out a breath of relief. 

“We did it.” Luther spoke. “We saved the world.” 

There was a moment of reprieve until Klaus spoke up. “Uh…guys.” 

You all looked at him before looking in the direction he was. 

“You guys see the giant moon rock coming for us?” 

You nodded. “Yeah…” 

Klaus let out a defeated sigh. “Well, there goes the whole…saving the world.” 

The defeat was quickly settling in. 

“If only Sir Reginald could see us right now, huh? The Umbrella Academy…a total failure.” 

You gave Diego a confused look. You have never heard him call your dad that. Wow… “We’re really fucked.” 

“At least we’re together at the end. As a family.” Luther tried to comfort you all. 

“This doesn’t have to be the end.” Five spoke up. 

“What?” You were confused. 

“I think I have a way outta here. But you gotta trust me on this.” 

Diego, Luther, Klaus turned their faces up at the thought. 

You shrugged. “Whatever…sure!” 

“Really?” Diego asked. “Now’s not the time for trying new things.” 

You motioned between the exploding moon and Five. “Blowing up, whatever he wants to do. What do we have to lose at this point?” 

Diego turned to Five. “What’s your plan then?” 

“We use my ability to time travel. But this time, I’ll take you with me.” 

“You can do that?” 

“I don’t know. I’ve never tried it before.” 

“What’s the worst that could happen?” 

“You’re looking at it. 58-year-old man inside a child’s body, so there’s that.” 

You raised a hand. “You already had my vote.” 

Then the others chimed in. 

“Oh, what the hell? I’m in.” 

“Yeah, whatever. I’m in.” 

“I’m in too.” Ben chimed in, knowing that the only ones that could hear him were you and Klaus. 

“Me too. Allison?” 

She gave a soft nod. 

“Ok, great. Luther, grab Vanya.” 

Luther gently picked up Vanya as the rest of you huddled around in a circle. 

“Wait, should we be taking her with us?” Luther asked. 

“Luther!” You scolded. 

“I mean, if she’s the cause of the apocalypse. Isn’t that like taking the bomb with us?” 

“The apocalypse will always happen and Vanya will always be the cause, unless we take her with us and fix her.” Five explained. 

You all scooted in closer to each other and tightly gripped each other’s hands, terrified of what would happen if you had let go. An energy began surging around the eight of you as you watched a portal slowly form above you all but you couldn’t make out the image being shown to you and it was beginning to unsettle your nerves. 

The air around you picked up and you felt bits of your clothes flap about in the harsh wind as a forcefield covered all of you. Everything went bright and then went white and it stayed like that for a moment before you all felt yourselves being pulled in and only one thought crossed your mind. 

What the hell was about to happen now?

——✨——

Feeling like you’re being pulled at by aggressive children playing with a Barbie doll before the white light blinded you once more. A portal opened up, tossing you onto the ground on your back and sending pain through your body and a pathetic whimper out of your mouth.

Once you felt your nerves calm down, you sat up to look at your surroundings. You had landed on asphalt. You looked like you were in an alleyway. It was daytime. You didn’t recognize this part of the city. However, they weren’t the worst observations.

No, that space was reserved for the fact that you were alone. 

“Klaus?....Ben?...................Luther?” 

No reply. 

“Ohhhhhh shit…” This…was probably not supposed to happen. 

You scrambled yourself up and left the alleyway with a slight limp. Unaware of the flash that snapped behind you from a window. 

As if the situation couldn’t get any worse. You began taking notice of the decor around you. Gone were the cars that your were used to and in their place were hoopties and jaloppies. The clothing adorning everyone was…retro…at least in your time. Because the only time people dressed up like that now was to mimic certain eras like the 80s, 30s, and 60s.

Then you had a revelation. 

A woman pushing a stroller along caught your attention. 

“Excuse me!” 

You quickly flagged her down and she jumped at your sudden action. She took in your outfit, it was something she hadn’t seen before. Not that she was judgemental. Her mind instantly thought that maybe this was how they dressed in places like California or the East Coast. Certainly not here. 

“I-I…I think….” In a situation like this. It was probably best to make this lady suspect you were potentially from the future. So you put on your best reassuring but ditzy smile. “I may have had a little concussion and I think I might have my years off and I need some remembering…what year is it?” 

The woman needed a moment to process what you said. “It’s…1960.” 

“1960? Oh…and where am I?” 

The woman gave a nervous smile. “You’re in Dallas…” 

Huh?

“Dallas? Like…Dallas…Texas?” 

She giggled. “I don’t know any other Dallases.” 

“Oh….my god.” 

“A-are you ok, ma’am? Should I call someone for you?” 

“I’m….fine. I just need a moment but thank you for your help. Your baby is adorable.” 

“Thank you!” 

With that, the woman walked off and went on about her day. Meanwhile, it was all settling in for you. You--ALONE--were in 1960s Dallas, Texas…..ALONE. You went to a nearby bench to commence your panic attack. 

“Oh god…what am I gonna do? What to do? What to do? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Whattodo? Where…is everyone else?” 

Unbeknownst to you, you wouldn’t see your siblings for a while BUT you basically had just missed out on catching up to Klaus and Ben who had arrived two weeks earlier. 

What was the worst that could happen when Five teleported all of you? Well…you end up in Dallas, Texas in the 1960s….yay.

#flourescent fic #ben hargreeves x reader #tua fic

[whatthisfemsheplikes]

Number 7: "Don't look. I will bandage it for you."

I think this one would be cool with Tori and Wesley. like, Wes gets injured and has PTSD from when he got injured from the thorn bush. Tori tries to help by bandaging etc etc fearplay and angst ensues

Thank you for the prompt! I had fun writing this one, especially since I'm a sucker for any kind of hurt/comfort scene in g/t.

This one is set about a month after See Me ends, so slight spoilers for that for anyone who hasn't read/finished it yet.

CW: blood, PTSD, panic attack

“Are you sure you don’t need any help, Wes?” Tori asked as she bent down to get a closer look over Wesley’s shoulder. He was currently cutting a tiny piece of lettuce into even smaller pieces with a borrower-sized knife on his own small table. During his time learning to read, he’d also been learning to cook with Tori, and the lessons had gotten a lot easier for him ever since they bought more furniture and kitchen tools that were his size. 

He’d only just started to work on cooking by himself, especially so he can make more meals of his own size. Usually, he’d help Tori with measuring, getting ingredients, or even just reading the recipe while she did the actual “cooking” of the food since all of the appliances were human-sized. If Wesley could have his own stove to bake food in the oven or cook something on the stovetop, he’d be excited to try that. At the moment though, no working appliances were available for borrowers. Tori had found some articles on the internet claiming that these appliances were in development, but Wesley didn’t hold out much hope. That wouldn’t stop him from making his own food right now though. 

Luckily, there were still plenty of meals he could make without needing to heat anything up. He did still need a bit of help from Tori since all the ingredients he would need were so much bigger than him, but she’d gone through and cut lots of comment ingredients she had so they were a more manageable size for Wesley. 

At the moment, he was trying to make a salad for his lunch with pieces of lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, and cucumbers that Tori had already cut down to size for him. He was still going back and forth about whether he should add cheese or not, but he figured he’d have a better idea once the salad was done. 

“No, I’m okay,” Wesley replied while keeping his eyes locked on the chef’s knife in his hand. While he was getting more comfortable with cooking overall, he was still a bit nervous about using a knife. Tori had taught him several times how to cut safely and efficiently so he could be as safe as possible, but even just the look of how sharp the knife was still made him uneasy. 

If he stared too long, he’d start to fall down a rabbit hole of fear, usually with thoughts that either started or ended his spiral with the image of Tori in the hospital after she’d been stabbed. He wasn’t there when the stabbing happened, so he didn’t know if Tori’s attacker used a knife that looked like this one or not, but it didn’t really matter to him what kind it was. He’d inevitably start thinking of the scar that still showed on Tori’s abdomen, though it was much more faded than the fresh stitches he imagined when he thought of her in that hospital bed. 

Wesley shook his head to bring himself back to reality. He tried to calm himself by focusing on the comforting warmth of Tori’s gentle breath against his back as she watched him work. 

“I think I can do this myself,” he nodded, trying to be confident. “But I’ll let you know if I need help.” 

“Okay,” Tori sighed behind him. “If you’re sure.” In the back of his mind, Wesley wished that she’d give him some kind of comforting touch, like rubbing his back or even just brushing her fingers against him. Anything to help him feel more grounded and calm. But, he knew she wouldn’t do that while he was still trying to focus and while he had a knife in his hand. 

“I’ll just make my own lunch over on the island then,” Tori said with a smile in her voice, clearly as an attempt to hide her own nerves about letting Wesley do this alone. “Just let me know if you need anything.”

“Okay,” Wesley nodded, keeping his eyes on the knife as he cut through the lettuce. He could feel his eyes growing wider as he heard Tori take a few steps away. He knew she was still nearby, but the fact that he was in his own space now made him feel a pit in his stomach. He felt alone now, and he couldn’t deny that his nerves were at an all-time high now.

After putting down the knife, Wesley carefully gathered the lettuce he’d cut and dropped it into a borrower-sized bowl. Then, he picked up a small piece of tomato that Tori had left for him on the table and he stared down at it while he bit his lip hard. 

“You can do this,” he said with a deep breath. “It’s just another piece of food to cut through. You were taught how to be safe. You can do it.”

Wesley tried to calm his nerves and stop the slight shaking in his hands as he slowly picked up the knife again. With slight hesitation, he carefully sliced into the tomato and felt a small amount of tension leave his shoulders. He was doing this on his own. Sure, Tori was only a few feet away, but he was really doing it all by himself! 

He’d hoped that, as he kept going, things would get easier, but that wasn’t the case with this tomato. Instead, he felt like he was getting a worse and worse hold on both the tomato itself and the knife as his hands kept getting covered in tomato juice. Still, he kept a firm grip on the knife’s handle and felt his eyebrows furrow in concentration. He didn’t want to ask Tori for help. Not when he knew he could believe in himself and make a meal that was completely done by his own hand. 

He couldn’t deny that he was getting frustrated though as he had to slow down his pace from the slippery tomato juice. He knew he could still do this safely if he just took things one step at a time and didn’t rush anything. Eventually, an idea struck him as to how he could potentially help this situation. Maybe he could just ask for some paper towels to clean things up a little bit. Sure, that would still be asking for help, but it mean that Tori would take over cooking for him. He could still make his own food by himself if he just asked Tori for something to clean up the mess with. 

Never taking his eyes off the knife, Wesley turned to his left to look over his shoulder. What he didn’t think about though was that his intense stare on the knife meant that he was turning with the blade still held in front of him. He hardly seemed to notice though as his eyes stayed glued to the cool metal. 

“Hey, Tori. Could you-”

Just then, a loud knock boomed through the kitchen from the front door. By human standards, the knock was probably casual-sounding, but to Wesley, it almost sounded like thunder. The noise startled him so badly that his arms flailed, causing him to drop the knife. The blade slid across his forearm, not deep enough to do too much damage but enough to draw blood, then it fell to the floor with a clatter. 

Immediately, the sight of a long, thin line of blood forming across his forearm made Wesley stare at it with tunnel vision. He could hear a voice reverberate around him, but he wasn’t able to discern anything that it said. It was like he was trapped in a fishbowl, but he hardly cared about that. He was too busy trying to find air to breathe as the cut started to drip fresh blood onto the countertop under his feet. 

This was enough to make him feel all the blood drain from his face as his head felt dizzy. He’d never cared about the sight of blood before, but this was different. As he collapsed on his side to the cold countertop floor, Wesley knew why the sight and the sting of the cut horrified him so much. 

It looked and felt just like the cuts he’d gotten from the rose bushes when he’d tried to escape the pet store. 

The day he met Tori.

The day he almost died. 

As the room around him rumbled with movement and that voice kept speaking incoherently to him, Wesley felt like the stinging sensation was traveling all over his body, just like when he’d been covered in cuts from those thorns. He was convinced that, if he looked anywhere else, he’d see more slices in his skin everywhere. The pain became overwhelming until it seemed to congregate at the spot where he still had his largest scar on his abdomen. The one that almost made him bleed out right before he’d reached his freedom.

Looking at the countertop where his arm lay showed that a small pool of blood had formed from the cut. Surely, he was losing too much blood. Surely, he was going to die. 

His whole body trembled in agony and fear until he suddenly felt something heavy and warm against his side. It was a comforting presence. One he could’ve sworn that he’d felt before. It didn’t move against him, but the sensation made his focus turn to the voice that had been speaking all along. 

“Wes! It’s okay! I can help! Just look at me!” Tori’s panicked voice cut through his thoughts as he finally looked up to see what was weighing down on his side. The familiar sight of pink, soft skin told him that Tori had rested her hand on him, and his eyes traveled from her fingers up her arm until he finally reached her face. 

She looked scared. That was all he could think. Maybe she knew he was dying too. What would she do when he was gone? Would she find someone else? Would she forget about him? Wesley could feel hot tears rolling down his face at the thought, only to realize that he’d clearly already been crying before Tori’s hand shocked him to attention. 

“T-Tori,” he stammered as his body continued to shake. “M-my cuts… from those thorns… t-they’re back. A-am I g-going to d-die?”

The question made Tori’s expression morph from one of fear to one of deadly seriousness. 

“You’re not going to die, Wes,” she said sternly, but not in an angry way. More like she wanted to make sure that they both believed what she was saying. “I grabbed the first aid kit to help. I can help you, but I need to see your arm and I need you to sit up for me.” 

In a daze, Wesley moved to try and sit up, but he started to feel too dizzy. He thought he might collapse back down to the countertop, but Tori’s hand was instantly underneath him to help him up. She moved slowly, raising his head and shoulders centimeter by centimeter until he was completely sitting up with only a little dizziness. All the while, Wesley’s eyes didn’t leave the cut on his arm. The stinging in his abdomen didn’t subside either as Tori’s free hand pushed the borrower-sized table over to him so he could lean against it when her palm that supported him moved away. 

“You’re gonna be okay, Wes,” Tori said in a calmer voice. As quickly as possible, she grabbed the first aid kit from where she’d dropped it at her feet and she carefully set it on the counter a slight distance away from Wesley. When she opened it, she snatched up a cleansing wipe, some ointment, gauze, and a bandage. She thought that would be enough until she set the supplies next to Wesley and realized that the bandages and gauze would have to be much smaller for his size. In a flash, she’d raced over to one of the kitchen drawers, yanked it open, and grabbed the best pair of scissors she could find before approaching the borrower again. 

In an effort to be quicker, Tori haphazardly cut a small square out of the gauze and told herself she’d come back to the bandages later. She held the tiny gauze square out to Wesley on her pointer finger. 

“Can you hold this for me?” she asked with concern in her eyes. “Don’t put it on yet. Just hold it, please.” Without a word, Wesley reached out and took the gauze with his hand from his good arm and held it in his lap. 

“Good,” Tori nodded as she started to rip open the package that held the cleansing wipe. “Now, can you hold out your arm that’s cut?”

“I-I can’t,” Wesley stammered. “The cuts are e-everywhere!” When she saw that his eyes wouldn’t leave the wound, Tori let out a sigh, slowly brought her hand towards him, and tucked her pointer finger under his chin. The movement made Wesley’s eyes instantly lock with hers when she brought his chin up a little. The sight of his shocked and tear-stained face made Tori start to gently stroke his hair with her thumb in an effort to comfort him and calm him down. 

“Wes, listen to me,” she said softly. “Those cuts from the thorns are gone. You’re still safe. We just have to patch up this injury and then you’ll be fine.” While it appeared that Wesley was allowing his body to relax just a little, his eyes started to wander back to the bleeding mark on his arm. Tori gave him a small nudge with the finger that she still had under his chin, and immediately his gaze was locked with hers again. 

“Don't look. I will bandage it for you.” After a moment of hesitation, Wesley finally nodded before he let his eyes close to avoid staring at the cut any longer. Tori felt his body relax a bit more, so she took that as a cue to continue now that Wesley was calmer. 

Still trying to be quick, Tori finished opening the cleansing wipe and took it out of the package, causing a harsh chemical smell to fill the air. The scent made her wrinkle her nose a little, but her face steeled again as she got closer to Wesley. 

“This will probably sting,” she told him as she brought the wipe toward his injured arm. “But only for a second. Just keep your eyes closed, okay?” 

“O-Okay,” Wesley murmured with a small nod. With that, Tori carefully held his arm on the tip of her finger with her left hand and held the wipe in her right. She gave a wince of her own as she just barely pressed the wipe to his skin, causing Wesley to let out a hiss of pain. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” Tori rambled before rapidly taking the wipe away. At least his skin looked clean now. He wasn’t bleeding as much anymore, especially since the cut looked like it was only slightly worse than a paper cut, so Tori felt a bit of relief. As gently as possible, she then applied a small amount of antibiotic ointment to the cut before turning her eyes to the gauze in Wesley’s lap. 

“Okay, Wes,” she said as she reached for the roll of bandages and the scissors. “I need to cut a bandage that’s your size. In the meantime, can you hold that piece of gauze on your cut? Keep looking away from it. Just put the gauze on it for a second.”

As Tori slid the scissors through the bandage to make a thin strip, Wesley carefully brought the gauze to his cut and slightly pressed down, all while keeping his eyes closed. The pain around the rest of his body was subsiding as he focused on taking deep breaths. He still felt a bit of sharpness in his abdomen, but it seemed to go away more and more each time Tori was touching him. 

“I’ll take that,” Tori said as she slowly put her own finger over the gauze on Wesley’s arm. “Thanks, Wes. I’m just going to wrap this bandage around your arm and then we’re all done.”

“Alright,” Wesley nodded, trying to keep calm. With a strip of bandage that looked like a thick piece of pasta, Tori carefully pressed one end of it under her finger that held the gauze. She did her best to both hold the gauze and wrap the bandage around Wesley’s arm, but it was proving to be difficult with her large fingers moving around his tiny appendage. 

With a huff to signal a change of plans, Tori let go of the supplies before grabbing onto the counter with both hands. She started to jump towards the countertop and before her feet could land, she had shrunk to less than three inches tall. 

“Much better,” she smirked as she approached Wesley and picked up the bandages to resume. 

Once she started to wrap his cut with more speed and ease, Wesley noticed how the sensations he was experiencing were no longer coming from fingers that were as long as he was tall. They were from hands that were just slightly smaller than his own. 

With hesitation, he allowed his eyes to flutter open before they widened in shock at the sight of Tori sitting next to him on the counter. It had only been a month since he’d learned that Tori was a shifter, and she didn’t change her size often enough for him to be used to the sight of her next to him like this. 

Tori didn’t seem to notice Wesley’s stare though. Instead, she remained focused on wrapping his arm snuggly with the bandage until she was able to tuck the end into the rest of the bandage to secure it. When she looked up, she had a gentle smile on her face that made Wesley’s cheeks feel hot. 

“Are you feeling any better?” she asked as she held his hand. The question and the warmth of her hand brought Wesley back down to earth even more. Somehow, Tori always knew what to do to pull him out of a panic attack, even a particularly scary one like that. Right now, she didn’t seem to realize just how much she’d saved him from falling completely into a pit of despair. She’d helped him so much that even the pain in his abdomen was gone. 

Instead of using his voice to reply, Wesley let out a relieved sigh, straightened his legs out in front of him, and motioned for Tori to come closer with his free hand. He didn’t let go of her hold as she scooted over to him and followed his lead to sit on his lap. When she was settled with her back against his chest, Wesley finally let go of her hand so he could wrap both his arms around her stomach to hold her close. He nuzzled his face into the hair on top of her head and held her just a bit tighter when he felt her hands start to rub up and down his arms. 

“Thank you, Tori,” he sighed into her hair. “Thank you so much.” 

“You don’t have to thank me, love,” she nestled into him even more. “I would do anything for you.” 

“I love you, Tori.” 

“And I love you too. Forever and always.”

#prompt #whatthisfemshepwrites #See Me #Tori and Wesley #size difference #my ocs #g/t #giant/tiny

[waiting4inspiration]

A Secret World IV: With the Dawn

Summary: As a way to start off your training with Hvitserk, you take him out early in the morning to show him the sunrise and to tell him one important rule.

Warnings: strong language, fluff, mentions of raiding, mentions of murder, mentions of stealing, dragons, dragon rider au

Word Count: 2,029

A Secret World Masterlist II Vikings Masterlist

You wake Hvitserk up early in the morning, before sunrise, with another cup of the sweet smelling, ale-like liquid. Then, you made him follow you through the quiet city where he had seen a few hatching Dragons still sleeping on top of barrels or on top of perches on the roofing of the houses you two passed. 

The sky is still dark so he is not able to see if are were any bigger Dragons flying around. But he doesn’t think they are. It’s all too quiet and there’s not even a sound of wings flapping above his head. There aren’t even roars in the distance. It’s just like an early morning in Kattegat. 

At that thought - as you continue to lead Hvitserk out of the city just as you did when you took him to see Gudrun - he thinks about what could be happening to his home. He wonders who is running it now, if any of his brothers had, by some miracle, survived and taken back what belongs to his family. He wonders if the city is still burning…

After a while, he notices that you’re once again leading him into the wilderness, away from the city built into the stone of a mountain. But it’s not in the direction of the Dragon’s Mountain, that which Gudrun lives on. In fact, when he looks over his shoulder, in the distance illuminated by the light of the slowly rising sun, he sees that exact mountain. You’re leading him in the opposite direction. 

He understands why you had woken him up so early. Because the journey takes a while and he realises that there’s an ache in his legs when you finally come to a stop in front of a towering pillar of rocks. 

“Can you climb?” you ask, looking at him after staring up at the pillar for a moment. You hand him a waterskin and he doesn’t have to ask what’s in it because it seems that all you’ve been giving him to drink is that water from the stream in the room that’s become his for his stay. 

Looking up at the pillar, he takes in a deep breath to calm his heart that skips a beat when he sees how high up it goes. “I can try,” he finally says, turning his gaze to look at you again.

You chuckle to yourself and reach for the coil of rope tied to your belt. “Wait here. I’ll drop this down for you when I get up there. We don’t need you falling to your death so soon,” you lightly say with a teasing smile on your face that quells the anxious feeling in his chest. 

Hvitserk watches you starting to climb the pillar as if it’s like walking. Your feet find ledges to stand on without even slipping slightly. They don’t even knock off small pebbles or dust. He tries to remember all of your steps, trying to remember where he needs to step when he eventually climbs up this strong pillar. But he can’t help but be mesmerised by your skill. 

He wonders how many times you’ve done this.

Thinking about why you might have brought him here, he wonders if this is his first lesson. He doesn’t have much time to learn everything. The month your mother had given him can go by in the blink of an eye.

What would happen if he fails? What would they do to him? What would your father, the king, do? 

Realising that your father is a king, that would make you a princess. And that thought makes him smile as he turns his gaze back up to you to see how far you’ve gotten. 

Of all the princesses and ladies of stature he has met, you are definitely different. You act more like a shieldmaiden. But then again, he doesn’t think you focus on training to fight. He’s not sure what you act like, but he knows that he enjoys this nature. 

It’s exciting to him. When he watches you, he thinks of doing these things beside you. Maybe even fighting to see who would beat the other to the top of this pillar. He thinks of sneaking out of the city in the early mornings as you did now, ready to explore more of this land. He would let you lead him anywhere, show you new sights and teach him things no one in his world would ever know. 

And if things go the way he thinks it will go, perhaps you will teach him how to ride a Dragon. Then he can soar through the skies with you…

The rope drops down in front of him, breaking him out of his thoughts and he steps back in surprise, peering up to see you’ve finally reached the top. “Come on. Before you miss what I want to show you.”

He smiles, running his tongue over his lips as he almost jumps to wrap the rope around his torso to start climbing. 

You made this look easy when you went, but for Hvitserk, he has to look down every time he moves his feet to make sure his footing is sure before finding another gripping place for his hands. He has some comfort to know that you’re constantly keeping an eye on him, making sure he doesn’t fall by giving him advice as to what stones to avoid and where to place his foot next. 

And when his hand finally reaches the flat top surface, you help pull him up until he sits firmly beside you, panting and wiping the sweat from his forehead. “I know. It’s quite a challenge the first time,” you chuckle, relaxing beside him and placing your feet flat in front of you so your knees are bent and you can wrap your arms around them.

Hvitserk stares at you for a moment as you look out in front of you, happy to just be up here in one piece. Then, he turns his gaze out to see the sight you’ve made him climb up here to see. It’s enough to kickstart his heart again. 

The Dragon Mountain hides the sun, making it seem like it’s glowing with fire. There are no silhouettes of Dragons flying around it like they would during the day and the mountain casts a shadow over the fortress you and Hvitserk had come from. It’s only a matter of time before the sun peeks over the mountain top to start the new day. 

“I think everyone needs to see this sunrise at least once. I come here almost every morning for it,” you whisper, blinking at the sight as you breathe out a long, satisfied sigh. 

It’s quiet for a moment, not even a breath on the wind as you and Hvitserk stare out at the Dragon’s Mountain in the distance, watching as the light creeps around the sides of the summit. He doesn’t want to take his eyes off the mountain, fearing that he’ll miss what you’ve brought him here to see. But he wants to see the look on your face when the sun rises. He wants to see what your features look like in the light of a new day. 

It happened slowly, then quickly all of a sudden. When the sun finally peaked, a roar sounded in the heart of the mountain sending hundreds of black dragon silhouettes flying into the sky. It’s like a flock of birds have been scared and now scatter in different directions. Hvitserk takes note of how just like in the city, there are different sized Dragons on the mountain. Some are so small, he can barely even see them. Others are big, and he can make out their figure clearly. 

He can tell as he watches them fly around each other, the way they don’t seem to fly like the ones in the city, soaring without a care, that these Dragons are the wild ones you’ve mentioned to him before. He wonders if your people have ever had issues with these wild creatures attacking the city. They must be dangerous even tamed. But he’s never seen any sign of past destruction burned on the walls of the stone-built city. 

This sight is unlike any Hvitserk has ever seen. He had fallen in love with one sunrise in a distant land while on a raid with Bjorn. But this one has stolen his heart and he can understand why you would make this dreadful climb up here every morning for it. 

He would do the same.

“If there’s one thing you must know about going forward and learning our ways, Hvitserk-” His head snaps to you at the sound of his name on your lips. As if his heart wasn’t already pounding in his chest. “It’s that these Dragons are to be shown the utmost respect at all times, no matter their size,” you mention, turning your own gaze away from the light rising over the mountains to him. “Even the smallest Dragon can kill you if they want to. They’ve been here long before we were here and they will most likely be here when we have all died. And just like us, they have their own possessions that some outsiders have tried to steal. It is why my father doesn’t trust anyone that comes beyond the Great River,” you explain, chuckling to yourself as you drop your eyes to your hands. 

Hvitserk notices how when you run your hand over your thigh, you tremble slightly as if shuddering at a terrible memory. Then, you clear your throat and reach for the waterskin you had handed him a while ago to take a long sip from liquid inside. 

“Promise me that you will not try and take what is not yours from them,” you whisper, keeping your eyes on the waterskin for a moment before slowly lifting your gaze up to him. 

It’s as if your eyes peer deeply into his soul, seeing everything he has done before in his past and how much he has taken that had not belonged to him. Gold, jewels, cities, women, and lives. 

He turns his gaze back to the mountain and lets out a deep sigh. “I want things to be different for me. Maybe it will bring me some kind of happiness if I forget the kind of things I’ve been taught,” he whispers back to you, feeling like he doesn’t want to break the peacefulness the sunrise has brought over this land without a war raging on inside of it. 

You shift up closer to him, place a gentle hand on his forearm and hand him the waterskin, smiling that gentle smile when he looks back up at you. “Can you tell me?” you ask. 

Hvitserk’s heart skips a beat when his fingers brush against yours as he takes the waterskin from you again. 

“I’ve always wanted to know what it’s like beyond the River, but I’ve never reached the Far City, your home.”

He smiles, wondering if things would be like this if you had made it there and he had met you in the marketplace. Would he even have seen you? Would he have bothered to introduce himself to you? Would he even care the way he cares now?

“Kattegat,” he says, thinking it’s best to teach you the real name of his home instead of what you called it; the Far City. 

You do want to learn from him, just as he wants to learn from you. 

You repeat the name making goosebumps travel up Hvitserk’s arms as he smiles back at you. That smile doesn’t last long as he remembers the last he saw of it. His head drops between his shoulders. “You don’t want to know how things work in my world,” he starts, staring at the waterskin in his hands, remembering the last time he had a cup of ale with his brothers. “It’s nothing like how things work here.”

“Nothing out there works the way like how things work here,” you mention, crossing your legs under you, making the loose pebbles shift and grind under your feet. “It’s what makes everyone different.”

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