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yoredoesmore · 2 months

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Until Fate Reunites us - An Unexpected Storm | Cyno

pairing: Cyno x Reader

summary: Two young children who both share different fates meet. They are connected by a bond that surpasses even the universe, but the worlds they were born into divide them. Will their paths cross again or will their first encounter be their last?

cw: fight scenes, the story takes place in cyno's and y/n's childhood, mentioning of child abuse, kidnapping

genre: angst, action, eventual romance, [wc: 2,7k]

a/n: this story was written long before more parts of cyno's backstory were released, so none of this is canon

enjoy!

The burning summer heat fell onto the world, penetrating not just the climate but also one's mind. It was safe to say that this was by far one of the hottest days of the year in Sumeru, yet you didn't seem to mind. With a smile on your face, you walked over the sandy surface, carefree and full of joy. Today was a day of celebration, one you were destined to remember forever– today, you were going to create your very own family.

Years of loneliness and desperation were finally coming to an end, you could feel it in your heart.

Now, one would ask themselves how a little child like you was going to achieve such goal but you were ready to surprise them all. Months have gone into the making of your plan and nothing and no one was going to stop you from pursuing it. So as you sneaked past the gates of Caravan Ribat, you held your eyes out for your new family members.

"Look at this.." You said in awe while making your way through the bustling streets of the marketplace. You were no stranger to crowded places and commotion, despite being born in the middle of the desert. When the rations got thin and the nights too dangerous, you would often come here and borrow one or two items from the stalls or seek shelter behind one of the buildings. It was safe to say that you were at least familiar enough with the place to know where to search first.

But even though you fit right in with the people, you still had to be cautious. This place was just booming with guards and thieves, a dangerous mixture for an outsider and little kid like you. But you still did a pretty good job at mixing in with the locals. Hardly anybody took notice of your existence and even those who did, did not bother themselves longer than two seconds with your presence. After making it through the entire street, you finally arrived at your first destination.

Right under a structure or bridge, you weren't entirely sure what it was, they sat. Children like you, but a tad bit older. Despite their young appearance, nobody dared to walk past or even look at them. These teenagers were known for causing trouble after all. Yet you didn't even hesitate to approach them with a bright smile.

"Good afternoon." You said, holding out your hand. "My name is Y/n, and I would like for you guys to join my family!"

A long silence followed your words which was followed by an awkward cough. The teenagers exchanged confused looks with one another before one of them decided to speak up.

"Are you lost, kid..?" The tallest asked.

"I was but I am not anymore. I am here to recruit you guys to join my family!"

"Join...your family? I'm sorry kid but we have no interest in playing house with you. Why don't you ask mommy and daddy to get you some toys to play with them instead?"

"Don't be rude, Galehunter, the kid is just lost." A brown haired girl came to your defense. The blonde girl simply rolled her eyes and nodded her head towards your direction, acting as if you weren't right in front of them.

"Listen kid. I don't know where your parents are but you should go back and find them. You don't know us so stop saying these weird things. We could easily cut you open and sell your body parts, distribute your organs on the black market and much more. Return now and let us be."

The five teens patiently waited for you to run off in fear, show some signs that their presence was intimidating you but you remained stuck in place. Your stubbornness must have gotten on their nerves, because one of them suddenly revealed a dagger to you. The shiny object absorbed the sunlight, making it look like some expensive jewelry. The boy swung the weapon in front of your eyes but you didn't move one inch.

"This kid is crazy.." The boy with the dagger said, returning the weapon to its previous spot.

"They call you Stone Enchanter, right?" You asked the boy.

"I would like you guys to call me Frostbite. I may be young but I am the leader of a gang that is in desperate need of new members..or members in general. You and I are quite similar, forgotten kids who roam the sand and fight for their survival. We were abandoned by this world, by our archon and by the people and now seek vengeance. Follow me, thrust me and become one of the most feared soldiers the world has ever seen."

"And why should we?" Galehunter suddenly asked while approaching you.

"Why should we put our trust in the hands of a child? We don't know if you're capable of leading a group. Being from the streets means nothing if you can't play by its rules." The girl looked down at you with daring eyes, eyes which you adored but also saw as a provocation.

You knew that things wouldn't go as smoothly as you wanted them to, that is why you came prepared. You still believed that today was a date which would be engraved into the stars and you were going to do everything to make that happen.

"How can I prove myself?"

Galehunter thought for a while before her eyes suddenly lit up. She grabbed you by the shoulder and turned you around and pointed at a young boy. The child was walking hand in hand with who you assumed were his parents. An uneasy feeling started to erupt in your body as you waited for her answer.

"You see that happy family over there? The father looks like he makes good money judging from the clothes they're wearing..I'm sure he wouldn't mind a few missing Mora."

"That's it? I just have to steal some Mora?" You found the request amusing at first, a challenge easily done, but when you noticed all the guards that started to surround them, your smile quickly dropped. Their expensive attire obviously didn't go unnoticed by your eyes but to think that they were that important people, here in the middle of the desert? The task immediately shifted up on the difficulty scale.

"Today history will be written. The birth of a new organization, one that will make it all the way to the stars. We shall celebrate that birth with a big feast, which I of course will pay for."

The teens just nodded their heads and laughed, none of them taking you serious. They were doubting your skills and intelligence but that was only to be expected. None of them could ever have fathomed the strength that laid within your grasp..

✎ᝰ

Time passed, yet the sun still burned down on Teyvat like an ungodly fire. For the past thirty minutes you have tried your best to keep up with the family– which went quite successful most of the time. They were an easy target despite the crowded place and not to mention the unusual hair color of their son that made them stick out more than a sore thumb. By listening in during some of their conversations, you managed to find out that they were from Sumeru City and came here for some business affairs. They were indeed a family but to your surprise they weren't as rich as you thought they were.

The man was part of the Matra, a group of self proclaimed heroes of the Akademiya and his wife was a professor. They gave off a rather friendly aura but that of course didn't stop you from following through with your plan. You cautiously watched them enter the Gilded Journey, a famous resting place for all types of travelers but also quite the dangerous place for the average person. But given the man's occupation, he would have no troubles defending his people.

While watching them, you constantly tried to find an opening, a moment of distraction, but your search was in vain. If they weren't surrounded by guards and mercenaries, they would be in an too unideal position to attack from.

The only opening there was, was the son. His curious eyes gazed into all kinds of directions as they walked through the bustling marketplace. He was your best chance– and most likely even your only. Unsure of how to draw his attention towards you, you waited and waited, for the perfect opportunity to find you and indeed after a couple more minutes an idea popped into your head.

You waited a few more moments for one of the merchants to pull the parents into one of their exaggerated stories before you approached the kid.

"Did they sell out yet??" You asked him in a worried tone.

"The..what?" He replied in a rather confused voice.

"The nuts of course! Did they sell out yet?" Concern reflected in the boy's eyes as you continued to confuse him. He had absolutely no idea what you were talking about yet he couldn't help himself but become curious.

"What nuts are you talking about?" You carefully took a peek at his parents, who were still chatting with the merchant. You then pointed at a man who was standing in the far distance.

"His name is Hawad and he sells the most delicious Candid Ajilenakh Nuts! they're a delicacy here and are mostly known for their sweetness. They sell out really fast and I wanted to know if he still had some left. Every child loves them, so I thought that maybe you have gotten some already but..seems like you don't.."

This was the moment of truth. The boy's eyes still reeked of confusion and conflict yet the small sparks of curiosity didn't go unnoticed by you. Your heart stopped for a second when he turned around to talk to his mother but when he asked her for some Mora a big smile found its way on your face.

"Yes mother, I will be back shortly. Do not worry, the vendor is right over there." And with that said the boy ran off and you followed him. Your eyes were dead focused on the bag. He had told the woman that he was just going to buy some of the books he saw at the other stall, what a clever child. Based on that, you figured that someone as posh as him wasn't allowed to snack on such unhealthy delicates.

"What's your name?" The boy suddenly asked.

"I'm Y/n, what about you?"

"I'm Cyno!"

"Nice to meet you, Cyno." The two of you exchanged smiles before you continued to focus on the task at hand. You were only a couple minutes away from the merchant, you could already smell the sweet aroma of the nuts. You weren't lying when you said that the Ajilenakh Nuts were beloved by the people of the desert. They were sugary and nice to chew on, the perfect snack when craving something sweet and you loved them.

Your heart bloomed with each step you took forward. Cyno walked ahead of you and was equally excited, but the both of you for different reasons.

Stretching out your hands, you prepared yourself to snatch the bag out of his grip, but all of a sudden an eerie atmosphere filled the air. All the exhilaration had clouded your mind, making you forget about your surroundings. You had let your guard down and that led to a group of strangers suddenly approaching you.

"Look at that.." One of them said with a mischievous smile on his face. "We got ourselves some lost kids."

"Who appear to be in desperate need of help from some capable adults."

Cyno's smile immediately faded upon noticing their dangerous nature. He shifted closer to you but not to hide himself but rather to shield you with his own body.

"We are in no need of help." He said in a serious tone. "Just on our way back to our parents."

"Well, then why don't we guide you back?" One of the men suddenly grabbed you by the shoulders and started pushing you towards the exit of the market. You were about to yell out to get the public's attention when one of them pulled out a dagger and held it against the boy's back. It was perfectly concealed, for only your eyes to see.

"Let's bot bother anyone else, shall we?" A woman, the leader of the group you assumed, gave you a soft smile.

"Let's move to a more quiet place, shall we?.."

Your gaze moved over to Cyno, who's face was filled with horror and concern. All you were able to do was comply and follow the group off the market ground..

✎ᝰ

The sun was starting to set and with the setting of the sun , the radiant heat drastically decreased as well.

There you were, in the middle of the desert, surrounded by criminals. The group of gangsters had taken you to an abandoned camp that wasn't too far away from Caravan Ribit you believed but not exactly close either.

Neither you or Cyno had said a word throughout the entire journey, too scared to piss one of them off. Turning your gaze around towards the boy, you tried to make out the state he was currently in but his eyes were completely empty.

"Why did you take us all the way out here? If you had wanted our Mora, you simply would have taken it."

"We got ourselves a little thinker over here." The woman said, slowly approaching you.

"Times are getting rather rough out here, little one, I'm sure you heard mommy and daddy talk about it as well. The prices of basic goods are rapidly increasing day by day and simple commissions aren't enough to get us by anymore."

"So you kidnapped us in hopes that our parents would pay you guys a fine price?" Cyno suddenly joined the conversation.

"Impressive. Looks like we caught a bundle of little researchers." The woman's voice was filled with sarcasm, which earned her soft chuckles from her comrades.

Cyno just rolled his eyes at their remarks but remained silent. The situation had spiraled out of control and you were starting to get really worried. If you had been on your own, these eremites would have been taken care of in no time but the boy's presence was a great limitation to your options. You didn't want him to be confronted with any graphic scenes but you knew that you had to do something about this mess of a situation at some point.

"I must disappoint you then, I'm an orphan." You said with a smug smile on your face. Both the adults and the boy turned around to look at you.

"Then you have no worth to us.." A deep voice came forth. A tall figure raised itself into the air, pulling out a dagger from his pocket. Cyno's eyes widened in terror as he saw the sharp weapon being pointed at you but when he tried to scream out for them to stop, another individual placed their large hand over his lips, forcing him to watch in fear.

The eremite swung the dagger into the air but missed, as you moved quickly and dodged him at the last second.

A ball of your spit then hit the man right between the eyes, setting off the fury in him. But while he was cursing you, you freed yourself from the ropes they had tied your hands with together and threw yourself onto him with full force. The blade he held only seconds ago was now pointed at his own neck, but it never came in contact with his skin.

Yet he still screamed out in pain.

The Eremites around you froze up upon hearing their comrade's cries and watched the scene unfold.

"My eyes!" The man cried out, desperately pressing his hands over his face.

"That fucking brat froze my eyeballs!"

From there on, everything moved in slow motion. All remaining Eremites came charging at you but they fell as fast as they came. Your attacks were quick and unforeseeable. Like a snowstorm you swooped over them and froze their different body parts to the core. After only minutes they were all on the ground, knocked out cold or shivering uncontrollably.

The boy was beyond speechless. His mouth hung wide open as he watched you pat off the sand from your clothes as if what just happened was nothing. He didn't know what to say or how to react– if he should feel grateful or intimidated. He was frozen in place like the enemies on the ground and his eyes stayed stuck on the small item that had fallen out of your pocket and now dangled around in the cold desert wind.

Your Vision.

#yoredoesmore #anime fanfic #x reader #cyno #genshin impact #genshin fanfic #cyno x reader #angst #sumeru #genshin

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punkshort · 1 year

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Chapter warnings: language, graphic depictions of violence, explicit smut (MDNI), little bit of sub!joel in this one, jealous/possessive smut, graphic descriptions of and references to SA - please proceed with caution if this is a trigger for you

Chapter Sixteen

Pairing: Joel x F!Reader, pre-outbreak and post outbreak

AU (the only thing I kept was the outbreak, Joel, and Tommy's characters. Joel's backstory is different, and the way he finds Jackson is different. I may include Ellie one day, I just haven't planned that far)

Fic Summary: You worked for Joel and Tommy a few months before the outbreak. The outbreak happens, and you and Joel get stuck traveling the country and keeping each other safe. Neither of you spoke about the feelings you had for one another pre-outbreak, and in a post-apocalyptic world, it seems like survival should be your only focus. But feelings can't be ignored forever.

Fic tags: Explicit Smut (18+ MDNI), Smut, Language, Canon-Typical Violence, Alcohol Use, Age Difference (Reader is 10 years younger than Joel), slow burn, mutual pining, angst, trauma, SA referencing later but I will put a big warning on those chapters

You could feel Joel’s eyes burning a hole in your back as you followed the guards down the hallway to a common room area. After realizing Joel’s ex-fiancée was conveniently one of the leaders in this community, you had shut down and refused to look at him. You knew it was irrational. How could it be his fault? It just set your teeth on edge, especially considering the reservations you were already having about this place. The man with the dark hair and thick eyebrows jutted his chin out towards Joel and pointed in the direction of the men’s restroom.

“You go in there, we need to check you over for bites,” Joel hesitated, looking back at you, but you continued to stare straight ahead. “It’s standard procedure, we do it for all new intakes. It keeps us safe, don’t take it personally.” Joel took a step towards you, trying to catch your gaze but you were fixated on your feet.

“You gonna be alright for a minute?” he murmured to you.

“Mhm,” you gave a quick nod, eyes still cast down, trying to quell your irritation.

He paused, then glanced around at the group of people waiting for him. He grumbled and turned to enter the restroom, the dark-haired man following. Amy slinked up next to you and placed her hand lightly on your shoulder. It took everything you had not to shrug her hand off as you raised your eyes to look at her. By all accounts, she was pretty. She had bright blue eyes and blonde hair, although you noticed it was a few shades darker than the picture you had seen in Joel's apartment. You could see she was closer to Joel's age by the fine wrinkles developing around her eyes and mouth. She tried to give you a reassuring smile, but it just came off as insincere.

"You can follow me in here," she motioned towards the women's restroom. "I'll look you over real quick and we can get you something to eat." Reluctantly, you followed her into the women's room. You set your backpack down against the wall and took your jacket off before looking to her for direction. She was regarding you carefully with a curious smile.

"You don't talk much," she said, motioning for you to take your shirt off. You began to unbutton your flannel and shrugged at her comment, still choosing not to speak. You took the flannel off and hung it over your crossed arms, feeling exposed in your bra in front of Joel's ex. She walked around you slowly and lifted each of your arms to get a good look at your skin. Amy motioned for you to drop your jeans, so you tugged the flannel back over your arms, leaving it unbuttoned, and reached down to pull the denim off your legs. She did the same thing, walked around slowly and inspected you closely, even tugging on the back of your underwear to check your ass before snapping the band back. You were facing the door with only your shirt partially covering you when you heard a sharp knock.

"Come in," Amy called, still looking you over. You turned to her in surprise, clutching your flannel shut to preserve your dignity before the skinny redhead entered the room, his eyes raking up and down your body before clearing his throat to address Amy.

"The man's clear, what do you want us to do with him?" he asked.

"Let's take them to the cafeteria and get them something to eat before we assign them rooms, thanks Ian." she replied, then motioned for you to put your jeans back on. You awkwardly bent over to pull your legs through as quickly as possible, but Ian had already left. You hastily buttoned up your flannel before shooting her a glare, and she smirked in response. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"We only need one room, thanks," you said, not letting your gaze waver. It seemed that you confirmed for her what she already suspected, giving you a tight smile and a nod before ushering you back into the common room. Joel was waiting anxiously against the wall for you to emerge, pushing himself off to come over to you, but you kept up the attitude, still refusing to look him in the eye.

Ian, thick eyebrows, and Amy led you both down another floor and through a hallway before reaching a large cafeteria where clusters of people sat at various tables. All eyes turned towards you as you walked in, regarding you curiously. You kept your eyes straight ahead as you were led to a table and invited to sit. Joel sat next to you on one side of the table while Amy chose to sit directly across from him. Ian went to get you each a bowl of soup and thick eyebrows stood guard behind Amy.

"It's been a long time, Joel. How did you get here?" she asked him, completely ignoring you.

"Walked," he said curtly, crossing his arms over his chest. She nodded, picking up on his tone.

"And Tommy?" she said softly, biting her lip. You tried you best to keep from rolling your eyes. You didn't appreciate the sweet tone she was taking with him. Maybe you were just paranoid, maybe she was just being nice. But your gut was telling you otherwise.

"Don't know," he said gruffly, trying to avoid her eyes by looking around the room. He noticed the skinny red-haired guy waiting for your food and standing with a big brute of a man in the corner of the room, eyeing you up closely. He glanced over at you, unaware of the men staring at you. He knew you were pissed, but you could at least look at him. He clenched his teeth when he looked back at the men who were very obviously leering in your direction now and whispering to each other. He possessively tucked his arm over your shoulders, feeling you tense up under his touch. The men slid their gaze over to Joel now, who raised his eyebrows at them expectantly. They grinned at each other and shook their heads, turning away and focusing on the food counter.

You finally looked in his direction now, giving him a confused look. The motion was not lost on Amy as she stared at Joel's arm around you for a second too long before breaking away and looking back at him, forcing a smile.

"Well, I'm so glad you are safe and that you made it here. We have a community of about 60 people so far, most of us strangers. We all pitch in where we can, so we will be assigning some work to you both. And I know what you're thinking," she said, holding up her hand, "but it's not like the QZs. We don't ration people's food or supplies. Our long-term plan is to find a safe area away from the city where we can make a home." She continued to look directly at Joel the whole time she spoke, and it was getting on your nerves. You knew it shouldn't, you knew he loved you, but you couldn't help it. You cleared your throat loudly, finally dragging her gaze from Joel and onto you.

"What kind of work?" you asked, and you felt Joel's hand squeeze your shoulder slightly.

"Patrols, guard duty, cooking, cleaning, laundry... that sort of thing. Whatever needs to be done, we all take turns and do our part." At that, she narrowed your eyes to you, as if there was a double meaning to her words that you couldn't decipher.

"That's fine, we understand. We'll help out." Joel said, drawing Amy's attention back towards him. She gave him a warm smile.

"Perfect. And here's your food," she said, looking over your shoulder as Ian placed bowls in front of you both. "I'll let you two have some privacy, when you're all set, I'll be over there," she pointed to a table that you now noticed sat the four other leaders you briefly met earlier. "And then I'll show you to your room." She emphasized the last word and glanced quickly at you before standing up and walking over to the other table, followed closely by Ian.

You gulped and looked down at your soup, suddenly feeling nauseous. Something about what Amy said didn't sit right with you but you couldn't put your finger on it. You lazily stirred the soup and took a few small sips before giving up and leaning back in your chair. Joel noticed your lack of appetite and brought his hand down to squeeze your knee.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, "I didn't know."

You scoffed and folded your arms across your chest, looking at a fixed point on the wall.

"You sure about that?" You asked coldly. He dropped the spoon in his bowl before glancing at you sideways.

"How the fuck would I know?" he said lowly, trying to make sure he wasn't overheard. You shook your head, not wanting to get into an argument.

"You done yet? I'm tired, I need to get some sleep." You pushed your chair back with your legs and strode over to the leader's table, knocking firmly on the end to get their attention. Amy's eyes shot up to you after breaking off a quiet conversation with one of the men.

"Ready," you said, as you felt Joel come up beside you. She nodded and stood.

"Ok, follow me. I had Ian take your backpacks to your room already." She motioned for you both to follow her and you turned on your heel to do just that, Joel following behind you quietly.

Amy led you both up to the third floor. About halfway down, she stopped and unlocked a door, then gave the key to Joel before pushing the door open. The dorm was small, as expected, with two twin beds on either side of the room. You noticed a small bathroom with only a sink and toilet in the corner and your backpacks on the end of the beds.

“You two probably had a long journey, why don’t you get some rest. There are some toiletries in the bathroom. Breakfast starts at 7 in the morning. I’ll find you in the cafeteria and give you your work assignments once leadership decides,” she looked directly at Joel when she added, “please let me know if you need anything.” Then she excused herself, softly shutting the door behind her. You rolled your eyes and collapsed on the bed with your backpack on it, throwing your arm over your face.

“Alright, lemme have it,” Joel said roughly, tossing his backpack on the floor and sitting on the other bed. “It’s my fault. We walked halfway across the country to a city I had no idea she even lived in on the off chance we would find her, right?” He glared at you, fuming, but you just laid there with your arm covering your eyes. “C’mon already, tell me how this is my fault.”

“Did you know that was her voice on the radio?” you asked quietly, your arm still draped over your face.

“Did I – what?!” he exclaimed, standing up. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me? ‘Course not! I don’t know if that even was her recording!” You shook your head and rubbed the heels of your hands into your eyes, trying to keep the tears at bay. “Look at me,” he demanded, but you shook your head again. You just wanted to sleep and forget this ever happened. You wanted to wake up back at the white house with blue shutters, or even on the forest floor at this point. He walked to your bed to stand over you and noticed a tear trickling down the side of your face, heading towards your ear. “Sweetheart,” he began, softer this time, but you stopped him. You sat up and crawled backwards, so your back was against the headboard, putting more space between the two of you.

“I don’t like it here,” you told him flat out, wiping at the stray tear. “There’s something off, I can’t put my finger on it, but the way she looked at me when she talked about everyone doing their part… I don’t like it.” He snorted and sat down at the end of your bed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“You gotta give it a chance. We just got here a few hours ago. Give it a week,” he said, dropping his hand and looking into your eyes. You could see the desperation behind his gaze as he rubbed absentmindedly at his chest. “Give it a week, and if you still don’t like it, we’ll go.” You sighed, knowing you couldn’t argue with him. It was a good compromise, so you squeezed your eyes shut and nodded.

“Fine,” you whispered, your chin dropping to your chest. He grinned, leaning forward to pull you in for a kiss that you barely reciprocated. He got up to unpack some of his things while you turned on your side and pulled the blanket over you, eager to get some sleep.

The next morning, you and Joel sat together at a table eating a breakfast of oatmeal, some kind of animal meat you couldn’t name, berries, and coffee. You were starving since you decided to be dramatic and skip dinner yesterday, so you barely noticed when Amy and the others walked in to sit down at their table, her eyes immediately traveling over to Joel and gave him a flirty wave. He nodded in her direction and focused back on his food, muttering something under his breath.

“What?” you asked, popping the last of your berries into your mouth. He sighed and leaned in a little closer.

“She’s here,” was all he said, and you could feel your body tense up. You knew you had to see her again today, but you couldn’t control your reaction. You drank the last of your coffee as she glided over to your table, giving Joel a huge grin, and once again pretending you didn’t exist.

“Good morning! I hope you slept alright,” she said brightly. Joel grunted and nodded.

“We slept fine, thanks,” he replied, his hand drifting to your knee under the table. You warmed a bit at the touch, knowing he was trying to make you comfortable.

“I have your work assignments for the week. Joel, you’re on guard duty, second shift,” she winked at him before whispering, “I pulled some strings, usually newcomers have to take third shift,” then she raised her voice back up to a normal level before addressing you for the first time. “You’re on kitchen duty with Maryanne. She’s a sweetheart, she’s excited for the extra help. You’re scheduled from 10am to 7pm today.” She handed out your assignments written out on index cards, confirming the times and the locations. You were getting sick of her subtle flirting, the wink and the whisper finally tipping you over the edge. You hooked your leg over the top of Joel’s and leaned forward, draping your arm over his shoulders, pretending like she wasn’t even there.

“Baby, isn’t this so great? Our work shifts practically overlap, we’ll be able to be together at night,” you trailed a finger over his shoulder as he shot you a surprised look. He had only heard you call him that when you were having sex, and as if you had conditioned him, his cock jumped in his pants when he heard the affectionate nickname. He cleared his throat and looked back and forth between you and Amy, who tried to hide her displeasure with a fake smile.

“Yeah, it’s good, sweetheart,” he took the cards and looked back up at Amy. “Thanks, I’ll be seein’ ya at 2.” She nodded curtly and swiveled around to head back to her table. Joel chuckled under his breath as he rubbed the inside of your thigh.

“Did that make you feel good?” he teased, taking a sip of his lukewarm coffee.

“Oh, I can think of something that feels better,” you said, making him sputter into his mug. He wiped his mouth and looked at you, eyes wide and eyebrows raised, and you couldn’t contain your smirk. He cleared his throat and rested his chin in his hand, looking around the room, as he tried to wait out the erection he had under the table.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, you know that?” he murmured, unable to keep the grin from his face as he slid your leg off his lap. You grinned at him, pleased at his reaction.

“We have a few hours to kill, you know,” you whispered as you got up from the table and dumped your dishes into the empty bin by the garbage, only meeting his eyes once before you exited the cafeteria and headed back to your room.

He was only a few minutes behind you after you left, slamming the door and snatching your face in his grip, pulling you close and hungrily exploring your mouth. You moaned into him, your tongue flicking at his teeth sloppily as you both hurriedly undressed each other. Joel walked you backwards towards your bed, but at the last minute you twisted around and pushed him back. He flopped down onto the mattress, flinging his arms behind him for support as he gazed up at you, panting for air. Your pants had already been undone and pushed down, but you pulled them the rest of the way off as he did the same. You flung your t-shirt over your head and stood before him in just your bra and underwear. He was in the process of removing his shirt when he paused to drink you in, then whipped it over his head to the corner of the room. He reached out to grab your waist, but you took a step back and shook your finger from side to side.

“Be patient,” you demanded, and you watched his gaze instantly darken at your tone. He slowly brought his hand back and instead palmed his cock through his boxers, watching you spin around and slowly unhook your bra. You shot a sly glance over your shoulder at him as you wiggled out of it and tossed it to the side. His lips were parted and flushed as he stared at your back, eagerly waiting for you to turn around. When you did, you kept your hand over your breasts, playfully batting his hand away when he reached out.

“Take them off,” he told you hoarsely, his eyes burning into you. You tsked at him and shook your head, making him groan, but he remained seated on the bed. You took a small step forward and lifted your other hand out to tip his chin up.

“I’m going to be the one in charge today, is that clear?” you asked him with a raised eyebrow. He nodded feverishly, his jaw slack.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied, and you smiled at the term. You rewarded him by planting a quick kiss on his lips before pulling back.

“Good boy,” you muttered, dropping your hand from your tits and finally revealing yourself to him. His body jumped in response, but he forced himself to remain seated, looking back and forth between you and your breasts, silently pleading to allow him to touch you. You stepped forward and pushed him back, making him turn his body so his head was resting against the pillow. You lifted your leg and straddled him, bringing his hands up to grip your waist. He groaned and began to roll his hips into yours, but you put a hand on his chest to stop him. He let out a puff of air as he clenched his teeth, bringing his hips down to rest on the bed.

You hummed as you traced a finger down his neck and over his broad chest, his eyes never leaving your face.

"Tell me, Joel," you began casually, as your finger slowed near his boxers. "Do you want to fuck me?"

He let out a rush of air from his lungs he didn't realize he was holding, nodding as his grip on your waist tightened.

"Yes," he choked out, "yes, I want to fuck you."

You smiled as your fingernail gently scraped back and forth along the top of his pubic hair, the sensation making him shiver.

"And what about her?" you asked him as your finger stilled. "Do you want to fuck her?"

He stared at you for a moment, finally realizing where this shift was coming from. You were jealous. Jealous of Amy, of all people, who ripped his heart out and didn't think twice. If only you knew the whole story.

"No," he said firmly, making sure you were looking him in the eye. "Only you. I'm so deeply in love with you that it fuckin' hurts."

He could tell that pleased you by the way your eyes lit up, but you refused to smile and give yourself away. Instead, you hummed and leaned your head to the side, gently grinding yourself onto his cock. His eyes fluttered closed as he focused on not reciprocating for fear of losing the contact if he did so without permission. He groaned quietly when he felt your folds slip over his cock through the cloth, desperate to rip both your underwear off and bury himself inside you.

"You like that, baby?" you moaned as your pace picked up speed.

"Yes," he gasped, his eyes snapping open. "I want you so fuckin' bad, please," he begged. You smiled down at him sweetly but then you slid off his hips towards the end of the bed. He found himself almost reaching out to pull you back up when he realized you were yanking down his boxers, tossing them on the ground before slowly crawling up the bed on all fours towards him, your pointed nipples grazing against his legs. He reached out to grab your shoulders and pull you up to his mouth, but he stopped himself, his hands hovering in the air, waiting for permission. You noticed his restraint, your eyes bouncing back and forth between his hands suspended in the air. You paused when you reached his stomach, giving him a smile before dipping your head down and running your tongue leisurely up the length of his cock, flicking his slit with the tip of your tongue before pulling away.

He brought his hands up to his head and clutched his hair, his breathing labored. His eyes found yours right before you dipped back down to pull the tip of him into your mouth, pulling a deep groan from his chest. You wrapped your thumb and middle finger around his base to keep him still, and keeping your eyes on his face, you slowly brought your lips down further, inch by inch, until he touched the back of your throat. You felt his cock twitch in your mouth, and it made you smirk before slowly pulling back up and released him with a pop.

"Fuck," he gasped, his hands still clutching his hair, "fuck, that feels so good." You could feel your arousal ruining your underwear, the fabric becoming uncomfortable.

"Yeah?" you questioned before pulling the length of him back into your mouth, this time fisting his base in your hand as you bobbed up and down on him. You released him from your mouth but kept jerking him off as you spoke, spreading your saliva down the length of him.

"Did she ever fuck you this good?" you asked as he met your heated gaze. He shook his head wildly back and forth.

"No," his voice was strained, "never. No one's ever made me feel the way you do." You could hear the sentiment behind his words. He was trying to convey more than just a physical feeling, and you felt your chest flush with pride.

You quickly removed your hand and yanked your panties off, hovering over his hips and lining him up with your entrance. Before you pushed down, you brought your eyes up to meet his once more. His chest was heaving, his hands fisted at his sides, and his gaze focused solely on you. You could see in that moment that your jealousy was meaningless. Regardless of what Amy felt, you finally realized you had Joel wrapped around your finger, and nothing else mattered.

"Where do you want to touch me?" you asked him quietly, still not allowing him to enter you.

"Everywhere," he said instantly. You nodded your approval, and his hands flew up to your tits, massaging them gently between pinches of your nipples. You moaned and tipped your head back, your hands resting on the backs of his as you slowly sunk down on him. His hands froze as he focused entirely on the sensation, grunting when you finally bottomed out.

You gasped and brought your head forward to look at him.

"I don't think I'll ever get tired of that feeling," you whispered. You bit your lip as he gently thrusted into you, testing to see if you would chastise him. You gave him a warning look, so he stopped and brought his hands down to grip the meaty part of your hips, his eyes glued to where you were connected. You planted your hands on his soft stomach, then lifting your hips up, started bouncing lightly up and down. He watched your breasts sway back and forth in front of him, hypnotized. Your eyes closed as you enjoyed the feeling of him sliding in and out, alternating between bouncing and rolling your hips. You could feel his fingers gripping you so tightly you were sure he was going to leave bruises, but the thought of him marking you just made you move faster, panting now at the effort.

You opened your eyes, looking down at his pained expression. His brow was furrowed and his jaw clenched tight as he stared up at the ceiling, focusing all his energy on remaining still and not slamming into you. You smirked, enjoying how difficult it was for him. You moved one of your hands off his stomach to cover one of his own, then pulled it forward so his thumb pressed against your clit. His eyes dragged from the ceiling back to your face, and immediately pressed small circles on your swollen bundle of nerves. You gasped and gripped his wrist, bouncing faster and leaning forward to hover over him.

"C'mon, sweetheart," he said through gritted teeth. "Let me have it, I wanna feel you." You groaned and squeezed your eyes shut as you felt the pressure in your stomach build. Joel kept his hips pinned to the mattress as you used him to get yourself off, rolling your hips and grinding down on him as his thumb worked your clit in circles, then side to side until you cried out his name, frozen for a moment as your release washed over you, then collapsed on his chest, burying your face in his neck.

You rode out your orgasm with tiny thrusts on top of him. His thumb slowed until he sensed your overstimulation and pulled it away to rest on your hip. You nipped on his neck, leaving a couple red marks on his collarbone. His muscles and tendons were pulled taught and his skin shined with sweat, waiting for you to give him what he wanted.

"Oh," you whispered, feigning innocence. "Did you want to come, too?"

He growled in response, and you felt his cock twitch inside you. You hummed and pushed yourself back up to look him in the eye.

"I didn't hear you," you said. His eyes were dark, and he stared at you before relenting.

"Yes," he whispered. "Please."

You smiled and pressed your lips against his, then murmured against his mouth, "Go ahead."

Like a dam that broke, his hips snapped up into you with a grunt, his pace relentless as he pounded into your sore cunt, gripping your hips and holding you down as he chased his high. You cried out, his thrusts a little painful, but you knew it wouldn't be much longer as his movements became sloppy and he gasped for air. It wasn't long before he groaned your name and yanked your hips straight up in the air, pulling himself out, then brought you back down to pin his slick cock between you both, spilling his release all over his stomach.

"Bad girl," he gasped, making you laugh.

"I don't remember hearing you complain," you teased and gave him a quick peck on the mouth before you stood up to find a rag from your backpack, cleaning you both up and then sliding next to him on the small bed. Joel drew small circles on your back as he struggled to catch his breath. When you moved to stand, he grabbed your arm and looked at you questioningly.

"I have work soon," you explained, "and now I need to shower again." He shook his head and brought your hand to his face, flipping it over and planting a kiss on the inside of your wrist.

"I want you to smell me on you all day," he said lowly and shot you a wink. You blushed, feeling a familiar stir in your lower abdomen.

"Well, in that case, I guess I have a few more minutes to spare," you said, climbing back into the bed, draping your arm over his chest.

Maryanne was very sweet. She was probably in her early 40s, with curly brown hair and thin lips. She seemed very grateful to have the help as she showed you around the kitchen. Another girl, Chloe, was mixing something for lunch in a large bowl while you learned the ropes from Maryanne. She was just explaining to you that the source of their fresh vegetables was from the college campus where they had a greenhouse when the dark-haired guard entered the room. He sent you both a glance and you felt Maryanne stiffen next to you. He made his way to Chloe, touching her elbow and whispered something in her ear. She hung her head and dropped what she was doing as he led her out the door. You looked to Maryanne for an explanation.

"That's Keith. Some of the guards come in here and need our help with other things," she was choosing her words very carefully and the hairs on the back of your neck stood up.

"What kind of 'help'?" you pressed, but she just shook her head and gave you a forced smile.

"It's not a big deal, dear. We all just take turns helping out around here whenever needed," and with that, she returned to the bowl Chloe had abandoned.

You looked back at the door they had just exited, the pit in your stomach returning. You shook your head, telling yourself Joel was always nearby, that you didn't have anything to worry about.

Chloe returned about an hour later, her eyes cast down, avoiding your gaze. Maryanne asked if you wouldn't mind serving the food at the counter today, a task usually assigned to Chloe. You assured her it was fine, shooting one more glance over your shoulder before heading to the counter.

All your worries disappeared when you looked up and saw Joel on the other side of the counter, a big smile on his face.

"Hey there, sweetheart," he leaned over to press a kiss on your lips. "How's it goin'?"

You briefly considered telling him your concerns, but you were already feeling guilty for complaining so much. He looked so much happier and at ease, so you just smiled and told him everything was fine.

Later that night, you stayed awake until he came back around 11pm from his first shift, looking exhausted. He flopped down on his bed and turned his head towards you.

"I missed you," he said, giving you a smile. You smiled back and walked over to give him a kiss, cradling his jaw in your hand.

"How'd it go?" you asked, turning to sit on your bed a few feet away. He sighed.

"Good. Fine. Just mostly walkin' and patrolin' around. Lots of stairs. You'd think I'd be used to the exercise by now," he replied.

"Who did you work with?" you asked, hoping Amy wasn't involved.

"Keith, that guy who brought us in the other day," and you bristled at his name. You opened your mouth to tell him about Chloe, but snapped it shut when you saw he was beginning to fall asleep. You pulled your blanket over you and turned out the light, once again pushing your worries from your mind for another day. You promised him a week, and you were going to see it through.

It was your third day in the cafeteria with Maryanne and Chloe. Chloe seemed in better spirits today, joking around with you as you chopped vegetables as Maryanne was manning the stove, stirring some venison in a big frying pan. You were beginning to feel at ease again, giving Joel a quick kiss after dinner was served before he had to get back to work. You were bringing dirty pans into the kitchen, then froze when you saw Keith leaning against the wall. Your eyes flicked to Chloe. Her head was down, focusing intently on scrubbing a serving spoon. You pushed yourself forward and put the pans in the sink, about to pick up a sponge when you felt his hand on your shoulder.

"Come with me," was all he said. You tried to hide the tremor in your hands. You glanced back at Chloe, but she was avoiding your gaze. You turned to look at him, gripping the edge of the sink so your hands would be steady.

"What for?" you asked, trying to keep the frown from your face.

"I got some work for you," he said. You exhaled shakily as you followed him out of the kitchen and into a hallway. You noticed the corridor was empty and silent as you whipped your head around to try to locate another person. Your heart was hammering in your chest. Something was wrong.

He opened a door and motioned for you to enter. You hesitated, but then saw the gun slung over his back, and forced yourself to walk through the door. You were confused when the light flicked on and you saw it was a broom closet. You turned around to question him when Keith shut the door firmly behind him and immediately wrapped his arms around you, pushing his open mouth on yours, his tongue demanding entry. You shoved him back as hard as you could, but he only stumbled back half a step.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" you exclaimed, backing up and hitting a wall.

"Didn't the girls tell you?" he said, advancing on you again. "I know Amy must've told you," and he grabbed you again, forcing your hand to rub against the growing erection in his pants. You pushed him back again and tore your hand away, your wrist burning after escaping his grasp.

"There's a misunderstanding, I'm with Joel, I'm not interested," you tried to make a move for the door, but he blocked you.

"There's no misunderstanding. This is what all the women do. We protect you, and you give us what we want." He was growing impatient now as he lunged forward, and you let out a scream. He wrapped a hand around your neck, cutting off your voice and forcing your face to look up at him.

"Shut the fuck up," he growled as he fumbled with your jeans. You struggled for air as tears streamed down your face. No, no, no, no.

"Stop!" you gasped, your vision growing fuzzy. He shoved his hand down the front of your jeans and inserted two fingers inside you, making you writhe and claw at his face with every ounce of energy you had.

"Knock it off and I'll let go," he whispered angrily. "If you play nice, this goes a lot easier." Desperate to get his hand off your throat, you nodded. He released your neck and pulled his fingers from your pants, and you bent over to cough, tears and snot streaming down your face and onto the floor.

"Alright, enough. Get up, hands on the wall," he demanded. You must have moved too slow because he yanked you up by the shoulders and whipped you around, but not before you saw the large hunting knife on his right hip. He was pulling your jeans and underwear down around your ankles, and then slid his hand from behind to push his fingers back inside you. You stifled a cry at the intrusion.

"That's it, see? Isn't that better? Fuck," he grunted, pulling his fingers back out to fumble with his belt. You jerked your hand back and grabbed the knife from his hip, jabbing it into his side twice. He let out a surprised yell and fell to the floor, clutching his ribs. You frantically pulled your jeans back up, and still gripping the knife, ran out the door and up the stairs to your dorm, slamming the door behind you.

Joel knocked on the door, entering when he heard Amy's response from the other side. He walked in and glanced around, noticing he was alone with her for the first time. He kept the door ajar and stood as close to the wall as possible.

"What'dya need?" he asked, keeping his eyes pinned on the wall behind her.

"Why don't you sit down, Joel?" Amy replied, giving him a sweet smile from the round table in the middle of the room. There was a large map spread out over the top with a few pencils next to it. He hesitated before deciding to enter the room further, sitting down in the chair across from her. He didn't want to come off as ungrateful for being taken in, but he didn't want to feed into your jealousy, either. She looked at him warmly from across the table.

"You look good, Joel," she said. He grunted and shifted his eyes down to the map.

"What'dya need'?" he repeated, "Ian told me you needed help up here liftin' somethin'." Amy leaned forward across the table and reached her hand out to him. He just stared at it, his hands remaining in his lap.

"Do you think it's fate?" she asked, "what are the chances we would meet again?"

"No," he replied gruffly, glaring at her, "just real dumb luck."

Amy stood from the table, trailing her fingers around the edge before coming to a halt next to him.

"How are you fitting in here, Joel?" she asked, her fingers inching toward him. "Is the work detail ok?"

"Yep," he nodded, trying to lean away. "I'm more tired than I expected but I guess that comes with age."

"Can I help you with anything? Anything to help you relax?" she murmured, her hand running up his arm now. He shuddered and rolled his shoulder to push her hand away.

"No, I'm fine. I should be gettin' back," he frowned, standing up to put some distance between them, but Amy reached her hand out and grabbed his wrist.

"You know, Dave died the very first day," she said.

"I'm sure you'll understand if I don't feel bad about that," he said, pulling his arm back.

"I know. I'm so sorry for what I did to you, Joel. You deserved better than that," she stepped closer and ducked down to catch his eye, batting her lashes at him. "Will you let me make it up to you?" She reached an arm out and palmed him through his jeans. He jumped backwards and swatted her hand away.

"You know I'm spoken for, what the hell are you thinkin'?" he exclaimed, taking another step back. He scowled at Amy when she didn’t reply, his eyes burning and jaw clenched. "You were right, I deserve better, and I got it."

"Oh, Joel, it's not that big of a deal, relax," she said, rolling her eyes. "That's just how it is here. Us girls understand that, don't worry," she cooed, reaching out to him again but he took a big step backwards.

"What the fuck does that mean?" he glowered, fists clenched at his sides.

"Why don't you ask your girlfriend? She understands what's expected, from what I can tell," she smirked.

"What?" Joel asked, deathly quiet.

"The girls here understand there's a price that comes with safety. She's been giving you what you needed in exchange for protection, right?" Amy looked at Joel, confusion written all over her face, as if it were so obvious. He stared at her, shocked at what she was saying.

"You're tellin' me all these men here are havin' their way with the women, against their will?" His eyes narrowed at her, and she scoffed.

"Oh, come on! They all understand! It's not ideal but it's better than getting ripped apart by those... those things!" she exclaimed, getting heated and waving her arms. "You don't think that girl's been sleeping with you without any ulterior motive?"

"Fuck you, you don't know shit about her," Joel swiveled around and swung the door open. He stormed down the hallway to head back to his post when she called after him.

"I might not know her, but I'm willing to bet some of the guys here do!"

As he pounded down the steps, fuming, he had a sudden realization. If the men here are used to taking advantage of all the women, then it was only a matter of time before they approached you. His chest squeezed as he made his way up the stairs two at a time, running to your room as he glanced at the time. It was just past 7, you might be back by now. He ran down the hall when he saw the light on under the door, slamming it open.

You were hovered over your backpack, frantically shoving all of your clothes and belongings into it, struggling to make them all fit. Your hair was a mess and your clothes disheveled You swung around wildly when you heard the door whip open. You had a huge knife covered in blood in one hand as you stumbled backwards, your face streaked with tears.

"It's me, hey, hey, hey! Calm down, what the fuck happened? Whose blood is this?" He knelt down in front of you and you flinched, tucking your knees into your chest, your grip tight around the handle of the knife. You rocked back and forth and shook your head as fresh tears fell from your eyes. Then he saw the marks on your neck.

"What happened?" he asked quietly, dreading the answer. He was too late, he was too late.

"H-he tried," you sobbed, covering your face with your free hand. "He t-tried- I can't- I n-need to leave," you scrambled up and skirted away from his outstretched hands, going back to furiously packing your bag. You weren't sure what you would do for weapons but at least you had the knife.

"Stop for a minute, will ya?" he said sternly, and again you flinched but you stopped, staring down at the bed and avoiding his gaze.

"Did someone hurt you?" he asked, softer now. You gave a quick nod and kept your eyes pinned to the bed. You could sense his body stiffen beside you, but he remained patient.

"Where did they hurt you?" he finally managed to croak out, bracing himself for the answer. You bit your lip so hard you thought you drew blood as hot tears silently streamed down your face.

You couldn't bring yourself to say the words. Couldn't grapple with what happened. All you knew was you needed to get out, get far away from here before his body was found.

"I think you know where," you whispered, squeezing your eyes shut.

Joel's vision went blurry and he fell to his knees on the floor, clutching his chest. His heart was racing and he felt like he couldn't breathe. His hand shook as he reached out to the mattress to hold himself up, his vision narrowing as he gasped for air.

"Joel?" you said, worry laced in your voice. But he hardly heard you. All he could hear was buzzing and the rapid pumping of his heart. He couldn't believe he let this happen. You told him you didn't want to come here, you told him you had a bad feeling, and he didn't listen. This was all his fault. He left you alone after he promised not to. His one job was to keep you safe, and he failed. How could he not see? How was he so blind? You trusted him, and he led you right into the lion's den.

And he was going to kill them all.

"Joel?!" he heard you say, more panicky now. "Joel, please, get up. Please!" His vision cleared and his heart beat slowed a fraction, his chest eased with the realization of what he had to do to fix it.

"Who?" he growled, and you froze, his tone scaring you.

"It doesn't matter. I took care of it. We need to go now, before they find out. Joel!" You called his name as he stood up and headed to the door.

"I'm going to kill every last one of them," he said, his hand on the doorknob.

"Joel, please," you whimpered, a sob rattling in your chest. "Don't leave me. Please, Joel." He sighed and dropped his head, his hand falling from the door. Here he was about to make another stupid mistake. You fucking idiot. Of course she can't be left alone.

He turned back around to you. You were standing next to the bed, your arms wrapped limply around yourself, your eyes bloodshot, lips and nose beet red from crying.

"Did you kill him?" He needed to know. He needed to be sure the man you did this was dead, or he would never be able to move on.

"I'm pretty sure, I didn't stick around, but I stabbed him twice in the ribs, there was a lot of blood, I guess..." you trailed off, unsure now if he was dead or not.

"Alright, let's get our shit and we are walkin' out of here together. I know where our weapons are, we can grab 'em on the way, hurry up." He went to the bathroom and grabbed what little items you both had, stuffing them into his bag along with a few shirts he had folded in a dresser. They didn't bother to confiscate your food, so you were lucky in that regard. He tugged his jacket on and tossed yours on your bed. Once you were both ready to go, he led you out into the hall without a second glance back.

On the main floor he headed towards a small office in the corner, the makeshift armory where all the weapons were locked up for patrol. He tugged your hand in that direction, only pausing when you passed by the broom closet. You winced and turned away at the blood that was seeping out from under the door. He could feel his chest tighten again, but he took two deep breaths, and he felt the tension easing.

"Stay here," he murmured to you. You clutched at him wildly, scared to be left alone. He firmly placed his hands on your upper arms, and crouched down to your level so he could look you in the eye.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, sweetheart. I'm right here. I'm not gonna let anythin' bad happen to you," he inwardly cringed, thinking he already let so many bad things happen to you, but you just nodded, swiping away the tears that fell down your cheeks.

"Give me the knife," he said, and you handed it over, rubbing the heels of your hands deep into your eyes.

Joel swung the door open and saw Keith slumped against the wall, bleeding out. His face was the color of ash, and his eyes were barely open. Joel squatted down in front of him and tapped under his chin.

"Look at me," he said darkly. Keith's eyes fluttered before focusing. When he realized it was Joel, he smirked, and Joel felt his blood run hot.

"Hey, man, I don't blame you," Keith coughed, blood dripping from his mouth. "I don't blame you for keeping her to yourself." Joel ground his teeth and his nostrils flared. "I just... I just wish I got more than a couple fingers in her." Keith gasped out the last words, his eyes rolling to the back of his head.

Joel reached forward and picked up Keith's right hand, stained with blood.

"These fingers?" he asked, cocking his head to the side. Before he had a chance to respond, Joel flattened Keith's hand on the ground and cut off his pointer and middle finger, quickly covering his mouth when he howled and writhed in pain. Blood spurted everywhere as Keith desperately tried to clutch at his new wounds, but it was no use. Joel could tell the man was losing too much blood. Even if anyone found him, they wouldn't be able to save him. He stood up and watched as Keith's eyes lost what little light was left, then his ragged breathing stopped, his eyes still open.

Joel turned and looked up and down the hallway before focusing his gaze back on you. You clearly had heard the exchange, the room was not very big, but you didn't say anything. The urge to pull you into his arms and soak up all your pain was overwhelming, but he knew he needed to get to the armory and get you back to safety. Night had fallen outside, it was dark enough where you would be able to sneak away unnoticed.

After collecting all your weapons, plus some extra ammo, the two of you crouched by the exit. Joel tilted his watch so it shone in the moonlight, noting the time and trying to remember the patrol schedule.

"Alright, we should be fine. They are patrollin' the east side of the building. You ready?"

You nodded vehemently, and he cracked the door to take a peek, just in case he was wrong. He stepped out and swiveled around for a moment, knowing his presence outside the building wouldn't be abnormal at this time. He nodded to you, and you squeezed through the door before following him into the night, towards the cover of the forest.

Chapter Seventeen

Tag list: @chiogarza, @sparklejumpropequeen-777, @shotgun-shelby

#joel miller fanfiction #joel miller #joel miller smut #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller fic #joel the last of us #tlou hbo #the last of us hbo #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x female reader #joel miller series #joel x reader #joel x reader smut #joel miller angst #joel miller fluff #the last of us fanfiction #the last of us game #the way we were joel miller fic

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notcsk · 5 months

Text

i have to ramble about this bc i've seen no one bring it up (Boonboomger)

I think it's so fucking sick to see Mira and Jou's very different reactions to Taiya's lies and reckless behavior in the newest episode. Jou's just a big puppy, we know from the toilet episode that he sincerely wants to save people and protect the innocent, so he's really upset because he joined the Boonboomgers expecting to be a superhero. Mira's not heartless at all, quite the opposite, but I genuinely don't think that's what mattered to her at all in this case.

Because of episode 1.

"Let me guess. You don't like someone else taking the wheel for you."

I'm still on my OT3 + accelbrake bullshit, dw, but I knew from that moment that Taiya and Mira's relationship would be the most special to me. I'd bet anything that this quote is going to repeatedly come back and be relevant for the two of them in particular, because it clearly deeply resonated with Mira, who had previously just kinda gone with the flow, as shown with her ex-boyfriend and her various part-time jobs, but also with Taiya, because the scene makes it clear that quote is coming from somewhere significant to him as well (and hopefully episode 9 will shed more light on this through revealing some of Taiya's backstory, fingers crossed).

Not only is that romantic as hell to my sappy ass brain (especially since not even Chasshiro and Genba questioned Taiya's ruse or motives in episode 8, only Mira did. You even see Chasshiro falter and hesitate once Mira calls them out in the cage.), but also it makes Mira being the one to yell at Taiya so much more significant. Mira is canonically the biggest driving prodigy among the Boonboomgers. It's not about the team not being started for the sake of defending the earth, they're doing the right thing anyway. It's the fact that Mira finally found a purpose to dedicate herself to, one she's truly one-of-a-kind good at, but it was all for the sake of an unspoken agenda. Someone else took the wheel. If Taiya had told her the truth from the start, I know she would have taken to the Big Bang Grand-Prix like a fish to water, and doing hero work on the side would just have been a happy bonus! But he didn't. He made the decision for her without involving her in the process.

And look i just think that's a really fucking juicy dynamic unique to the two of them, and I can't wait to find out what made Taiya, the person who told Mira that quote in the first place, willing to go behind her back after that. We're going to be digging into this further, I'm so sure of it, with how Mira was singled out in episode 8, and I cannot wait for the angst but also how good their particular dynamic is going to be once she makes Taiya see that the team is willing to stand by his dream if he's willing to stand by them.

#bakuage sentai boonboomger #boonboomger #mira shifuto #taiya hando #bun red #bun pink #and look if they hold hands and kiss a little about it #and maybe get Chasshiro to loosen up and join them then i'm not gonna complain lol #thank you once again to the toilet monster for showing the hot blooded self behind his tsun tendencies #look. i'm just saying the quote from Taiya to Mira was about not wanting someone taking the wheel for her and he is LITERALLY named Handle #connect the dots fdghjd #the narrative stuff is the sweetest aspect to me regardless #but i can be a little delusional on top as a treat

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thecarnivorousmuffinmeta · 1 year

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You've done what ifs where Aro or Carlisle swapped places with Dumbledore, but what if the protagonists swapped roles instead? Harry Swan and Bella Potter? How would that go?

Anon's referring to this post as well as this post.

Caveat That Bears Repeating

I've said this a number of times in these kinds of posts already, but the thing is that backstories matter. Harry and Bella don't just pop into existence, informed by nothing, they all have histories that lead them to where they end up in canon.

Bella has her parent's messy divorce, her alienation from her father, her irresponsible mother, as well as the socialization of being an American girl in the early 2000's.

Harry is an orphan physically and mentally abused by his surviving relatives, at the age of eleven he suddenly discovers that in a secret society he's bigger than the Beatles, he's a young British boy in the early 1990's who then is thrust into the wizarding world culture.

My point is that as much as I can theorize what Bella or Harry would be like in the AU where Bella's now a British girl living in a cupboard beneath the stairs and Harry's now living with Renee, it's just me handwaving and guessing.

I really don't know with these things.

With that said, we can try.

Bella Potter

We'll say the Dursleys pull the exact same shit with Bella as they would Harry. I imagine Bella's almost New Moon levels of depressed at eleven.

She thinks she's ugly and is purposefully made so by her relatives (given bad haircuts, clothes that don't fit, probably Dudley's castoffs making her look more tom-boyish and less 'cute' than what might be acceptable), she's told her parents were drunks and losers, and her family despises her and thinks she's stupid and a waste of space.

I imagine Bella often contemplates whether it'd be better if she'd never been born in the first place. Where Harry reacted with anger, I imagine from what we see of canon, Bella crumples in on herself.

Then she discovers she's a witch, that weird scar on her forehead that she always tries to cover a sign of her defeating You-Know-Who, and that her parents were wonderful people.

Bella waits for the other shoe to drop, for people to realize she's a phony, that she's not cool, special, pretty, or anything any of these people seem to believe she is based on nothing. Worse, Bella would want to come clean, but she doesn't want to lose any of this.

Hagrid is treating her nicely, on the train that boy Ron genuinely seems to like her and think she's cool and interesting, she has friends and people think she can do things.

Bella's terrified of being found out as a fraud which makes her more nervous than Neville in trying to use magic (especially in Potions where Snape mercilessly bullies her and thus makes her even worse than she otherwise would have been).

However, this gets in the way of typical Harry adventures, as Bella to the best of her ability keeps her nose down and out of trouble (as then everyone would hate her again). As a result, she doesn't save Hermione from the troll, Ron eventually gets bored of her and thinks of her as another girl, she doesn't go after the Philosopher's Stone or later involve herself with the Chamber of Secrets debacle.

Voldemort gets the stone offscreen (likely eventually able to get through the enchantment on the mirror) and is able to resurrect himself at which point Bella is terrified as everyone's now expecting her to do something about it.

"I am twelve?" Bella asks, then cries because she's not a magical princess like everyone wants her to be.

Harry Swan

Where Bella is depressed, Harry is angry.

Harry's not happy about moving to Forks but it was made clear he didn't have much choice. He's very bitter with Renee about this and bitter at Charlie in general for being an absentee father. He's ready to take on the whole school, gossiping all about him he's sure, and spit in their faces.

Unlike Hogwarts, as he doesn't want to be here and doesn't have good preconceptions, it's the equivalent of him being told he's going to Malfoy Boarding School in Malfoy County, to a place where he's sure to hate the people and they're sure to be looking for any weakness. (Remember, Bella did not at all have a good perception of Forks or its people).

He, in fact, immediately does so just to make sure they know where he stands. Yeah, he knows his mom ran off, what about it? I imagine he gets in a fist fight with Mike Newton on his first day, Harry is labeled a delinquent.

He catches a look at the Cullens and thinks they're rich freaks and weirdos who moved to this nowhere town. Charlie is at his wits end with Harry and utterly unsure how to deal with him as most the kids in town don't make this kind of trouble.

Unfortunately for Harry, he catches Edward's interest, unfortunately for Harry, with his outspoken anger and bitterness he's not Edward's type.

There's only two doors for someone with the smell, Edward takes the door labeled "eat me, I'm delicious".

#twilight #twilight meta #twilight headcanon #twilight renaissance #bella swan #harry potter #anti harry potter #harry potter meta #harry potter headcanon #meta #headcanon #opinion

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freakystrashdump · 2 years

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Do you have any snippets of info or behind curtains lore that you're willing to share? Any Belos and/or Selena crumbs? 🥺🙏

HmmmMMM so it's very iffy on how much I can say and how much I want to remain a surprise for others, but I will try my best to blabber on here for ya :v

So it's no mystery that Belos and Selena are basically the somewhat more functional (and very much less violent) version of my own Priest and Salem, who have been a massive hyper-fixation since late 2019/early 2020. I talked before about how I instantly imprinted on Belos because he is so much of what I envisioned when I created Priest, they have a lot of characteristics they share and a lot of backstory elements that are super similar.

I have spoiled some stuff inadvertently on this blog, because at the time I was developing everything, I wasn't sure I was going to be writing a fic yet, so some things are less of a surprise than others

Now, as for more in detail, fun lore stuff for this, lets go under a read-more, because maybe some peeps don't want me spoiling stuff hehe.

Something that a lot of people have caught on, and I am very happy they did, was that Elsewhere and Elsewhen is gonna be real big for Selena and Belos. I did one fun comic on the topic, and I put the "time shenanigans" tag on the fic, but where people started catching on was around chapter four, after introducing grandma Isabella, and where two things were mentioned: That Belos had a very short infatuation with Isabella upon meeting her, and that, as Isabella puts it, "Selena looks more and more like her every day"

And it's one of the main plot points in the story which I planed very early, it's the reason for Belos' obsession in the first place, and I can't wait to write it all out. I have some bits and pieces already written out. I also plan to do a side-fic of his POV as well, around the time this part of the story finally comes around. And let me tell you, Philip is one fun, deluded guy to write for! A little spoilery snippet for ya:

Some other stuff I am so excited about:

The Oracle aspect of Selena coming more in to play. It has been mostly pushed to the side except for little snippets here and there, however oracle magic is gonna be much more significant. Especially the spirit sensitivity that comes with it, and even the way I plan to change the canon near the end of season 2.

I actually started planing out a very different way the story would progress when season 2 just ended, which I already scraped because it just wouldn't fit anymore. It was supposed to be a very heartwrenching betrayal, especially on Belos' part, because in this version, in an attempt to purge Selena of the "inherent evil of magic", he forced a specialized sigil on her that locked away all her magic. Then the finale happened, Selena was dragged to the human realm (she was there along with him because he had every intention of taking her with him now that she was "cured"), and she was forced to adapt to a life without magic, and without Belos.

I can share snippets of this, since this storyline is now completely scrapped (also Philip regained his human form here, we didn't know yet that he was stuck in goop form haha)

The only saving grace I did give him in this version is that he was afraid the sigil would fail and hurt her, and his failsafe was the guhya skin. So his redemption did come in the form of him letting her know this later on and removing it, letting her magic come back.

Ah...I don't know what much more I could share. If some specific little things interest you, I could focus on that if I can, but like my mind is too scattered haha.

I'll leave you with this little doodle I did a looong while back ;)

#the oracle bakery #magical ask of freaky #spoilers #aGH every time I edit this the [readmore] moves a paragraph lower fuck you tumblr

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zannolin · 1 year

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@define-lying replied to your post “writing my fics and planning the notes in advance...”:

Wait I’ve always been confused about this because of the scene in the first movie where the boys hide in Darla’s room and she learns the secret. Was there another bed in the room that I missed? Where was Mary during that scene? Genuinely would love your insight

yes SO. i have two pieces of evidence for this and if you really wanted it to, it could go either way but i will discuss that shortly. so exhibit A, we have this passage in the shazam junior novel (chapter 8) which originally planted the thought in my mind:

They could hear Rosa coming up the stairs. There was no time- no way they'd make it to Freddy's room. Billy opened the first door they came to, yanking Freddy in behind him and slamming it shut. He turned around, heart hammering, and there, in the darkened room, was Darla. She was sitting up in bed, staring at them, her eyes wide with fear. In the other bed, Mary slept soundly, earplugs in and eye mask on. "Billy? Freddy?" Rosa called from the hallway. They heard her footsteps pass Darla and Mary's door and head farther back toward Freddy's room.

(they do explain why she doesn't wake up during this scene and yes it's because of the mask and earplugs and personally i thought it was hilarious)

so there's that, of course, and we'll come back to the canonicity of this momentarily. there's also exhibit B: the deleted scene of darla and billy having a tea party, wherein you can see a second bed (and two desks) in darla's room:

this bed is not visible at all during the main scene in darla's room so i actually thought the room was much smaller than it actually is. it's hard for me to make out some of the details because youtube quality but i'm not really seeing anything that's explicitly mary's, but the entire room DOES look lived in so take that as you will.

NOW. this can go either way for a couple reasons. first, the junior novel is arguably not canon. some events are changed towards the end, and it follows the earlier/alternate version of sivana's backstory from the deleted scenes. the wizard also like straight up dies, but then again it really seemed like he did in the original before fotg so i'll cut that some slack. however, this is dc we're talking about. doesn't everyone just cherrypick canon from the comics anyway? jk but really i do what i want. secondly, there's also the argument of the canonicity of deleted scenes, but i feel like that's kind of neither here nor there for this one since it seems to have just been cut for runtime or something, not because it alters the story in any way. thirdly you could just make the argument that there happens to be another bed in darla's room for purposes of, idk, taking more kids in at some future point, because there's actually two sets of bunk beds in billy and freddy's room.

i will elaborate on this because i've been wanting to talk about it for ages but could never find an excuse. you can see in the first scene in the room that one set is to the right of the door upon entering, are parallel to each other, and pretty low to the ground:

while the billy sneaks out scene shows the ones they sleep on has the bottom one perpendicular to the top. you can see in the scene where the kids come in after victor tells him off that billy is sitting on this bottom bunk, and the beds are placed across from the door, in the corner of the room we don't really see much in any other scenes, which is why it's not something i caught on my first or second watch:

sidenote this room is shaped so weirdly my brain cannot comprehend it. also did anyone else notice his fully packed backpack sitting there on the bed? he was totally gonna run after this :) anyway if you pay attention you can see they're a lot taller than the other set; they actually stand next to them when freddy is showing billy his batarang. more unnecessary shots to prove my point (note how you can see the unused set in the background):

point being if you wanted to give mary her own room you could just make the argument that the novel isn't official canon and the bed is just there for in case they get another kid. but i think the original intent is that mary and darla share a room, just going off the junior novel, which also gives a valid and entertaining explanation for where mary was during the scene that took place in darla's room (or alternatively, you can go with the option presented in the billy sneaks out scene that she's just up late when everyone else is asleep or something). it can go either way but my instinct is yeah they share a room (there's only so many rooms in this house, after all, and there's eight of them) it's just never explicitly stated in the movie.

thank you for coming to my highly unnecessary TED talk.

#define-lying #shazam #my sister is the mvp of this post for letting me use her library acc to repeatedly check out the shazam junior novel to copy/paste text #bc i dont want to get out of bed to get my own copy to transcribe it

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theheartbreaker04 · 2 years

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Hello traveler. If you are seeing this, that means you are in the astral plane between universes. We have many destination you can explore. Why don't you take a look around. You might find something you like.

At the moment we only have FNAF and BATIM / BATDR Universes but a Pokémon universe is under development and will be open to the public sometime soon.

For now we come to our first stop.

FNAF AU

As of now I only have three AUs in this particular fandom, but these hold a very important spot in my heart, because these were my first ever alternate universes. So with that here they are in a Nutshell.

1.) Main AU - This AU was the first I ever made, and is the one I most commonly work on. It's not a big difference storywise, but I try my best to fill in any holes in the canon plot. Of course there are a few differences like Michael's backstory is a bit different, William's past and motive, stuff like that.

2.) Novel AU - Like the title says, this AU takes place in the novels in a world where William builds toys and animatronics. It's not much different, but big enough to be called an AU.

3.) Movie AU - This is my most recent FNAF AU and is barely past the conception stage. The basic premise is: A few decades in the future a film company starts filming a movie about the old legends of the Fazbear killer. Unfortunately the actor that is playing William digs too deep into legend and awakens it. Slowly he is driven insane by shadow Bonnie enough that he begins to recreate the murders. This is as far as I've gotten and haven't planned anything out.

Now that's all of my FNAF AU's. I actually have a spreadsheet of AU lore for my main au, I might share that at one point. But now, let's get into my current hyperfixation.

BATIM / BATDR AU

Yes, much like everyone I've gotten back into the Bendy fandom with the Dark Revival. For this I currently have three separate AU's, one with art! So let's get to it!

1.) Main AU - Once again, this one doesn't have much changed , at least in the first cycle. In this AU Audrey is actually the creator of the cycle but is unaware of it. As she travels through, she is given her powers by the ink demon himself, and it slowly begins to consume her. With every banish she becomes more heartless, and creatures become fearful of her. After fighting Shipahoy Wilson Audrey is able to regenerate herself, and fuses with the demon. But, instead of taking the demon's body, her true form comes to light. The true ruler of the cycle. Demon Audrey. With her true form unleashed, she is heartless, and banishes Joey out of pure rage. She is almost unstoppable, but love finds a way. When Demon Audrey attempts to banish Henry, baby bendy runs in, and turns into a more pure version of the Ink Demon. This fight forces Audrey to turn into her beast form, but she stood no match for the new demon. With Audrey now gone, the cycle begins to crumble, finally ending the cycle of pain.

2.) Unamed AU - This AU is similar to my main AU, but warrants its own category. The basic summary is Henry does his usual first cycle, and defeats the demon. But with the ink demon dead, somebody must take his place. After a few weeks, Linda (Henry's wife) gets fed up on waiting for the police, and enters the studio herself to try to find her husband. After encountering a few creatures, she finds herself in the throne room where Henry's satchel was left. Quickly the ink demon approaches her, but he looked familiar. It was Henry. He had taken the demon's place.

(this art piece was a Collab between me and a friend. Linda was their part)

3.) Children of the Ink - This is a AU me and a friend came up with for an RP, so it's a little all over the place. Basically it is a cycle that has grown enough to allow offspring. There are several children running around the cycle, so here's a list!

Lucifer - Offspring of the Ink Demon, created through the ink machine.

Sebastian - Son of Sammy, created after he prayed to have a child of his own to teach the ways of the Lord. In return, Sammy gave up his very own banjo.

Jack Jr - Offspring of The Projectionist (Norman Polk) and Dot. This one is still being worked on how he was created, but he's here, and obviously named after Jack Fain.

Daisy & Zac - These twins (male and female respectfully) are offspring of Twisted Alice (Susie Campbell). Their father is unknown (which I'm thinking either Joey or Sammy) but unfortunately, Daisy is the only survivor of the two. Not long after birth, Zac was eaten by the ink Demon.

Audrey - In this AU, Audrey is not fully intended to be Joey's daughter, but still refers to him as dad. She was created to help subdue the demon, and stop the chaos. She is the ink demons opposite, and equal as she was created with color instead of pure black ink.

With that, the main story is being worked on but I have somewhat a plot in mind that doesn't make much sense. Basically Audrey is considered the mother of ink, and cares for the children after a war between the angel and the demon kills most of their parents. There is also a second part that Wilson captures Audrey and Lucifer in order to experiment with Audrey's colored ink, and create a new ink demon with Lucifer. His plan works and he forces Lucifer to kill his own father. Somehow the rest of the children band together to save him or something, I don't know.

Anyway, here's the art for them

Anyway, that's all I have! I hope you enjoyed reading about my AU's. Soon I'll post more about each of them individually. If you want to, go ahead and ask questions and I'll be happy to reply!

Now go and have a good day!

#bendy and the dark revival #bendy and the ink machine #art #five nights at freddy's #fnaf #pokemon #fnaf au #batim au #batim ink demon #batdr #concepts

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intoxicatingintimacyy · 1 year

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Hi all! I’m on the hunt for some new partners (not replacing anyone of course) that are interested in angsty, romantic and, of course, dramatic plots. In said plots I’d prefer to play the F in M/F pairings, it’s just what I’m most comfortable with : ). Aside from that though, I am 24 which means all of my partners NEED to be 18+, there is no wiggle room on this. Please don't lie and say you're of age if you're not, it's dangerous. Also, another lil request if possible: I just moved to the central time zone and would love some partners over here or who are at least awake during these hours, not a requirement tho!

We can discuss rules, limits and triggers privately if we decide to move forward, however there is one rule I’ll let you know of now since it puts some people off. I don’t double. I will gladly play multiple side characters, however I will not do one pairing in exchange for another (you playing my love interest and us doing a separate plot where I play yours). I find it hard to focus and they never end up fair in my experience. I hope that makes sense lol.

Right now I’m specifically on the hunt for three fandoms/pairings: Criminal Minds, Stranger Things & Teen Wolf.

In CM I’d be looking for someone to play Spencer Reid opposite of my character, Olivia Chandler. Olivia is a Gale Weathers type if you know Scream at all, but FAR less of a bitch. I think there’s a lot of longevity for this pair as Olivia is afraid of commitment whereas I see Spencer just hesitant when it comes to romance at all, especially if we set this after Maeve. There’s a lot to her backstory that I think could make for an interesting twist a little further along, but we could do different cases and such and it would be fun! As all of my characters do, Olivia has her own backstory written up and available upon request.

While I haven’t watched S4 of ST yet (atp I’m just waiting for S5 to rewatch all of it lol), I know most of what happens, but this plot would take place more of s2-s3 and maybe in an AU space s4. I’d be playing an original character, Nancy and Mike’s troubled cousin from New York, and would want to pair her alongside Billy Hargrove. I think they’re ‘fuck this small town’ attitudes would work well along with other things.

As for Teen Wolf, I’d love for someone to play Derek Hale against my canon-divergent version of Paige Krasikeva. For those who don’t remember, Paige was teenage Derek’s girlfriend who was scratched by an alpha and Derek had to kill himself. In my version, Derek thinks he killed her but Peter brought her back to life and sent her off with her parents who moved. Now she’s back in season 3A as an adult music teacher at the high school with no memories of Derek or werewolves.

If any of this sounds interesting, let me know or add me on discord toxicdeliquency#7795 I’m also willing to roleplay on tumble if someone is willing to teach me 👀. I have a multimuse blog but don’t really understand how people do threads haha just let me know and I’ll give it a try!

#fandom rp #roleplay #teen wolf rp #literate roleplay #stranger things rp #derek hale #billy hargrove rp #tw rp #st rp #literate rp #discord roleplay #fandom roleplay #teen wolf roleplay #stranger things roleplay

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morethanthedarkness · 8 months

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THRAEYA & LOLTH-SWORN // @morethandarkness

I haven't said much about Thraeya's backstory, as I've been fighting with my old laptop and just didn't have the energy for much usually by the time it booted and then I had to wait another hour for the page to load once I clicked 'new post'.

But! New laptop and here we go!

I don't 100% know if all of this 100% fits DnD lore or not—as I am still learning and researching—but Thraeya isn't Lolth-Sworn and never was, though she did spend some of her earliest years in Menzoberranzan.

She and her family were part of a group of wanderers/nomads who just roamed through the Underdark. [ I have kind of turned over the idea that if they had a little business they ran where they would gather things down in the Underdark, like the couple you help with the Noblestalk. No storefront. More likely just out of a wagon they would bring into town and sell from when they needed to reup on other supplies. ]

Regardless, their group came under attack by a group of Lolth-sworn. Some were slaughtered. Some were taken. Thraeya and her older brother Szaryn [ who is actually her middle brother but she was so young at the time she didn't remember and Szaryn wasn't going to remind her of someone else lost ] were among those taken and put to work at a noble house, mostly doing chore type work.

Within my own self-contained verse, it was the same house where Halsin was a "guest", and she was, in fact, there at the same time. Though she didn't fully understand because she was so young, she knew something wasn't right and she would sneak him food and water when everyone was busy. She treated him with kindness. Asked him questions about who he was, where he was from. She was a very curious little one and Halsin seemed friend-shaped.

Szaryn realized Thraeya was sneaking to talk to the other and, worried for his sister, he approached Halsin, too, talking to him to decide whether or not he trusted him... and then asking that if he managed to get out at some point, would he take Thraeya with him.

[ "We both know it is only a matter of time. She is too kind for too cruel a place, and one way or another, it will kill her." ]

Now, when the attack happens wherein Halsin escapes, what follows is verse and other writer dependent.

He either gets both children out, manages to get just Thraeya, or he can't find them in the chaos and has to flee [ in the latter scenario, Szaryn grabs Thraeya and runs, though they are caught not long afterwards and separated ].

If Halsin managed to save one or both children--again, within self-contained lore--he practically raised them. If he had to escape without them, he may or may not remember them to start, but once he does, I can't imagine that there wouldn't at least be a little bit of guilt over what happened.

I say all of that to say this.

In the 'blog-run' of the story where all things are possible:

When they encounter the petrified drow, she plays tank the whole fight from the moment she realizes the Spectator will keep releasing the drow if the fight continues. She makes sure everyone is onboard and knows the plan, draws the attention, takes the damage, and doesn't give word to kill the thing until the very last of the drow are free of stone. This included one loss, Dhourn, who was snapped out of it after taking a hit from one of them , attacked the Spectator, and then was subsequently killed. That was how Thraeya realized they just had to take the hits and not hit back until everyone was freed... and then attack only the Spectator. Though not possible in game, she will--or more likely get her brother to do so--invite the un-petrified drow to join the camp. As per blog canon, at least two of them do so: Moy and Tecothy. The latter is more than a bit hesitant and wary but agrees at the encouragement of the former who sees it as "Anything is an improvement from returning home, isn't it?"

She will not kill Minthara. First of all, this decision is made because Halsin quite plainly states how the True Souls are basically made puppets to the Absolute, carrying out its will, and she struggles to find a definitive line where a True Soul can be held wholly responsible for their actions while still under the influence of the Absolute. She will not kill someone who she cannot even be certain is guilty in their hearts of the actions taken. Second, she is willing to help Minthara and give her a place in the party later. This is because she understands what Lolth-sworn society is--has seen it and suffered it for herself--and, in her mind, it is equally difficulty to condemn someone when they have never known anything different. She can also see, whether Minthara will openly admit it or not, that the woman has been through something traumatic. To abandon her would be cruel.

She will not kill Nere. She accepts the task from Sovereign Spaw, having seen through their eyes someone who was slaughtering their people without remorse and being worried for the safety of the myconid colony. But when she gets there, she sees someone afraid and a little disoriented after his ordeal. She grieves the loss of the gnome--though in EA, apparently, he didn't kill anyone so I may stick with that?--but, again, she struggles to find a definitive line where a True Soul should be held responsible for their actions while still under the influence of the Absolute. She talks to him. She convinces him to free the gnomes. And the longer they all remain there and she talks to him, the more his demeanor begins to shift. He becomes uncertain, almost addled. He goes from talking about himself in the third person... to talking in the first. He seems... confused. And, while it doesn't completely exonerate him, it does affirm for her that he deserves a chance. Even if it were to break her Oath, she would spare him, because she felt it was right. And, again, though not possible in game, in blog canon, she offers him a place in the camp, safe from the Lolth-sworn that he betrayed--however unknowingly--and safe from the influence or command of the Absolute. As with Tecothy, he is wary of her, but he doesn't see that he has much choice under the circumstances...

Now, if/when Halsin goes off about sparing and bringing in Nere, and later about doing the same with Minthara once he realizes, regardless of which path they walked to this point, Thraeya will look him dead in the eye and telling him that everyone deserves a chance. They both know what the Lolth-sworn society is like. They have both suffered from it. In different ways, yes, but still suffered even so. How then can they condemn someone who has never known anything else? And with a tadpole on top of that? He said himself that True Souls become little more than puppets for the Absolute! The only thing that protects their little band is this artifact. They HAVE to give them a chance. She will not condemn someone when there is no possibility in the moment to discern what level of accountability they hold for their actions. Which, at least with my Halsin, I feel would likely sway him, even if he still wasn't happy about it. [ Particularly if she also brings up the matter of "If we will not condemn someone even for their worst decision when the consequences were so dire, how can we condemn another for a decision we cannot even know was theirs." which takes a direct jab at Kagha and with him not dealing more harshly with what she did and intended to do. ]

#|| ' on my oath ' || { about // thraeya }#// I know I haven't done much with her yet because I was mostly choosing to load Raphael or Varian's blogs #// But I absolutely adore Thraeya so much #// She was my first completely original D&D character.#// My previous campaigns were all adaptations of muses I already had or adapted from other fandoms.#// Thraeya was my first D&D OC and I love her dearly.#// That is all. xD #long post

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the-letter-horror-lover · 2 years

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A change in Boruto Uzumaki by Budgie4life

Anime » Naruto Rated: M, English, Hurt/Comfort & Drama, Boruto U., Words: 5k+, Favs: 45, Follows: 37, Published: Oct 2, 2019 Updated: Oct 15, 2019

14Chapter 1: Beginings

I do not own Naruto/Boruto if I did I would have made the fillers based more of minatos and itachis backstorys but sadly that isn't the case.

The first chapter is short and I apologise for that I wrote this as a story beginner and I have a few ideas for continuing it. I just wanted to see how people would react to it as it is my first fan fiction idea therefore constructive criticism is wanted and any extra ideas that would be good to add to help me improve and make future chapters longer. I will expand more on the jougan in future chapters as I really like the idea of his new doujutsu and I think it looks incredibly cool and powerful.

English is my first language but I'm incredibly bad at spelling and writing long fight scenes so don't expect too much to start with lol.

I also have the next chapter ready in my head so I will write the plan down for that after I've posted this.

Thanks for reading a long and boring intro. Please review.

THIS FANFICTION CONTAIN SPOILERS IN THIS CHAPTER AND ANY FUTURE CHAPTERS FROM THE CANON MANGA AND ANIME

some facts and wording may be wrong as I havnt Watched it read the chunin exams in quite a while.

—-

Naruto looked on into the arena, something was wrong. How could his son use water style, lightning style, and wind style? He knew his son was more intelligent then he was when he was his ages but three chakra natures were pushing it. His sons strange doujutsu was also something to be concerned about.

He decided to get up and make his way towards his wife, Hinata to check if his instincts were wrong. He sure hoped they were. He would have to disgrace his own son in front of the five great ninja kage.

"Hinata could you use your byakugan to check his right wrist"

Hinata looked concerned but did as she was asked.

"That's... that's a scientific ninja tool"

Naruto sighed, he had thought as much.

"His right eye also has a lot of chakra pulsating too but wait I ..."

Naruto cut her off as he jumped into the arena to stop the match. As he jumped down he could hear the other kage whispering.

"I wonder why Narutos jumping into the arena"

"Probably couldn't wait to congratulate his son on wining the chunin exams"

As he neared his son's smiling face after his false victory all he could think about was the betrayal that Boruto had played against the rules that he had set for the exams. After doing so well it was too good to be true. Boruto held out his right hand in a fist bump, smiling like a goofball up at his father. He reached out his left hand and suddenly grabbed his right wrist revealing to the hole stadium his secret. Borutos face suddenly dropped.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Naruto didn't give him a chance to reply, he turned to face the audience.

"Boruto Uzumaki is hereby disqualified from the chunin exams for the illegal use of a scientific ninja tool"

The shock and disbelief in Borutos face only grew by the second.

"The scientific ninja tool is an illegal item for its ability to produce jutsu without the use of chakra. He is also being disqualified from being a ninja again. "

Naruto turned back to face Boruto and he reached out to take his forehead protector .

" we will talk about this later" he whispered

"We'll talk about this later? WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS LATER? IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY, ITS ALWAYS LATER! If you had paid attention to me this would never have happened in the first place..."

The hole stadium turns to silence so they could hear the conversation between father and son. A pin drop would have been heard from a mile away if it wasn't for borutos venting.

"I want to talk about your new eye doujutsu to it se..."

Suddenly Naruto stopped talking and started stuttering and stumbling over his words. He quickly started shaking too and his eyes turned glassy. As if out of nowhere he collapsed onto the stadium floor twitching like a mad man. Gasps could be heard from all around and before anyone could realize what was wrong, two strangers emerged from the audience and appeared in the center of the stadium.

"DAD!" Boruto yelled as he rushed over to his fathers' side in a panicked state.

"What the hell hap.."

Boruto was cut off by the voice of one of the two menacing pale creatures stood behind him.

"Boruto Uzumaki You Are Coming With Us"

Terrified by the mere presence of the two individuals Boruto got up and started running from the two Byakugan wielding aliens. How they had his mother doujutsu didn't concern him at the moment as he fired jutsu left and right from his scientific ninja tool towards the two only for the smaller of the two creatures to absorbe the Jutsu straight into a red-colored eye which looks terrifyingly similar to the famed rinnegan of Sasuke Uchiha

Within seconds of the shit hitting the fan, Boruto was brutally kicked into the side of the stadium wall causing the structure to start to crack.

At this time Borutos rival competitors had fled the stadium and the fellow kage were directing orders to the civilian evacuation and preparing for battle. The white-eyed freaks walked casually over to Boruto, who was still stuck in the wall of the stadium, to go pick him up. As the stadium began to crack and crumble screams could be heard from all around.

As the aliens reached Boruto and began to stick the arms out to grab him suddenly a bright flash of purple in the form of a skeleton's arm reached Boruto before the two aliens could.

Sasuke raced as fast as he could toward the stadium. The two ōtsutsuki clan members he had fought previously were after the nine-tailed fox called Kurama sealed inside Naruto. As he neared the stadium he could hear the screams of terror coming from the hundreds of people who had gathered to witness the exams.

"crap its already begun" Sasuke whispered to himself as he dashed towards the arena.

He arrived just as the kage seating area collapsed into the stadium. He stood on top of the seating roofs and saw something surprising...

Kinshiki was walking towards Boruto to pick him up, out of a wall. Momoshiki was standing slightly behind. He seemed to be injured but it wasn't from his fight with him. He had been in a battle since their last meeting.

Too the left Sasuke saw an unconscious Naruto that seems to be twitching from head to toe. Something was wrong and sasuke knew it. Very wrong.

Why where the ōtsutsuki members going after Boruto and not the nine tails inside Naruto. This would have been the perfect opportunity to kidnap him to extract kurama. What could they possibly want with Boruto?

Just as they were about to reach him I swooped our with my susanoo to protect him. What ever they wanted with Boruto was clearly more important then the most powerful bijuu in the world.

" Ahh so we meet again, he unfortunate" said Momoshiki

" what ever business you have with Boruto stay away from him. "

"Ahh what a shame..." announced Momoshiki " I need him for my plan. He is a very important puzzle piece which I have been looking for. I didn't want to have to resort to this however..." Momoshiki stated as the red eye on his hand started to glow "it seems your standing in a difficult situation."

Suddenly jutsu after jutsu produced its self all over the arena attacking shinobi and civilian alike. Water jutsu flooding the stands. Fire and lightning scorching the walls. Earth fallin all around with unimaginable gusts of wind blowing around like tornados. All complimenting each other in a sick twisted harmony, all dispersing from the devils work of an eye stuck in Momoshiki hand. Sasuke caught a glimpse of something reflective coming from the corners of his mouth. Among the kage level jutsu was a large ball of dense chakra that hadn't been seen since the end of the forth great ninja war. It grew larger and larger with every second ceasing to stop any time soon. Sparks of red lighting shot of at random intervals destroying anything in its path.

"A BIJUU BOMB?!" Sasuke exclaimed how was he meant to deal with that. Sure his susanoo was strong but he was no Naruto. He had to do hat he could to protect the village even if that meant sacrificing himself.

" damn it Naruto this is meant to be your job!" Sasuke mumbled to himself as his susanoo flared to life. He started using all of his chakra to build and reinforce his perfect susanoo. As the bijuu bomb looked like it was going to burst he rapped his wings over the top of the explosive just as it went off. The blinding light could be seen for miles around the now city hidden in the leaves.

Sasuke protected it all with his life. Every single citizen, shinobi and kage. All but one...

As the flash of light died Down felt his chakra drain out of his body. Black spots started to seep in around his vision as he fell to the ground next to his eternal rival. The last thing he heard before Momoshiki and kinshiki left was "when you next see him he won't be human anymore" After Sasuke fell into a chakra exhaustion related coma watching Boruto being hauled away on kinshikis shoulder into another dimension.

2: Reflection

I do not own Naruto/Boruto if I did I would have made the fillers based more of minatos and itachis backstories but sadly that isn't the case.

Gasps could be heard all around and then the mumblings could be heard as a reached forward to take the forehead protector

" we will talk about this later" he whispered

"We'll talk about this later? WE'LL TALK ABOUT THIS LATER? IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY, ITS ALWAYS LATER! If you had paid attention to me this would never have happened in the first place..." Boruto yelled back at him.

The hole stadium turns to silence so they could hear the conversation between father and son. A pin drop would have been heard from a mile away if it wasn't for borutos venting.

Naruto looked around the stadium at all the shocked face peering down on them meeting everyone's eyes until they fell on some terrifyingly familiar.

"I want to talk about your new eye doujutsu to it se..."

Suddenly he lost all feeling in his legs and started to tremble.

'Those damn eyes! This isn't good, that was the same rinnegan that Kaguya had. The ōtsutsuki have come for kurama'

As his condition worsened he felt his conscious slowly drift off, his breathing suddenly became uneven and he started to panic. Boruto didn't seem to see what was going on and as his vision blacked out he fell to the floor unconscious.

"Dad?"

"DAD!"

"What the hel..."

(7 days later)

"Boruto Uzumaki You Are Coming With Us"

'what going on...'

"Boruto.."

'Boruto'

"BORUTO!"

screams could be heard from every direction, tormenting his brain. He shivered and turned and twisted in his sleep...

"NOOO!"

Naruto shot up from his bed, breathing heavily.

'nightmare' he said to himself.

he looked around the room he was currently in. Four white walls and the thing he was sat on certainly wasn't the stadium floor. It was konahas general hospital. He spotted his wife sleeping with her head on the edge of his bed. He smiled down at her form, still as beautiful as the day he married her. He thought back to how he had landed himself in hospital. His smile faltered, the ōtsutsuki, their eyes, loud screams, and shouts. His eyes grew wider and he began to shiver with every second as he recalled everything that had happened. 'it wasn't a dream' he thought sadly.

He was shaking the bed slightly as Hinata lifted her head off the duvet and look up to Narutos' sad eyes.

"Hey Naruto calm down your ok, your ok" she repeated out to him.

"What happened...?" Naruto asked quietly, Hinata proceeded to explain what had happened the week before.

"...and that's when we ran back into the stadium after all the commotion had died down, we found you unconscious and Sasuke." Hinata was interrupted as naruto swiftly lifted his head.

"Sasuke?" Naruto asked 'he must have known what was coming' he thought after.

"where is?" He drifted off to silence, he knew what was coming.

" He's in a coma" Hinata stated as she confirmed his fears. " we don't know when he will wake up" Naruto lowed his head again "He saved everyone in the village with his Susanoo" everyone in the hole village saw it. Naruto internally smiled as sad smile internally at that statement. 'protecting the one place you once sort to destroy, you continue to amaze me Sasuke' naruto thought.

" where is Himawari?" He asked

" I took her to my parents' house and came here straight after you were admitted, she's come to see you quite a lot, she was scared she wouldn't be here when you woke up, seems she was right," Hinata explained.

Naruto sighed "And Boruto?" Hinata stilled and started crying silently with naruto still looking down waiting for her response. as he started to hear sniffling he looked up and saw his wife crying. His face softened and he scooted himself over to her and gave her a warm hug.

"Hey, it's ok, we'll get him back, I promise, I'll do anything in my power and more to get him back. He has got a strong will power and he won't give up any time soon. He's alive im sure of it I can feel it" Naruto said softly into his wife's ear.

"I know he's alive I can feel it too" Hinata replied so quietly he wasn't sure if he had misheard her.

"At least he knows you love him..." Naruto said quietly to himself.

Hinata looked up at him with a shocked face. ' shit she heard me' naruto though.

" what's that meant to mean naruto! of course, you love him" Hinata said full of shock.

"The last thing I did to him was denounced him of being a ninja in front of the five great nations. Im a horrible father and an even worse husband, im so sorry. I've been so concentrated on work these last 6 years protecting everyone in the village when I haven't been looking after the people who love me the most who were right in front of me. You Himawari and Boruto deserve so much more, please forgive me..." naruto said to his wife full of determination for a change, looking deep into her eyes.

"naruto..." a soft smile graced her lips as she cupped narutos face in her hands who leaned in. "its ok we understand how important your job is and how much the village needs you, we know why you can't be home all the time, Himawari and Boruto both know this, they both just miss having their father there for them. Boruto just shows how he feels in a more extream manner."

Naruto sighed as Hinata leaned forward and placed a small peck on his lip making narutos lips twitch up into a small smile.

"it doesn't excuse me for not being there for you more, I promise to try and be there for you all more, and when we rescue Boruto im gonna tell him exactly how much I care and worry about him."

"I know you will" Hinata replied as they had another, yet slightly longer, kiss. Just as they were parting Himawari came in the door with Hinatas' father behind her. When she saw her father was awake her face lit up with happiness but then a frown appeared on her face. Naruto gave a quick nod to Hiashi as he left their family in peace.

"I wasn't here when daddy woke up," Himawari said sadly, looking down. Then she ran over to her father and tackled him into a crushing hug making naruto giggle.

"It's ok Hima. You mummy was here for me when I woke up so I wasn't alone" Naruto said to his daughter. 'Thought Boruto won't have anyone where he is' he thought to put a falt in his smile.

"Daddy where is boruto?" She asked innocently.

"I don't know but I promise you ill get you your big brother back and when I do, you, me and boruto are going to be spending a lot more time together." This made Himawari's face light up and went back into giving naruto her hug with Hinata joining.

"I know you will daddy..."

An hour after Naruto had been released from the hospital he called an emergence world kage summit was called for. It was lucky all the kage were already in the Hidden leaf keeping everything secure and safe while their Hokage was unconscious.

"We need to go after Boruto and get im back as soon as possible" Naruto announced before everyone had even sat down.

"We know Naruto, and we all intent on helping you get your son but he was taken through some kind of space-time ninjutsu after Sasuke collapsed, I rushed in first to see what had happened with my sand and i saw the tail end of a portal" replied Gaara firmly "The only people with the ability to follow them is Sasuke and we don't even know when he will wake"

"Which is why we need to prepare for when he does so we can go straight out to rescue him," Naruto said desperately.

"Well we can't do anything at the moment to speed Sasuke recovery, what we can do however is try to find out why the hell they too your son and not you for the fox, that was their original goal wasn't it? no offense but I find it extremely difficult to believe they mistaken your son for you," said Darui.

Naruto thought back to his son during the exams and remembered something he had forgotten about. "His eye... It's not a Doujutsu of Konoha, I've never seen or heard of anything that looked anything like it." This intrigued the other kage. "Its pupil was white just like the Byakugan and it glowed brightly whenever you saw it but its sclera was black as the night..."

This shocked the other kage as they all started to look around at one another for answers.

"Do we know of anything that this eye can do? Did your son tell you anything about it?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"I believe it works similar to the Byakugan, as during his fight with shikadai during the finals he seemed to be in the gentle fist stance, which im familiar with because of my wife and her clan. It also seemed to pulse out lightning during his fight when he got trapped in shikadais' shadow possession jutsu to free himself. Other then that i have no idea what it is or what it can do, unfortunately, we don't even have a name for it yet either. Boruto didn't even tell me he had a Doujutsu i only found out in the exam when his fight with Shikadai was taking place." Naruto trailed out into silence as did the rest of the room. The tense atmosphere crushing around them all as none of them know what else to say. Thankfully Shikamaru, Narutos chief advisor cut in.

"I guess we'll just have to wait until Sasuke wakes up to get his version of what happened down there. This hole situation is a drag." Shikamaru sighed.

Naruto looked up and faced his other kage who could see the stress and circles around his eye ready for the countless sleepless nights waiting to come.

"I guess your right, this meeting is over unless anyone else has anything else to say"

The other kage stayed as silent as ever. Naruto sighed and made his way out of the meeting room leaving everyone else behind looking at the open door.

"damn this must be really hard on him, his son cheating then denouncing him of a ninja then him being kidnapped by some alien, poor naruto" Kurotsuchi sighed as she stood up and started making her way to the exit with the other kage from the shinobi nations all thinking the same thing.

A week later and Sasuke hadn't woken up. Civilians were already starting to forget about the actions taken from the people who had saved all their lies and had started to move on to other things, all apart from Naruto who hadn't slept for the last week ever since he had woken up from his unconscious state. Sleeping was the last thing on his mind as sat at his desk waiting for the call that Sasuke had woken up signaling the mission to retrieve his only son. But the mental strain of not sleeping for over a week was starting to get to him. As naruto sat behind his desk like every other day for the last six years he started to break down. Tears started pouring down his face but remained silent with no coughs or heaving from the eternal pain from within. Streams of the salty liquid forming on a puddle on his desk.

Getting up slowly he made his way to the door and slowly exited the kage tower. As he walked outside the doors the street was empty, that was expected tho as it was three in the morning, the sun would be coming up too soon. He debated going home but he knows that wouldn't be a good idea in the state he was in now, Hinata was worried enough as it was. Naruto changed his course and went to the top the Hokage faces and sat down in the spikes of hair in his father's head.

How was he to know how to be a father, he never had any father figures for much of his life apart from iruka and partly even Kakashi at sometimes. He wanted his son to have everything he had ever wanted, to give both his children the praise and love they deserved. However, even with his talk with his wife when he first woke, he still felt no better afterward. He was released they had forgiven him and he had made a promise to go home more often but he hadn't down that at all the last week making is heartful promise just a shamble of words which meant nothing. He never meant for that. With the tears that still hadn't stopped because of his failures, he made himself walk home. He could do with a hug and he knew where he could find from someone who had promised to be by his side for eternity. Hinata would always worry about him whether it was because he was crying for the first time since his pervy sage died or not.

As he reached his with tear stains down his red swollen eyes, he opened the door and made his way up to his bedroom quickly peeking in the door to the room his daughter slept in to see her laying calmly. As he reached the end of the corridor he made his way over to the side of his bed where his wife was laying. He quietly got into bed and rolled over to face his wife. Much to his surprise her eyes were open and looking straight into his with a sad smile once again gracing her lips. Expecting a worried full talk Naruto prepared himself for what his wife had to say to him only for her to grace his head with her hand and place a kiss on his forehead. after she pulled herself into his chest. Naruto smiled down at her small form and remembered the first time they had stayed together. A time full of innocent laughs and never having to worry about their children getting themselves into difficult situations.

"I love you" Naruto whispered into his wife's hair as he kissed her back.

"I love you too now sleep, you've been working with the last seven days straight" She replyed

"Thank you," he said quietly back and his wife didn't reply only for him to find out she was already asleep and soon after he drifted off too.

A painfull 2 weeks later, a full month after the incident Sasuke woke up much to everyone's relief. As soon as he was able to walk Naruto rushed him into another meeting. Sasuke explained his account to the five kages as they listened to him carefully. Sasuke made it clear to them all that they were after Boruto for a serious reason as they took extream measures to collect him. He also stated their names and how he had battled them before and was on the way to the stadium to tell naruto what was going to happen as the battles started. Sasuke said they had changed their goal since when they had previously fought and how Momoshiki was bleeding from the mouth up close.

After Naruto stated about Borutos eye Doujutsu Sasuke confirmed that it was most likely that they were after. Sasuke was given a rundown on what they knew already about Borutos eye and he gave the five kage a run down on any powers and the speeds they could move at and prepared for a possibly long and dangerous battle they were most likely heading into. Only Thee hours after he had woken up they headed to the roof of the Hokage tower and Sasuke set his rinnegan swirling. The portal opened and six figures made there way inside...

The two alien-like creatures chucked Boruto onto the hard dirt ground forcefully waking him up. He looked around and saw a dying tree behind him which seemed to reach the sun in the middle of a giant crater with no wildlife, plants or anything of any earthly manner around.

"You know your really quite special young man" said the small man with a surprising menacing voice.

"Jougans are rare, even just one. more so on that disgusting planet of yours" It continued

"My name is Momoshiki and im in a bit of a pickle, you see i need a vessel, im dying. I had a fight with a clever bastard of an octopus and i need someone's body to continue on with." The newly named Momoshiki stated. " I don't care how you obtained your eye however i find looking at it rather interesting. Whether you like it or not it's going to be mine!"

Momoshiki loomed over the top of him casting a dark shadow all around him. A finger pointing at his head suddenly glowed and shot out towards Borutos body. He was in total agony, the pain was too much to handle but there was no stopping the torment shooting down every nerve in his body destroying his mind and torturing his head making him beg for death. Screaming his head off, getting louder and louder by the second trying to shake off the tremendous pain. After what felt like hours or screaming, shaking and begging for death Boruto became silent and quietly said no louder than a whisper

"Please just stop it, Please I can't take this anymore..."

Momoshiki and his companion laughed maliciously.

"This pain will give you the power and you've only been here for ten minutes. we still have another 23 hours and 50 minutes left to go. I thought all you wanted was power after watching that pitiful fight with that worthless tool. you worthless being, you pitiful human, you should be begging me for this power. If you want me to speed it up, why didn't you just ask." Momoshike snarled baring great white teeth staring dead into eyes as he increased the pain tenfold making him scream out deathly screams no man could stay sane after hearing.

"Your eyes and body will be mine...All mine..."

3: Pain

I do not own Naruto/Boruto if I did I would have made the fillers based more of minatos and itachis backstories but sadly that isn't the case.

—

24 hours

"AHHHHHHAAaaahhhHHHH" Boruto screamed. The pain had suddenly jumped down my arm like a never even ending electrical shock. Agony is every fibre of my being. Burning and tearing in on itself. The feel of skin being burnt and chard all up my right arm.

Momoshiki's words were repeating in side his head. Making their mark and engraving his statement into his brain.

"You worthless being. You pitiful human"

The pain only reached his top right shoulder at the moment by the intensity only grew.

—

20 hours left

The burning sensation has been working it's way around his arm for the last 4 hours. He kept screaming and screaming in pain pleading for the pain to stop. Slowly the pain seemed to be decreasing. Boruto was finally able to cope the the pain long enough to gather his senses and look over the his kidnappers.

He was met with a bastardly snarl and and shoot of pain straight through his chest. The torture only increased as time went on just like his arm before. Although the only thing that could be physically seen was a thin blue line making its way up his arm, he felt like his was being tided down to the face of the sun. He couldn't breath his stomach felt like it was going to explode his heart was palpitating inhumanly. Yet he could do nothing to release the agony. His eyes rolled back in his head at the shear pain but consciousness held onto him like a ravenous dog desperately in need of food.

His body began twitching. The pain was all mental. All of it was going on inside his head like a forbidden genjutsu thought to be lost to time.

"You worthless being. You pitiful human. You are nothing."

16 hours

The pain continued and surged into his legs. They felt like they were being Destroyed by wolves. His hole body continued twitching and he started foaming at the mouth. The blue line had town thicker and had reached his elbow and was being to spread up and down his torso.

The voices continued

"You worthless being. You pitiful human. You are nothing. Nothing without me. "

10 hours left

The pain shot into his head. His brain felt like it was being fried and his neck felt like it was being cut off with a serrated saw.

The blue line was over his face and his ears were beginning to bleed.

"You worthless being. You pitiful human. You are nothing. Nothing without me. Take me"

5 hours left

The pain throbbed through his entire system, from head to toe, tenfold since the beginning. Momoshiki had absorbed kinshiki a few hours previously and he was finally on his last leg. Creating a vessel was hard work.

"Become my vessel"

Borutos chest started lifting off the floor. Arching in a possessed manner.

"I'm all you'll ever have..."

0 hours..

Boruto lay on his side. Curled up into himself. The pain had stopped but the termol was so much he couldn't tell the difference. His eyes now looked forward unblinking and dull not registering what he was looking at. He was a blank slate he couldn't move either. He layed on the cold hard floor staring off into nothing as his mind was in a daze. He recalled everything that had happened to him.

It wasn't worth cringing over all the pain and tremol. It was still their really. It would be forever. The scars. The memories. The trauma. The diamond black shape tainting his hand. The blue lines has all vanished.

What cruel sin had he done to deserve this. No. That wasn't right he knew what he had done. This was kami giving him what he deserved. What he needed. From berating his father for being a bad father. To wishing Naruto wasn't his father in the first place. Blaming him for not having any grandparents who could have raised him to know how to be a parent. Cheating in the exams screaming at the hokage. Lying to his sister. Embarrassing his nation. Disappointing his own mother.

He knew what he had down now.

""You are nothing"

Momoshikis voice played on loop o side his head as he stayed deathly still. Bearly breathing. Remenisinng on every he had done to deserve a cruel fate such as this one over and over co tinuousltly

—

"uto..."

He couldn't register what was going. On still. He hadn't bothered to keep track of the days. He couldn't anyway the grey clouds hadn't changed once. He felt someone move him and pull him into something he couldn't register.

"Boruto"

Boruto. That was his name he remembered that as he felt warm liquid run down the side of his head. His body was limp and week as he was pushed slightly away from who ever was touching him. His eyes moved slightly over to the man looking at his. His vision was still blurry. He saw a group of six people gathered around him but he couldn't make out who was who. Scared and afraid but too lost from the world to move of protect himself he layers still as the man covered in orange lifted him up and cradled him in his arms.

—-

As Naruto , Sasuke and the other four kage jumped through the portal they were expecting a huge fight. But what they saw shocked them. A few meters away from the portal was Boruto Laying on the floor. Facing away. Deathly still. Before anyone could stop him Naruto ran over to borutos side to see how he was.

Naruto reacher over and turning borutos body over calling him by his name voice full of sadness. His on seemed to be physical fine apart from the black diamond now tainting his right palm and the small dribble of blood pooling from his head. His eyes looked shallow and dead. No eyes a child should ever have. As he looked into his eyes he couldn't tell if his son even knew he was there to rescue him. He reached out and brought his son into a hug. Tears streaming down his face but uttering no words.

"We should go before anyone else turns up here. We don't know what gone on here. " Sasuke states. The other five kage agreed.

Naruto stood up. Remaining silent with his son still in his arms as he walked back to the portal to take his son home. Just before he reached the portal his son drifted off into unconsciousness.

'We're going home son. Somewhere where you belong.' Naruto thought sadly as he felt his son drift off into sleep.

#boruto fanfiction

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nin-jay-go · 2 years

Note

FOR SWAP AU: WHAT ARE THE OTHER NINJA'S ROLES? LIKE HOW DO THEY PLAY INTO THE STORY FOR OUR SWAPPED CHARACTERS?

so the og ninja take the places of their swapped villains! :) (<- devious)

this might get long. cut time

kai is the son of ray, leader of the anacondrai cult and arguably not the best parent. kai was raised sort of as a soldier for the cult, esp with his mother's amber element being passed onto him. nya's still here, just... don't worry about her for now. s4 starts with kai flirting with skylor (as he tends to do) and them getting to know each other before kai reveals he's the mole and ray's his dad. he and skylor have the normal s4 moment of "hey you're in a cult do you wanna break out of the cult" "sure" and they do, but kai has the staff for a little bit and its a bit fucky. after s4 ends, skylor sends kai to her dad so he can do something with his life now that he's out of the cult, and one thing leads to another and chen adopts him :)

jay is an ai created by ed and edna many years ago, designed to help out with all sorts of stuff. but he gets stuck in prime empire and becomes a sort of superstar there, a well-known celebrity that has eyes everywhere. essentially, if you also get stuck in prime empire (libber), you're being watched by a very maliciously playful ai with nowhere to go. he's still just as dangerous as canon unagami though, and his goal of escaping prime empire by sucking people in is the same. he's just a struggling child trying to find his way back to his parents :( which he does in the end so its ok

cole was garmadon's first child. garm never shied away from telling morro about him, but he does so very sadly. cole ran away from home because of canon reasons (mom died, dad was being not great about it, the usual) and was taken in by garm. he was promised the green ninja title but didn't manage to get it, which left him a brooding mess. since cole isn't really an angry person, his frustration was very subtle, and garm didn't know he was struggling with that that hard until he ran away. garmadon still waits for his son to come home, even if cole died on his search for answers.

zane was a sentry built during s3 to mimic cryptor's structure perfectly. he's a cold and cruel general that doesn't care for his army as people (since they're also nindroids. so). he ends up surviving the mass purge at the end of s3 just because i have so many thoughts about him and pixal being a power couple in s8 and being Terrifying to the ninja. other than that he's just kinda there lol

lloyd is the quiet one :D his backstory is the same as harumi's in canon, his parents died to the great devourer, he gets adopted by the royal family, and he plans vengeance on the ninja, specifically harumi, because they failed to protect his parents when wu saved the world. he worships wu to the point of bringing him back, as per usual, and is very silky smooth with his persuasion of harumi. kid's terrifying. he also loves snakes. a lot. not the serpentine specifically, but he has a Lot of snake imagery.

and nya ... i admit i don't have much for, other than she's in kalmaar's place. i know that she and maya vanished one day, leaving kai and ray alone on the island, searching for the storm and wave amulets to summon wojira so she can claim her rightful place as scourge of the land. maybe they found a way to h2o just add water themselves into becoming merlopians to infiltrate and rule, so the amulets were easier to grasp. nya's a girlboss though <3 kills someone (unsure yet if she kills her mom or trimaar, her backstory is still a wip)

#aus.png #ask.png #jay.error #ninjago swap au #nya #lloyd #cole #jay #zane #kai

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danny-chase · 3 years

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What are things generally accepted as canon that you disagree with?

Damian being the angry violent one (he had character development DC literally makes him repeat the same storyline over and over y'all just don't take the end into account, and also conveniently forget the times TIM started their fights), Tim being the smart one (they're literally all smart, Damian has a phd equivalent in economic, Dick has more emotional intelligence and street smarts, the smart one title is dumb), Jason being the best tactician of the group (hello does Dick leading the Titans for decades and being set up to lead the JLA mean nothing???). Cass, Steph, and Barbara's current canon personalities are garbage and boring and while technically it is canon I disagree on principle because you're choosing the worst version of canon to replicate and spread.

Dick taking Robin away from Tim is a big one i disagree with because while it's considered canon it's just blatantly untrue and skates by as true because no one reads Battle for the Cowl in the first place and the panel of Alfred giving Damian the Robin costume is easy to miss/forget. Tim's the one that pushed people away after Bruce died and I guess fandom collectively forgot that he told Dick not to call and physically attacked him to make a point?

Pit madness existing. It doesn't, it was never canon. On a similar note I disagree with the autopsy scar headcanon which made its way onto a variant cover iirc, because Lazarus pit does some stuff and I think scar erasure has more interesting story potential (especially for Cass, who had a significant amount of scars inflicted by David Cain). In a different vein with Jason something that used to be canon that isn't considered canon anymore that I wish was still canon is the red hair because it gave him a Dr. Doof style backstory and i was there for "my own father made me dye my hair red to look like my brother" black and white monologue directed at a platypus wearing a fedora

On Bruce's parenting. I feel like the general perception of canon is he was good as a parent up till Jason died and then was shit from then on. I disagree because it partly has to do with which crisis continuity you're at. He was was pretty shit with Dick post-crisis onward both in flashbacks/stories told in the past and being physically abusive in the present, was still decent/good with Jason, was actually surprisingly good with Tim from what I've read, wasn't exactly parental with Steph but as a mentor was a fucking asshole, and with Cass was pretty sucky - there's a scene where he gets high and fights her because it's "the language she understands" and he also fires her from Batgirl multiple times (which isn't really his place, it's Barbara's mantle) and is in general overprotective and a bit of a shotgun dad. It's not like Jason dying changed everything about his crappy/non crappy parenting, from my perspective at least

Raven as the goth one and Kory as the naive space princess are both considered canon and are written into canon at this point and fr i hate it. Both of their personalities were streamlined for the cartoon and butchered by comic writers who skipped ntt

The general unimportance of the Titans and lack of any current writers to read their earlier stuff is sad rip

Idk if these were the types of things you were looking for but let me know if you wanted something more specific

Edit: with Tim i mean good by Bruce standards, he's not winning any awards, he still makes mistakes (telling Steph Tim's identity, leaving him with Jean Paul Valley as Batman and the advanced training thing) but he genuinely seems like he's trying and wants to be there for Tim, which for Bruce is good

Edit 2: wait i have another one, the idea that Jason is good at cooking and Dick sucks at it. Jason let's Bizzaro cook for the Outlaws and Dick has been shown cooking multiple meals across canon and teaching Tim how to do homemaking stuff in Batman: Prodigal

#asks #anon #momo don't look #batfam #titans

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deshamay · 2 years

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Deshamay's Fic Masterlist

Here you can find every single one of my fics so far! The list will be updated.

My Ao3 Account

My Twitter (I post snippets there)

One-shots

Business in the apocalypse leads to family [Complete; 13k]

Phil sets up a shop during the apocalypse. Wilbur, Technoblade and Tommy are his regular customers who somehow manage to become his family (regardless of Phil's objections).

So I'll wait here for you [Complete; 5k]

5 times Tallulah felt ignored and alone on her birthday, and 1 time she didn't.

I've been running for so long (Is it the weather that's making me spun inside my head?) [Complete; 1.5k]

Wilbur leaves DreamSMP and finally goes back home. There he finds a lot of memories from his childhood.

Secrets Have a Way of Getting Out [Compelete; 4.5k]

After learning about the band called Lovejoy, Tommy decided he wanted to know as much about them as possible. There was one problem though - no one knew anything about them, not even how they looked like.

Low on Self-Esteem, So You Run on Gasoline [Complete; 14.4k]

Technoblade and Ranboo are inventors. Their best invention is an android called W11. There were no problems while they were building it. The real problems started when it decided it wanted to be free and live it's best life.

Will you sing for me one day? [Complete; 4k]

5 times that Tommy overheard Wilbur's songs and 1 time when Wilbur sang especially for him.

One Bow and Three Arrows [Complete; 4.4k]

Fic based on Tales from the SMP: the Pit. Watson's backstory.

Let's Create More Happy Memories Together [Complete; 11.1k]

Canon divergence. What would DreamSMP look like if it was a little bit more peaceful and everyone got along? Dream and Wilbur - centric.

Once We Were A Family [Complete; 4.5k]

Canon divergence. My take on what would've happened if Tommy and Tubbo ran away before November 16th.

Multi-Chapter Fics

Alone Together [In Process; Currently 34.7k]

Wilbur decides to leave everything in his life behind and just drive in one random direction to see where the road is gonna take him. It takes him to Tommy, Technoblade, and Phil. Wilbur finds a family and learns the true meaning of happiness.

I don't mind staying longer [In Process; Currently 65.4k]

Tommy has always been able to see ghosts. And while it was an interesting ability, it became extremely useful when his older brother Wilbur died in an accident. Now, a few years later, these two work together to help lost spirits, and get in trouble on a regular basis.

Angels of the ruined temple [Complete; 44k]

SBI are 4 separated angels, who haven't seen each other for many centuries. However, after a series of stupid decisions, Tommy sets on a journey to find his lost relatives, and return the sword that once was his, while trying not to die at the same time.

The Boy, Lost in the Darkness of the World [Complete; 12.8k] {Part 1 of One Universe, Millions of Souls series}

Prince Wilbur Watson, forgotten on his own birthday, decides to run away from the castle. However, his escape soon turns into a kidnapping.

The Universe Knows [In Process; Currently 3.7k] {Part 3 of One Universe, Millions of Souls series}

Prince Wilbur Watson and ex-president Wilbur Soot suddenly swap places instead of dying. Now they have to try and find a way back to their universes (while forgiving people close to them and forgiving themselves).

Your Soul Is My Soul [Complete; 65.9k] {Part 2 of One Universe, Millions of Souls series}

Collection of one-shots about what happened to the characters of "Your Soul Is My Soul" and "The Boy, Lost in the Darkness of the World" before, during, and after the events.

#mcyt fanfiction #sleepy boys inc #wilbur soot #tommyinnit #fanart #dreamsmp fanfic #sbi #sleepy bois au #masterlist #my fic writing #Deshamay #i will add more #work in progress

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beautifulterriblequeen · 3 years

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B2:S - Chapter 5

Much of this series will be about the differences and additions in the novel version, and how they contribute to my understanding of story canon. But there will be character appreciation, the odd theory and headcanon, and suchlike as well.

Here be lots of Viren deets, Best Boy Soren deets, some writing/continuity stuff, worldbuilding appreciation and half of a theory, Detective Rayla, Moon Temple geeking, Claudium and dark magic, and more!

Spoilers for Book Two: Sky below.

(I know for darn sure that I wrote up a post for chapter 4, but I can't find it anywhere so I guess Tumblr ate it and I'll have to redo it at some point, but today is not that day)

Viren, my evil dude, my bad guy, coming in clutch with the worldbuilding and backstory again! If you want to know decades of information, you gotta talk to Viren. Or read his scenes, at least. Here, he seems to not sleep much when he has a big problem to analyze his way through. Solutions trump pretty much everything else in this guy's life, and he's had a really hard week with a lot of new and complicated problems. Of course he's getting sleep-deprived trying to find his way through them all.

Harrow put so much trust in Viren when he made him High Mage! He just threw himself extra hard at that Lady Justice blindfold, didn't he? Didn't really want to see what Viren was doing in his magic study, so he left Viren to his devices. And Viren has a lot of devices.

Also, this is fascinating: Viren made the secret passage to his "less official study" in Katolis Castle! And he was inspired to do so by the way his own mentor kept the Puzzle House. What else could a Puzzle House be, except a place with secret passages? Yay! secret headcanon that "the Puzzle House" is just "Katolis Castle" from Kid Viren's perspective tho

So either Viren built all of those passageways, or at least the ones to his dungeon. Which means he has to have, or know where to get, a stash of those glowing blue Moonshadow crystals. Hmmm.

I can't wait to learn more about Kpp'Ar and young Viren, btw. From this description of Viren and all his literal secret ways, it feels like another parallel between Viren and Runaan, with the whole "secretive paths, members only, insider knowledge" type stuff. Only the really cool members of this cult club get to know the secrets, and guess what, kid, you're cool now but you can never tell anyone, okay? Our secret.

Yeahhh, that'll never backfire in any way for either of them.

Kpp'Ar calling puzzles and secrets "man-made magic," though. Yes sir, knowledge is indeed power.

This chapter mentions Runaan by name, from Viren's perspective. Generally that would imply that Viren knows his name, even though assassins do not share their names, and Runaan didn't seem to give his to Viren in the first book. However, there was a scene in book one where the last paragraph switched perspective from Viren to Runaan - a technique that's very common in visual media like movies and shows and gives you that "ohoho they left the room and didn't notice this, but you do!" vibe. Using Runaan's name there in book one, where Viren couldn't see it but readers could, helps them keep track of the assassin's story arc while maintaining Viren's racism.

So in book two, in which Runaan has no onscreen scenes (alas), using his name in a scene that calls back to the events in book one helps us remember what happened in that dungeon cell. It would be a bit muddier to recall the specifics if Viren kept thinking about Runaan as "Elf." So I'm cool with the perspective nudge because it serves a narrative purpose: clarity. But I'm also enjoying the angst of considering that, somehow, Viren learned Runaan's name either during or after the coining spell. Mwa ha ha haaa. (Obligatory "Keep my pretty name outta your mouth" goes here)

Okay, back to Viren's scheming! He took the mirror because it was human-sized in a dragon lair. He knew it didn't really fit there, and that made it interesting, so he stole it. But he realized it was really powerful when Runaan wouldn't tell him squat about it - the assassin's instinct to protect Xadian secrets from human hands meant that Viren was holding a very powerful Xadian secret. And that just made him want it all the more. Ah, Runaan, if only your relationship with lying was, like, the exact opposite of what it is. Nyx could've spun Viren a believable tale in 2 minutes flat.

Also of interest: Viren considers his cursed coins to be a final fate. He expects Runaan to remain in his coin forever. With the Chekhov's coins still extant in the storyline, we can assume that they'll come up again eventually, but Viren has no current plans to do anything with his elf money except carry it around.

It's worth noting that Viren admits that he got impatient when he trapped Runaan in the coin. Runaan's first fate in Katolis was supposed to be death at Soren's hands, but Claudia "saved" him from that. His next fate was to become spell components, but Viren's frustration with his stubbornness "saved" him from that fate, too. So now he's in a coin, where no one can chop him up at all. Yay? No, boo!

We get one last line about Runaan before Viren shifts gears: he makes a point of noting for us that Runaan's shackles are still locked shut. However much of Runaan made it into that coin - body, soul, hair care products - he was magicked there, pulled right out of his restraints.

The creepy black liquid that Viren pours right into his eyes is the last of a powerful potion he got from Kpp'Ar, and its recipe is ancient! Humans used it back in the age of Elarion to see through the illusions of the world. And we get a delightfully creepy bit of description about the preparation of this serum, which makes it abundantly clear that it's a Moon magic-based concoction, harvested from eyeless vipers on a moonless night, with the threat of irrevocable madness ("madness" by whose definition, though) if it's done wrong-

Hang on. Hold up. This is a Plato's Cave reference. OH MY GOD.

No no I'm fine, this is brilliant. Sorry, sorry, I couldn't figure why there was so much description for a potion prep that Viren didn't even have to perform himself. But now I get it. I see the light. HA. I should make a separate post for this, it's amazing.

Anyway, for reference, the humans who used this serum were called the Oracles of Ophidia, and Ophidia is a taxonomy group that includes all modern snakes. Can you say "creepy ancient snake rites"? I can! Woo!

Viren activates the serum with a spell, but apparently he's never done it before. He's not sure if it's supposed to be hot and bubbly, and he worries that it's been tainted by moonlight.

Oh, I do hope so.

The magic potion hurts, a lot. Viren will do just about anything, to himself or anyone, to do what he believes is necessary. He just risked madness and blindness to find out what this mirror does! Viren. Can you just. Take a nap or something. Have a Snickers.

This chapter gives us a fun clue that I don't remember from the show: when Viren's vision clears and he can see, his reflection has white pupils and the room reflected in the mirror has inverted colors. You know where else has inverted colors?

You know who else got white pupils for a hot second?

Okay, now it makes sense! Viren and Lujanne were both seeing into the realm beyond life and death. Him with his moon magic potion, and her with her moon powers on a full moon night at the Moon Nexus. Which is Very Interesting! Is it a direct hint about Aaravos's location, or just a separate cool detail? Orrr, does it look like a direct hint because Aaravos is actually trapped in the world beyond life and death, but it's actually separate and we'll see something about white pupils again later on?

Viren really does have self-esteem issues, we all picked up on it with his rant at his reflection. He throws a fit when he catches himself wondering if he's actually worthless. In the book version of his tantrum, he shoves the mirror and hurls a candelabra instead of flipping a table. He didn't need to shove the mirror to set the fire, but it's in here. Foreshadowing that perhaps, if push comes to shove, Viren will choose himself over Aaravos? Giving Aaravos time to peek through and see that the coast is clear?

Soren, my boyyyyy. He has a rough night at the Moon Nexus because two sides of him are fighting with each other. He struggles to understand Callum's friendship with Rayla, and he also fantasizes about chopping off Rayla's head. One of these is a pretty ordinary thing to do. The other is Soren's internalization of what he needs to do to gain his father's approval. If he brought his dad a chopped off elf head every week, he'd probably feel a lot more confident because Viren would praise him a lot more.

Okay, okay, omg, is it just me, or does the "Moonshadow Madness" story, as it's told in the book, seem like Soren just doesn't know what a monsterfucker is? He thinks an elf bite puts humans under a spell. But vampires are sexy, and some people want them to do more to them than just bite them. A passionate kiss under the moonlight could look very bitey, especially if one of the participants has horns and you're already culturally trained to hate them. No yeah, I'm already headcanoning an actual human-elf kiss that got misunderstood by an observer long ago.

it's Lujanne isn't it, we all know, because what is a love spell but a sweet soft illusion, I mean how else does she get supplies for her Caldera, I ask you, and also Corvus was totally sent to investigate once and he told Soren at camp what he saw

And then back to magefam angst: Soren pretending that his sister's nose-tapping is stupid, even though he actually thinks it's cool, just because their dad thinks it's stupid. Viren, istg. Let your kids like harmless things. It's so cute that Soren taps his nose back at her, though! Like they have their own sibling code. I hope we get to see the nose tap again, especially now that they've chosen different sides. It could mean so much, that they're not too far apart yet.

Rayla knows what buttery pancakes smell like. I love this. Do Moonshadow elves have butter and pancakes, does Rayla eat a stack of eight giant pancakes in the morning? Orrrr it is just illusion food? I don't care, let Rayla have pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes. Pancakes will save the world. this message brought to you by the fact that I can't eat pancakes rn, send help

I love that Rayla is both sus of the pancakes and hungry, and that combines into a very motivated "I will get to the bottom of this" attitude. She kind of goes into Poirot Mode when she inserts herself into Soren and Ellis's conversation about Ava, explaining about the wolf's illusion leg and segueing into her claim that the pancakes taste sus. Claudia confirms she used dark magic, and Rayla is furious. It's different than the show's version in that it puts Rayla in detective mode, as the only Moonshadow elf in the scene, and boy does she take that role seriously. Also, she doesn't actually swallow the dark magic pancake bite. It ends up on the ground just like Lujanne's grubs from that earlier meal. These poor kids are so nutrient-starved. You guys gotta eat!!

Rayla's determination and prejudices and the fact that she super knows Harrow is dead all dovetail to make her try repeatedly to persuade Callum that Soren and Claudia are Not To Be Trusted. It's nice that the book keeps taking the time to point out that Rayla is Well Intentioned But Flawed, just like Callum and pretty much every other character in the show. No one is Right All The Time, no one Knows More Than Everyone Else.

Callum loving the sound of Claudia's unique voice is so wholesome. When you like someone, it only makes sense that you like all the things about them that they can't change - like the sound of Claudia's voice. Her choices with dark magic, not so much!

Claudia seems to have the same concerns Soren does about Callum's relationship with Rayla, but she comes out and asks him. The inherent possession implied in "your elf" is interesting, though. Elves are not people to Claudia. They're enemies who can be disassembled for the magic inside them. So maybe more like robots than living beings, if she knew what a robot was. Maybe she heard Soren's "Moonshadow Madness" story and realized he totally missed the kissing implications - but she didn't, and now she's genuinely worried that Rayla could kiss Callum under a full moon and enchant him to do her will. Good thing it's only a half moon, then!

Okay, Callum nervously making a puppet hand and then not knowing what to do with his hands and freaking out about itching and moving and pointy elbows is such a ND mood. The sudden stress of knowing that someone else is noticing your existence and maybe you're Not Existing Right, amirite? Ugh, poor Callum.

The Moon Temple! Omg it's so pretty in the description! Made to be beautiful and useful, full of knowledge but also allowing light and life inside (butterflies and vines). Lujanne, when can I move in, please? Also, it's all the more angsty because Lujanne is the only one who gets to see this beautiful place, but it has lots of chairs and shelves and tables, and it was meant to be used by lots of people. :(((

Claudia knows some of the runes on the walls. She isn't in a hurry to copy the rest of them down or anything, either. Her spellwriting is very precise, and she's a skilled mage. Her father would have made sure she was aware of the dangers of drawing sloppy runes, as much as he made her aware of the dangers of doing dark magic wrong. And the whole point of dark magic is that it's easier to learn than primal magic. Claudia supports her dad and their shared knowledge and life path. She's not gonna go nuts over an elf library she can't translate.

Side note: Between Claudia knowing some Moon runes and Viren building a secret passageway and a dungeon and lighting it with the same blue crystals that Lujanne and Ethari use for light--and Claudia exclaiming that she loves ruins--I wonder once more if there are really Moonshadow ruins somewhere in Katolis, which Viren has found and looted. Father-daughter relic hunting trip, maybe while Soren is away at camp? Omgsh that would be so wild!

Callum out here having a Viren moment with his "I feel powerless unless I've got magic that lets me help" vibes. God. I love their complicated mirroring. One of the hard differences between them is that Callum is very sure dark magic is bad because you have to kill stuff and take its power to cast spells, and he doesn't want to be a person who kills and takes like that. The line he walks to be nice to Claudia on their tour of the Cursed Caldera because he likes her, while telling her that he doesn't want to do her magic, like, ever, is so fine that it might as well be a shifting shadow on the ground. It's a very fitting conversation to be having during the half moon, with its tricks and little white lies.

Callum being out of the castle and his comfort zone, having to deal with the fact that the Claudia he loves is not quite the Claudia who's chasing him down across the kingdom, but of the two of them, he's the only one with a problem with this.

They say that if you really want to get to know someone, you should spend time with them outside their comfort zone - in heavy traffic, with a small baby, taking care of a new pet, trying a new skill, following unfamiliar directions, etc. While the castle is familiar territory for them both, Callum's never really found his comfort zone yet, while Claudia is pretty comfortable with her growing skill set. The creepy part starts to kick in when Callum begins to realize that Claudia's comfort zone encompasses a whole bunch of stuff that seems like it should make her uncomfortable... but it doesn't. But that'll be for a future chapter!

#book two: sky spoilers #book two: sky #b2:s #tdp spoilers #viren #harrow #rayla #runaan #callum #claudia #soren #lujanne #moonshadow elves #aaravos

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