#10 and 13 were so shit to their black companions | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

oreo102 · 11 days

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Please I'm so so curious to hear your thoughts on 10/14

Ok so my thoughts on 10 are less than 14 so let’s start with him lol. I have not watched 10, so my hatred of him is more hatred by proxy of how the fandom treats him and proxy of 14, but I still do have a few specific thoughts and this will be long and definitely rambly

A) when talking about him I usually refer to him as Fandom’s Favorite White Boy or Pathetic Wet Cat/Twink mostly because it’s funny but for now I’ll use 10. The most I know about 10 is that he is angsty and in love with rose and besties with Donna… also that he’s pathetic but that’s more vibes

So- my hate of 10 is less tangible than 14 but i still have a few points, the main one being the way i see ppl talk about how he treated Martha and how obsessed with rose he was. I don’t think it’s ever compelling to have someone’s main personality trait be loving someone a whole lot which also honestly is my problem with rose (don’t hate her but don’t care about her)

From what I have seen and heard of 10 it’s rather… boring, honestly? Like it’s mostly clips out of context but for 13 and 15 I saw clips out of context and was like “ok wth is happening? /pos” with 10 it’s more like “wtf?” Also pretty sure his episodes were some of the ones I saw when my parents had the show on that played a part in me swearing the show off so

Ok onto the more tangible hatred of 14. A lot of this, admittedly, is more about the writing and showrunner decisions than 14 but those things by proxy makes me hate him

So- I have a lot of feelings on him quite literally starting from his first appearance in power of the doctor. I am SO PETTY that he doesn’t wear 13’s silly little outfit. Like I have gone on full rants about that fact to my friends and family

I’ve seen something claim that rtd didn’t want 14 to wear her outfit because people might be transphobic and derogatory towards him (even tho Dhawan!master wore it, and it’s pretty gender neutral) but then did nothing about the shit ppl said about ruby’s actor or about ppl who would be a bitch about rose the second being nonbinary(also i remember seeing a post about their deadname being mentioned in an episode? Not totally sure that’s true tho)

The 60th anniversary specials themselves don’t really celebrate Dr who as a whole as much as 10’s run with a few old villains but that’s not really my main issue with that. My main issue with the specials is that the Doctor gets their happy ending. With Donna. And her family. When fucking 3-4 episodes prior, their happy ending would’ve been yaz. It would’ve been staying with yaz. But nope! Donna! Because that’s what 10 would’ve wanted.

And I don’t want 14 to be with yaz, btw, I mean I want them to meet and for yaz to hit him, but I don’t want them to be a thing or like be together because I believe yaz is a lesbian but that’s not the point of this so moving on

I also have very much big issues with the scene where 15 and 14 are (presumably, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the full scene) talking about women they love and mention who I assume to be River and rose but not yaz, who again, they wanted to spend forever with 3-4 episodes prior. It makes the doctor seem like a douchebag even if it’s a writing issue and not a character issue

Also 14 being David tenant overshadows 13’s departure and 15’s arrival and since he is most likely going to show up at least a little bit in s14 he’ll overshadow 15 in his own series. It’s icky at the very least.

There’s something inherently bad about having the fandoms Favorite White Boy be with a contentious casting decision (because I have no faith in the Dr who fandom not to be bigoted) and even if no one has an issue with 15 being black and maybe gay (is he gay? He gives gay vibes) it’s still setting him up for failure by pairing him with 14

Also bigeneration is so fucking dumb and I hate it

Also also stop giving the Dr 19 year old companions it’s getting kinda weird now

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linddzz · 4 months

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20 Questions for Fic Writers

@gretchensinister tagged me, and I realized I can't mope about lack of interaction if I don't interact! This ended up being a really fun sort of retrospective :)

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

44. tbh I think that's an inflated number since for some reason I posted every single chapter of the Evil Boyfriends Series as a separate ficlet??? and there's like 30 of those.

2. What’s your total word count?

349,680 if my math is right (it rarely is)

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Rise of the Guardians, The Hobbit (movies), Fantastic Beasts (first movie only and wrote is in bold past tense there lmao), and now getting back into it (arguably returning to my roots of dramatic hot mess Nightmare/Dream King Sandmen) with The Sandman (Netflix)

4. Top 5 fics by kudos

Safe and Distant (Thorin/Bilbo, The Hobbit)

Mahrâna (The Hobbit, Thorin POV companion to S&D)

A Study on the Habits of the Adult Obscurial (Fantastic Beasts movie 1, Newt/Credence) ((ngl I was surprised this was so high in the ranking))

The Blizzard of '68 (Pitch Black/Jack Frost, Rise of the Guardians)

The Intervention (same as above lol, man that Evil Boyfriends Series was fun)

The Device Has Been Modified (Kozmotis Pitchner/Jack Frost. Rise of the Guardians movie/novels/a wild fuckin "Jack is a sci-fi AI" AU. holy shit I forgot about this one it was a wild blast)

5. Do you respond to comments?

Rarely and not as often as I'd like. I'm also bad at responding to texts from friends tho, so it's a Thing. I love and read every comment repeatedly though!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Shiver/Tremble for the Rise of the Guardians. No question. They're also the darkest things I've written. First thing I ever wrote seemed to purge all my darkest impulses out right at the jump.

(I ain't linking those lmao. I don't regret writing dark noncon fic, or even taking on writing it from the predator POV. They're just my very first published works and shit is ROUGH.)

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The Cultural Misunderstanding series of Safe and Distant and Mahrâna. Based on the fact that they actually ARE finished and I always held that the Evil Boyfriends Series isn't exactly a "good" ending for Jack, even if it isn't a bad one.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Mahrâna had a commenter who was mad that all the dwarves said fuck because "Tolkien wouldn't have them say that."

This was on the sequel to a fic where Thorin and Bilbo explicitly touched their dicks, and thus it remains the funniest comment I've ever received.

(They also thought Thorin was too obviously Mentally Ill and since there were no therapists in Middle Earth they didn't see why anyone would put up with him. So. Y'know. Fuck that commenter in general.)

9. Do you write smut?

YUP

10. Do you write crossovers?

Nah

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Safe and Distant has been translated to Chinese, German, and Russian!

Steady Hands has been translated to Russian

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Tremble, the equally fucked up sequel to Shiver, was done with a co-author where we went back and forth on chapters!

Currently, Audacity in Human Form has @amahhi as my co-author, as it's written based off of our RP where I wrote Dream and she wrote Hob, and she's who I bounce ideas on for adapting it all into fic form while she also acts as my beta editor.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

This is like asking for a favorite food why. Hell some of my favorite ships are ones I haven't written fic for (Newt/Hermann, Jayce/Viktor, William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay to name a few).

(Tbh I wouldn't even say whether or not I write fic depends on how much I like the characters. Amahhi and I also have many rp storylines that are basically full fics of all of the above ships (shout out to the Newmann Star Trek AU that remains one of my favorites ever, along with the Willzing with Werewolf!Laurence). It just depends on if my brain figures out how they'd be written as a fic.)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

A Study on the Habits of the Adult Obscurial. In my heart I still love my version of Credence, who is pretty much an OC of mine with how far I went "oh fuck that" at canon after the first movie. But between the terrible sequels, Rowling going full terf, and the fact that I had not actually plotted out a good outline and was hitting a wall.....yeah that thing's never getting finished. I recently put a note on there letting any new readers know it's officially abandoned.

Things That Were also ran into the problem of me taking on a big fic idea without the big fic planning. I had specific future scenes in my head but didn't have a strict guide on what happened when or how characters would get from A to B. That one I'm more sad about needing to give up on though.

16. What are your writing strengths?

According to friends and comments: dialogue, particularly capturing a characters voice in the dialogue and POV prose, and getting a solid characterization overall.

I'm also told I'm good at making a ship into a convincing couple and how they work as a couple.

Which is good for me, because those are my favorite things to write! Most of my fics are built on scenes of dialogue that popped into my head and the dialogue is what I have the most fun writing (hence why most of my Tumblr posts are goofy dialogue bits).

And I just like taking the characters as they are at a point in their story and going "ok, if these two get together, how does that happen?" and exploring it from there. Tbh I consider most of my successful fics to be character studies hiding in a full fleshed fanfic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

What the fuck is a story plot????

Is a plot not just "two people take 50k words to figure their shit out with almost no other characters coming in?" What the fuck is actually planning out a storyline with beats to it and an outline? (Trying to get better on the last one, Audacity actually has an outline that includes what specific RP scenes to flesh out or what gets subtracted/added!) (As far as plot goes I've now accepted that I'm not actually A Writer. I just wanna do my drawn out character studies and that's what I'm gonna do damnit.)

Besides that: laying out scenes beyond just the dialogue. Using repetitive descriptive language or getting rambly with it. I legit don't know if my occasional super short sentence lines for character reactions come across as punchy or if it's just choppy and disjointed, which ties in with a general struggle to keep small scenes flowing into each other without getting bogged down in details that fuck pacing up.

According to my various betas: punctuation is my mortal enemy, and I don't know how to make a sentence that isn't a fragment or an eternal run-on. I will sometimes fight them on my sentences and they put up with a lot.

Also, writing discipline in general. I'm uh, very bad at making myself sit down to write even when I want to, and my job tends to burn up the executive functioning points that my ADHD meds give me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

Did it a little bit for Mahrâna with Thorin speaking Khuzdul, but not more than short sentences and it took a stupid amount of looking things up for a couple sentences of dwarvish dirty talk lmao.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

If we count what was actually posted: Rise of the Guardians.

But there's some notebooks rotting away somewhere with a classic early 2000s isekai LOTR fic in it with an OC that was so much like Tauriel that my old buddy and I joked that "Peter Jackson fuckin stole my OC!!" This isn't a dig at Tauriel bc my OC was rad.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Safe and Distant/Mahrâna are my magnum opus, with Safe and Distant as my personal favorite even though there are bits I'd change (mostly in the smut scene).

I think finishing Mahrâna was a bigger accomplishment and it was overall a bigger challenge to write Thorin's pathos and the mental journey he had to go through, but Safe and Distant was just FUN to write. It was the last time I was young and dumb enough to do things like stay up until 7AM writing nonstop. I think I did a good job of managing to take my strength of chronologically disjointed, shorter character driven scenes and stringing them together into something cohesive. I still like the back and forth flashbacks I did and think I did a good job making the flashback scenes related to the current storyline, even with the flashbacks being out of order.

(Ironic that Bilbo was more fun to write, when Thorin was who I fixated on more ferally and thought about more as a character. I'm having the same thing now with Hob and Morpheus lmao. I love rotating those dark, dramatic, brooding king types in my head, but actually writing the internal brooding out makes me want to chew glass and bully their dramatic asses.)

((still don't know why tf I thought Bilbo would be the virgin of the two of them, or why I have that bit in there with a fucking hobbit being a little insecure about pudge. God I was off base with that lmao))

Tagging @alienfuckeronmain, @avelera, @spicedrobot, @insufferablearchanist

#question game #fanfic #my fic #MAN I FORGOT ABOUT THE SCIFI GOLDENFROST FIC

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pretentiouswreckingball · 6 months

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20 questions for fic writers!

thank you for the tag lovely kay @xjustakay <3

1. How many works do you have on ao3?

Six so far!

2. What’s your total ao3 word count?

57,991 —which might not seem much but still, very proud of it, specially because a year ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed writing that many words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far only marauders, but I have some drarry/golden trio era in the making, as well as some PJO and GO so, we’ll see!

4. What are you top 5 fics by kudos?

Since I don’t have that many I’ll only put my top three:

Archenemies (or so he thought) -> Sirius hunts down his bestie James for ditching him on a prank and finds him cuddling with the enemy (a black cat) who turns out to be more of a pain in the ass than he expected, especially because for some reason, the little shit acts a lot like his brother.

Don’t threaten me with a good time -> Ah, Black cats, mischievous little things, aren’t they? Known for being a pain in the ass for older brothers, a good companion for best friends and devil incarnated for lovers and love ones alike.

When it rains -> It all comes down to a certain bus stop on a rainy week. Between interesting chats, pastries and being almost ran over by a purple car, there’s something about the person they share the bus stop with that seems familiar. (Basically a bunch of meet-cutes and pinning idiots being, well, idiots)

5. Do you respond comments? Why or why not?

I do, yes! I love responding to comments but sometimes I tell myself I’m going to answer later in the day and I forget :( but I do love comments, they make my day every time. 💘

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hands down it will be slow dancing in the dark, the whole fic is quite angsty, at least for me, but I wouldn’t say it has a angsty ending, maybe a little— nvm I just re-read it. Yeah, it’s sad.

7. What is a fic your wrote with the happiest ending?

My babygirl some sunny day, that fic is my go-to when I remember this fandom is based in death, angst and misery hahaha. Some sunny day is like a, well, a ray of sunshine lmao. It has my favorite setting, my fave pairs and some Spanish here and there. Love it dearly.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully no, maybe some weird ones but nothing that I would count as hateful. Really grateful for that, dunno what I would do if I were to receive those on a daily basis, never post again most likely lmao.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Haven’t post smut yet but I wrote some, still in the doc and everything but is there, waiting to be posted 😈

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest you’ve written?

Not really my thing, no. but maybe! who knows

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of, haven’t looked Wattpad yet tho.

12. Have you ever has a fic translated?

No, but if anyone would want to, it would be lovely!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

It’s in the making, actually! @sequinhaze and I are doing a drarry fic, so there’s that 😌

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

All-time favorite is a not easy to answer, i mean currently it’s drarry and jeggy but my first was Percabeth and Solangelo, I was a sucker for them and still am. So maybe them.

15. What’s a wip you what to finish but doubt you ever will?

The empire of the sun trilogy jsjsjs maybe I’ll finish the first one but the other two seem pretty far away for me right now, but one never knows so.

Also copying Kay’s answer here because my google docs also looks like a graveyard of unfinished works lmao.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I believe I give a solid characterization and maybe storytelling (?? Inner monologue maybe? love to see the chaos i created in my little puppets.

17. What are you writing weaknesses?

Run on sentences, I’ve been told I tend to do that a lot hehe and comas —also it costs me greatly to just write, if I’m not in the mood it’s hard for me to just go for it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

1000% I’m favor. Some of my fics have French/Spanish in them, I like the idea of leaving non-spanish speakers to go to the end notes or to google translate or straight-up wonder what the hell I’m talking about jsjsj

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Some 1D and JB back in the day, so you bet your asses y/n and I were besties

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

About time, scars and the brightest stars is my absolute favorite. That fic is the love of my life, it has everything I love and more and rn I can put the link bc I took it down so I can finish it all and post it in one go but yeah, that one.

no pressure tags: @sequinhaze @a-fiery-fox @residentrookie @magswrite @fruityindividual @nevvaraven @inevitablestars @arakhnee

#this took me more time than I was expecting but I enjoyed it a lot #loops plays a game #tag games

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hereliesbitches--me · 10 months

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:V: Crawl out through the Fallout:

:V: Crawl out through the Fallout (Fallout):

Who doesn't like a good nuclear apocalypse?

You sure can meet an interesting set of characters in the wasteland

For reference, While I have only really played Fallout 4, the verse is entirely open to adaptation into any of the franchise games as Rosie wanders all around the US as a drifter . If you have any specific plot ideas, let me know!

S.P.E.C.I.A.L Stats:

Strength: 7

Perception: 9

Endurance: 5

Charisma: 10

Intelligence: 8

Agility: 5

Luck: 10

Special Perks:

Rad Resistant

Cannibal

Lead Belly

Steady Aim

Armorer

Sniper

Black Widow

Wasteland Whisperer

Scrapper

Gun Nut

Sneak

Fortune Finder

Scrounger

The Plot Background:

Rosita Roselyn, "Rosie" was born in Boston, Massachusetts well after the world had fallen to its nuclear war. But that's about the limit of what she knows about her birth ; whether she was artificially born as a fault experiment or she is just a new breed of wastelander is entirely up to debate. Not even she knows the truth. Only what's been told to her.

As a toddler, Rosie's parents were killed by Gunners. The hitman, Nova von Ritter, not knowing there was a child involved, couldn't help but feel the vague sense of guilt in leaving the kid behind, so she took the brat in. With the notion at the back of her mind that said brat would maybe be worth someone someday with her mutant cat features.

For most of her youth until she was about 13, Rosie was raised among the gunner gang as an honorary member ; taught the marksman skill, the armoring, the blacksmithing, and all the vital skills it would have taken to be a prime gunner when she finally hit that age to go out on hits with the adults. She loved them as her family, the ache of her lost parents barely there anymore, until she lost the Gunners too.

Though all the Gunners played a role in Rosie's upbringing, Nova was still her primary "parent" responsible for her. Nova von Ritter was always known to be the wild card of the gang, more concerned with her own comfort and well being before anyone else at her core, but a damn good mercenary when push comes to shove, with her pension for violence. If you could look past her innate need for rebellion. When years passed, Rosie getting older, the gunners came down harder on Nova to be a good example and get her shit together. Insulted, she decided on her own she had outgrown the gunners, and the life of raiders seemed more up her alley.

In the dead of night she says she’s going on a mission and taking Rosie out to “Break her in” , but they never did return. From 13 to 18, Rosie’s life had been turned upside down, unable to transition from a military life of routine to the unregulated chaotic life of raiders. Taunted, beaten, pushed around, and sometimes worse , only ever vaguely protected by Nova on the grounds it would make her tougher. She learned thievery and some level of makeshift rigging, but that was the limit from savages.

When she was left in a cage to starve and be used as bait, that was the final straw to break away and fully escape into the big scary world of nuclear fallout.

Rosie had developed a talent by utilizing her strange mutant features, a mastery of thievery. With maxed out charisma and a ridiculous amount of luck on her side, she’s made a life for herself wandering the states collecting shiny goods and tinkering with stolen weapons, she has very few cares in the world besides when she eats and where she’s gonna sleep. Along the way she gained a companion out of a stray german shepherd (Sergeant) and a mutant hound( Major) found beside the corpse of a mutant. She’s even found sanctuary among a mirelurk colony after accidentally subduing the Queen in order to save her life and her hounds. Learning mirelurk is a crafty language on hand when wandering the wasteland with all its unholy beasts. Deathclaw is her 3rd language.

Ultimately, Rosie’s life is one of a drifter looking for her next fix of adventure in the company of strange interesting figures that call the wasteland their home.

Fun Character Details:

◇ Despite what people think ( though, likely don’t care about ) , not all mirelurk colonies are the same. They don’t all just get along, and recognize each other through a certain pattern of movement and even scents. Rosie can recognize her colony and communicate with them through a series of clicking and imitation gestures like snapping her hands like claws, walking around in a certain pattern, and swaying. She knows her colony’s look, scent, and gestures that identifies her with them (After all, what's safer protection than living with a colony of giant acid spitting crabs??)

Rosie finds it highly offensive when people think she can just jump in with any colony and that all mirelurk are the same. They are all individual groups. Rosie got Charisma but it takes time and she’s gotta charm the right wasteland monster to save her tail (aka. Charm the Queen = how she accidentally got adopted into her colony) .

Also offensive to think she speaks cat because she is half cat. Most cats are assholes and they fight because they harass her dogs.

◇ Rosie has an absolutely ungodly fixation with shiny things and will do crazy things to get it. She’s a little thief and if it catches her attention, she will go to the extremes to nab it. This often gets her into major trouble, but shiny is shiny!! You likely know she’s camped out in a spot if you come across a bunker with a mass amount of random shiny objects all piled together– items she collected, but couldn’t take when she had to leave that spot. Ironically, once she has it, she eventually loses interest and just hoards it. Hence why she has no problem leaving it behind after a while, taking only what has value enough to trade or still kept her attention. She is just an irrational lil collector. Even her dogs Judge her when she gets weird with her pile. All her armor is also 80% stolen (from both living and dead)

◇ She can be brought out by nice and interesting shiny things. And items that chime and ring, like any cat. Someone holds her back or she falls for it. She’s literally only alive by sheer luck and instinct. Trained gunner brain vs impulsive animal brain.

◇ When it comes to her two hounds, Rosie has had Sergeant, the German Shepherd, since she was a young girl. She got him while he was a puppy , when she was still a little girl among the Gunners. It was a gift from the head gunner to her, when they found a stray puppy lost while they were on a job. He brought it back to Rosie, and she took him with her when Nova dragged her along to the raiders. It's the reason Sergeant is a lot like a military dog because they taught him commands, how to run supplies, to how to be a defensive attack dog for little Rosie. Because of the events that happened while with the raider group, Sergeant gets viciously aggressive if someone tries to forcefully get between him and Rosie, or when you try to force him into a cage or into a separate room. Dog turns from cool and collected to an absolute feral mad dog, and he’s honestly Rosie’s biggest comfort dogo. He’s grown with her, he’s a rather old dog. Rosie’s other mutant hound, Major, was found beside the body of a dead super mutant who Rosie can only assume was his master. Left out in the open, the poor dog looked like he was starving, but refused to leave the side of its decaying super mutant, even going so far as to defend the body from other wasteland creatures that tried to get it. He had been covered in wounds from those fights, looked close to death, and Rosie with her natural instinct wanted to help the dog. Using her Charisma she’s able to pacify the mutant, offer him food to occupy him, and use her own scare supplies to clean up and bandage his wounds. She camped out in the same area and kept up the routine for a good week before the hound would fully trust her, and once he did Rosie wanted to take him along with her. She dug up a nice hole and hulled the decaying super mutant piece by piece into the hole, then buried it. Once buried, Major seemed to have finally made his peace, and happily went along with Rosie. Major is much younger than Sergeant, and Rosie estimates he’s only a few years old( aka. A puppy) despite being literally as big as she is and twice her weight. He’s more for intimidation and muscle, and alerts both Rosie and Sergeant of danger when they’re all sleeping together in a pile.

◇ Because of her experiences, Rosie has never really formed any kind of real or intimate relationships. She's in her early 20s but the only companions she’s ever had has been with her dogs. She can charm people, she can flirt and talk a big game to aid with her thievery– but to actually go all the way? For someone to actually show interest in her? Rosie.exe shuts down. She freezes and doesn’t know what to do and loses confidence if she doesn’t have a full thought out plan. She’s had crushes but has never actually tried to pursue anyone. She wears gunner goggles because she thinks she looks cool and they protect her eyes, but she also wonders if that turns people away from liking her. She is a sensitive cat thing!!

#mobile verse #:V: Crawl out through the Fallout (FALLOUT):#Fallout rp #apocalypse rp

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graveofm · 2 years

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October 22, 2022

It’s been two weeks since we want back to Manila from La Union to stay by Daddy’s side. A lot had happened since then and I didn’t expect that I’d be this involved. I’ll summarized everything below:

October 7 - Jonas, Alfred, and I have decided to drive back to Manila to show emotional support to Daddy. We left La Union at around lunch time and arrived in Manila at around 7pm. The trip would have been shorter if we didn’t get lost for 2 hours. Jonas and I found ourselves exiting in Subic and we didn’t know why. To be fair, the view was really nice and the sunset was good.

October 8 - Nanay visited Daddy. We drove to Retiro in hopes of attending a healing mass at 12pm. We arrived in an empty church. I went out to pee and found one of the church staff. I found out that the healing masses on Saturdays at Retiro are scheduled at 6am and 7am. The healing mass in Tagaytay is 12pm. Instead, we prayed. I prayed hard. I was trying my best not to cry, not even when we were walking towards the exit and daddy couldn’t take it anymore so he had to sit on the ground. Mind you, it was less than a 2-minute walk.

October 9 - Sunday. What happened that Sunday? I can’t remember. All I know is Jonas and I went to pick up Tita Mended. That night, we also brought her home. It was so simple yet I can’t fathom why Baldo couldn’t do that for her -- even when Tita Mended would visit Paltok just to take care of Sofia.

October 10 - I remember this day. I timed in hopes that I could work, but I couldn’t so I filed an emergency leave. My itinerary then was NKTI - Tita Mended’s house (sundo) - Market - Tita Mended’s house (hatid). Funny because amidst this adversity, Garry is still messaging me about things that I don’t give a shit about. I couldn’t care less about anything else except those that concerns daddy.

October 11 - This is the time when daddy vomitted blood -- a lot. His stool is also black. I know it means that he has an internal bleeding. At 6PM, Jonas and I drove to PGH with them. It was at 9PM when Kuya Zeth advised us to proceed to the ER. Only two companions are allowed but as an overthinker, I stayed. Ninja style. I stayed until 8AM the next morning. I couldn’t believe that I’d have the strength (physically and mentally) to take care of daddy. Again, I tried my best not to cry. Even when I felt how thin he was that time, even when I saw him shaking because it was too cold, even when I wiped the tears on his cheeks because the medicine injected to him was too painful, even when I saw how uncomfortable he was, trying to sleep while sitting from 9pm up to the next morning. I left at 8AM because the guards are getting more strict. (P.S. I know those guards are just doing their jobs but I thought maybe they could lose the attitude? They are getting paid by OUR taxes and the least they could do is be nice.)

October 12 - Did not get proper sleep. We had to pick up Mama Lenie at the airport. On the way to Paltok, I got reminded of how wonderful and brave she was when she was battling cancer.

October 13 - Another sleepless and super tiring day. Daddy needed blood. I was thankful for Ate Imelda, Romel, Kuya Rico, and of course, my Jonas for willing to donate blood even on short notice. They were only informed last night but they were still okay with that. Ate Imelda, Romel, and Kuya Rico arrived there at 6am. Jonas and I arrived at 8am -- we got lucky that Jonas was able to secure the third to the last slot for the day. It wasn’t a good day because they all got hungry, got rained on, got home late. We were able to drive them home at around 8pm. Our lunch dinner was at around 4PM at Mang Inasal. Again, I am super thankful to them. We were able to complete the required bags in just a day all because of them.

October 14 - This was supposed to be my rest day. But Paopao was too makulit. Baldo is really selfish. He borrowed Jonas’ car and said that he’d be back early. He came back at around 5pm. In short, I wasn’t able to help in the hospital because of him. We were able to meet Ava, too. She’s a small kid but it looks like she has a big heart. Too early to say.

October 15 - 16 - I still can’t remember what happened here. One thing to note, Summer died. I hope she brought Daddy’s illness with her.

October 17 - 21 - Went back to work. I’m annoyed with everyone in RT except for Pat, Roy, and Dom. Having two jobs, I can’t help but compare the two. In RT, I can’t really feel the sympathy from them except for Roy and Pat. I don’t know why but I feel like Garry is expecting that things would get back to normal. This is one of the many reasons why I can’t really see RT as a place I’d love to stay at. Unlike in Reveel, I can feel the sympathy from Ailene. She’s really curious about what happened and expressed that the team is willing to help in any way possible. Hay. Avoiding the bad vibes so anyway, during the week, PGH have decided to do another biopsy to daddy. Doctors can’t rule out the result. Some are saying that he has cancer, some say that he’s negative. I am still praying that it’s not cancer. I hope Summer was able to save him from that illness.

Then back to the present. Daddy and Mama was supposed to go home but they were still processing the documents. If it were for me, I’d really like them to stay in the hospital while waiting for the biopsy. I just can’t figure why Daddy is too eager to go home when there’s nothing he can do there. Is it because of Baldo, that selfish bastard? I don’t know.

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1uckygold · 3 years

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Changing One's Tune (2)

Summary: Hybrids have always been known to humanity after scientist decided to test the limits of the animal genetics on humans. Now the world uses them as adoptable companions, which is why a group of friends found their way at a Hybrid Shelter. Though one trip turns into an ugly fight involving Yoongi to walk away—But what happens when that same male finds a cat hybrid that is scared out of her mind with a dark past. Who said that dark past was over?

~Pairing: Min Yoongi (BTS) | Suga x Hybrid f! Reader

~Genre: Angst & Fluff, Hybrid au

~Word Count: 3.4K

~Tag List: @fangirl125reader @wooya1224 @halesandy @aviwasabi21 @mrcleanheichou

Part: 01 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06 / 07 / 08 / 09 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / More Chapters Soon...

“Fuck,” Yoongi groaned out in irritation, hand falling to his side after trying to open the glass doors to an animal clinic. He was soaking wet from being in the rain too long, his black jacket being the only thing keeping you warm and safe in his arms.

A sound of a horn blaring caught his attention, the taxi waiting impatiently on the side of the road. Yoongi rolled his eyes at the driver, deciding the next best thing that would be open is an animal hospital.

“Nearest animal hospital. Step on it,” Yoongi brushed his wet bangs out of his eyes, closing the door once inside the car. The driver starting to grumble to himself about his backseats now being wet while putting a destination into the GPS. Once they started to move, Yoongi peeled back the jacket to see you sleeping.

He would have thought it was cute if the given situation weren’t what is was, your wounds making him frown at someone or something doing this. Hesitantly, Yoongi touched the top of your head to feel your soft fur, being gentle to not wake or hurt you any further. When he felt the fur was slightly damp instead of full-on wet like in the beginning is when Yoongi sighed in relief, glad that his jacket was providing help by keeping you dry.

A twitch of your ears is when he pulled back, the feeling of your little cat body tensing up in his lap. Yoongi’s nose scrunched up when seeing that you didn’t wake up but what looked like discomfort cross your face, whiskers twitching constantly. It almost seemed as if you were having a nightmare making Yoongi confuse. Can cats have nightmares… do they even dream? He didn’t know a lot about cats or animals, so it’s always possible.

The feel of the car coming to a complete stop is when Yoongi snapped out of his thoughts, covering you back up before grabbing money owed out of his wallet. He practically threw the bills at the driver, getting out of the car with you back into his arms again.

“Hey! These bills are soaking wet!” The taxi driver yelled out in annoyance, rolling down the windows to wave the money around to show his point. The dollars limp and sticking together, a few droplets falling on the passenger’s seat.

“You have working air conditioning, right? Use it!” Yoongi scoffed, rushing inside the animal hospital from one of the main entrances, ignoring the man that was still shouting at him.

Yoongi flinched when walking into the building, his eyes being used to the darkness outside making him have to blink a couple of times to adjust from the bright light. Many people turned their heads at a new presence, while most didn’t even spare a second glance.

Scanning the entire room, Yoongi didn’t waste time to rush at the front desk when spotting it, almost startling a female worker from seeing a soaked to the bone man rush towards her. “Um, how can I help you sir?” She questioned cautiously after noticing a pet wasn’t seen anywhere.

“Yeah, hi. I found this black cat in an alley, they’re hurt, and I didn’t know what to do—Shit, can you just help me?” Yoongi stumbled out as he carefully placed the bundle on the counter, peaking the females curiosity as she peeled back the article of clothing only to gasp seeing the state of condition you are in.

“Let’s not waste anymore time, we need to get them in the back to be examined by a doctor immediately. I just need from you to fill this out and sit in the waiting room,” The woman opened up a drawer to pull out papers to put them on a clipboard, handing them to Yoongi before scooping you up as if you were fragile glass.

Others might have thought he didn’t really care, Yoongi watching you go with an uninterested expression, but his eyes told a different emotion as concern flashed brightly. He did not mind that whatever treatment the doctors decide it will cost quite a fortune, his income being able to afford it.

It was then a familiar ringing echoed around his ears did Yoongi remember about a certain something… or somebodies in this case.

“Yoongi! Finally!! Do you know how worried we all were when you didn’t answer any of our calls or messages? What is a matter with you?! You know my heart can’t take this stress!” Seokjin’s scolding voice shouted through the speakers, Yoongi having to flinch the phone away from his poor ears because of the loud shrill volume. Even some people turned their heads when hearing little screaming.

“I know, I know… I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to call but something—”

“Is that hyung?” Jungkook’s voice in the background interrupted him, the sound of struggles being heard on the other side. Yoongi sighed, sitting in an empty chair away from everyone else that was waiting with their pets to be seen. Jungkook and Seokjin was heard arguing back and forth for the phone, it wasn’t until other voices came on that he had enough already.

“Guys… Guys! —Look just come to…” Yoongi trailed off to try and find the name for this animal hospital, eventually looking down at the clipboard in his lap and giving it to them. “Oh and bring me a change of clothes, please.”

“Wait, what? Yoongi—” Seokjin tried to ask why, his tone of voice completely baffled only to be cut off as Yoongi hung up the phone. Not wasting time to fill out the papers that were needed for the hospital to continue, leaving some information blank, and checking that it was in order before he handed it in.

Sitting back down in the same seat, Yoongi relaxed only to shiver seconds later when finally feeling the cold air hit him since he was still wet from the rain. Though the thought on the way he found you, pushed the idea of going home to take a nice hot shower and snuggle up in his comfortable blankets.

Yoongi couldn’t believe that his day went from going to a hybrid shelter to, now, being at an animal hospital. He just hoped the injures on you weren’t as bad as they seemed.

Soon a yawn broke out, and it wasn’t long until he drifted off to sleep in the uncomfortable chair. However just as his eyes closed, they snapped back open when feeling someone roughly poking him hesitantly, almost as if they were scared to wake him.

His vision was blurry at first, needing to rub his eyes to focus on four figures standing in front of him with fearful expressions, a selfie stick in Seokjin’s hand that was used to poke him awake a good distance away.

“Yah! I’m too beautiful to die,” The oldest cried in fear as Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jungkook pushed him forward to Yoongi as a sacrificial lamp in case they were going to be murdered from waking him. Receiving only a blank stare is when they sighed in relief, if Yoongi wanted to kill them all then he would have done it by now.

Yoongi got up from the chair to stretch his limps out only to be shoved back down when someone practically tackled him in tears, a choked sound falling from his lips from the impact. Jimin had ran inside the hospital with Taehyung following closely behind, breaking down once Yoongi came into his sights.

“Yoongi!! I’m so sorry on what I said! I didn’t mean it; I love your music. It’s so lovely and you can always count on me for anything—Look, I even brought you the clothes you wanted!” The fox hybrid was in tears at remembering the fight that happened earlier, Jimin couldn’t handle that he was the reason one of his brother-like friends had been gone for hours without a word. Yoongi’s hurt expression haunting him since then.

“It’s fine. I’m sorry too, now please… get off me. You’re too heavy for someone’s height like yours,” Yoongi scoffed out, trying to push the hybrid off him that gasped dramatically in offense.

“My height?! You make it sound like you’re taller when we’re about the same!”

“Whatever. Either get off willingly or be pushed off,” Yoongi rolled his eyes with a small grin as everyone else laughed at Jimin’s pout, his fox tail waving around playfully behind him.

“Fine—Wait! Why do you…” Jimin frowned, his nose twitching as his fox ears and tail stood up tall in alert. Yoongi gave him a confused look, not quite understanding what Jimin wanted to say as he shut up, the hybrid inches away from his face to sniff the scent that smelled familiar. He would have thought Jimin was trying to be his flirty self, but the serious expression on his face was obvious he wasn’t.

Everyone was startled when Jimin pulled back, jumping off Yoongi’s lap with such speed as surprised etched all over his face. He was biting his bottom lip nervously, before dragging the hybrids away to whisper something to them as they looked at Yoongi as if he were an alien. All of them going to sniff the scent for themselves as Namjoon, Seokjin, and Yoongi watched on in confusion.

“Okay, what is going on with you four?” Namjoon asked with a raised eyebrow seeing the hybrids whispering to each other in a heated conversation. Hoseok glanced at his owner, his dog instincts told him to obey and spill everything but one look at Jimin had him turning his eyes to the floor. It was an odd thing to watch the hybrids being secretive, all of them use to sharing and knowing everything amongst themselves.

Yoongi got up from his chair, sharing the same knowing look from Seokjin and Namjoon as all three of them turned towards the hybrids with stern looks… more specially a certain hybrid.

“Jungkookie… speak. What got you guys worked up?” Seokjin frowned at the tall hybrid bunny, the name making his black ears stand tall upon currently receiving the unwanted attention.

Jungkook tried not to look at any of his hyungs, but one glance was all he needed to break. The youngest was never good at disobeying a serious order from them. Damn, why did they have to raise him so well? Jungkook let out a nervous squeal unconsciously, slapping a hand over his mouth only for his leg to start thumping against the ground. “I… Yoongi just—”

“You smell like a hybrid,” Taehyung blurted without hesitation when Jungkook started to stumble over his words. Hoseok and Jimin looking at the white tiger hybrid with shocked faces, their mouths dropping open.

“Tae!!” Jimin hissed, the feline hybrid blinking innocently with a frown.

“What?” Taehyung asked with a cute tilt of his head, white tiger ears twitching as he pouted, trying to find a reason why his best friend was practically glaring at him.

“It was supposed to be a secret until we can confirm it,” Hoseok whined, golden floppy ears going flat on the back of his head as he latched himself to the hybrids arm. Taehyung’s eyes widen in realization before a sheepish smile broke out. “Oh… uh, oops?”

“That’s what this was about? Obviously, I would smell like a hybrid. I haven’t changed since we were at the hybrid shelter earlier,” Yoongi snorted, gesturing to his wet hair and damp clothing. Seokjin and Namjoon chuckling, none of them seem to get what the hybrids were actually saying.

Jimin glanced at the others with a frown, they didn’t get it. There was no possible way for Yoongi to smell like another hybrid from going to the shelter, the glass that was keeping hybrids at a distance prevented any scent interaction to link together. Especially since those scents don’t last for more than a few minutes unless they were scent marking. Though this aroma smelled like if the hybrid was in close proximity, but that wasn’t the shocking part… they smelled terrified.

The fox hybrid watched Yoongi head to the restroom to change into the new pair of clothes he got him with curious eyes. “Hey, Jiminie… isn’t that the guy from the shelter? Smells like him,” Hoseok mumbled softly, a tug on his hoodie and the comment distracted Jimin to look. The familiar scent made it’s way through his nose, ears perking up straight as his tail stood tall in realization.

“Aw man! I should have gone so I’d know what you both are talking about,” Jungkook pouted, his nose twitching to try and smell anything familiar but immediately scrunching up his nose when smelling a few unpleasant scents that he didn’t like.

Namjoon and Seokjin turned towards a man talking at the front desk, the familiar face made Namjoon perk up as they got closer with the hybrids following closely behind.

“Sujin?”

The owner of the name turned, following the direction of whoever was calling for him. Eyes widening in recognition seeing Namjoon’s face and Yoongi just coming out of the bathroom, heading towards them. A nervous smile broke out on Sujin’s face seeing them, the last time they saw each other was after the fight and it was an extremely awkward conversation.

“Oh, it’s you guys. Namjoon, Hoseok, Jimin, and Yoongi right?” He asked while pointing at each of them correctly.

“Yeah, and these our friends we talked about—Seokjin, Jungkook, and Taehyung,” Namjoon introduced, Sujin’s eyes lightening up when seeing the bunny and tiger hybrid. This was the first time he has seen a predator and prey in the same room without it being a total disaster. The man was in awe that Jungkook wasn’t even scared of Taehyung, but mostly because he was also extremely taller than an average size bunny hybrid.

“Yes, the owner of the prey and predator! This is the first time I am seeing this kind of interaction so it’s an honor to meet you three,” Sujin smiled brightly, outstretching a hand for them to shake but retracting in realization when seeing Jungkook suddenly stiffen. Scared squeals coming from his mouth as bunny ears stood tall for a second before draping over to cover his eyes, Jungkook starting to hide behind the tiger hybrid.

“Ah! My apologies!!! I forgot to wash all the hybrids scents off me before coming down here,” The shelter owner backed a good distant away from the bunny hybrid. Jungkook calming down only slightly from Hoseok hugged him in comfort, the dog hybrid’s scent making his stress ease up as Jungkook mumbled that it was fine softly.

“Kid, why don’t you go sit with the rest over there,” Yoongi said with a frown, noticing his foot thumping lightly on the floor. It was obvious that Jungkook was not fine, the mixer of many predator scents rolling off Sujin was taking a toll on the bunny hybrid. The youngest tried to hide it, Jungkook didn’t want to be rude but when it came down to it, he practically ran across the room to sit down as the hybrids followed the bunny with concern.

“Don’t worry about it, he’ll be fine. Kook is more sensitive to smells than most bunnies, but he’s also stronger than others,” Seokjin waved off the man’s multiple apologies, giving a small smile at the way the guy was stressing out about making the bunny hybrid uncomfortable.

“What are you all doing here anyways?” Sujin questioned with a raised eyebrow as Yoongi’s eyes widen having everyone’s attention on him. Namjoon and Seokjin curious as well since he never explained why they were at an animal hospital.

“Well… you see… I found this stray cat on my walk by an alleyway. They were hurt, I couldn’t just leave them there—It just didn’t feel right to do that, okay?!” Yoongi stumbled over his words, a light blush creeping on his cheeks at the guys amused smirks seeing him being so soft instead of his bad boy persona. However before they could tease him a worker called out his name.

“Min Yoongi?” A female around Jungkook’s age spoke kindly, her eyes looking down at the clipboard in her hand before glancing up to see the music composer standing in front of her. The woman’s eyes widen as a blush made it’s way on her cheeks, getting shy from seeing such a gorgeous man.

“Are you just going to keep staring or give me the results on the cat I brought in?” Yoongi tsked at the female, who immediately got embarrassed from staring too long without a word. It didn’t help the female when seeing Namjoon and Seokjin standing behind him. Despite the embarrassment, she sure did pick at the right hospital to work at.

“My deepest apologies, that was rude of me—The cat you found has been through quite a lot, it seems that they were physically abused for a few years. We did some tests and were able to find out that they have been dehydrated and starved… bruising on the neck from what seems like rope burn and untreated injuries. They even had a few broken bones, thankfully nothing was punctured or bleeding internally,” The female listed off, doing a complete 180 from being a blushing mess to professional. The list made Yoongi feel sick to his stomach, and he knew the others were feeling the same.

“Do you know if the cat is a hybrid or non?” Sujin asked seriously, his usually nice demeanor gone. The hospital had called him because there was a stray brought in and they needed him in case it was a hybrid transformed.

“You must be Sujin—No, I’m sorry. We won’t be able to run any hybrid tests until they are fully recovered since they would need to be alert, but as of now they are completely exhausted and stressed. If Min Yoongi agrees, we can start treatment right away and provide medication that is safe for both Hybrid and Non-hybrids to take. Then after a few weeks when they are fully healed, we will be able to hand the cat over to you,” Sujin nodded in understanding at the female’s explanation, Yoongi’s head turning sharply to the man in confusion.

“Wait, hold up. Why would the hospital hand the cat over to you? I found them,” Yoongi questioned with a frown, not getting why Sujin would get the cat. They don’t even know if the cat is a hybrid or not, it didn’t make sense.

“Min Yoongi, the cat is a stray. Please understand that Sujin is an owner of a hybrid shelter and co-owner of another shelter that is specifically for non-hybrids. They would need to go in his custody since you are not the owner of this animal,” The worker explained hesitantly, afraid to anger the handsome male because of protocol.

Yoongi sat in silence for a long moment with a scowl, eyes appearing to be calculating possible outcomes of something. They all thought he was mad, only for the next words that came out of his mouth to surprise everyone that really knew him.

“I’ll adopt them, then.”

A month passed; your healing took a bit longer than what was expected but there were many untreated injures. During that time, you have been sleeping to rest up and regain your energy as you healed. It certainly made it easier for doctors to help treat you.

However, as the day got closer to you being completely healed, doctors have discovered your aggressive state against humans. Even going as far to needing to call in a feline hybrid doctor to work with you.

The female had to run the hybrid test on you, especially since the doctor had smelt hybrid off you but wasn’t able to feel any human part since you were able to block them off from sensing that side of you. Afterwards, you practically grinned inside when manipulating them to thinking you were a regular cat

Really… it wasn’t that hard.

Though what you didn’t know yet was that Yoongi, the man that saved your life that day had been with Sujin to set up the adoption papers. Namjoon and Seokjin have been buying tons of cat supplies and toys, both excited that Yoongi was actually adopting a companion. It was no hybrid, but it was a first step.

Either of you knowing that your lives were about to change for the better.

~~~~

Welcome to the second chapter of Changing One's Tune! Your past took a bad toll on you, but now you have four hybrids to worry about next. They are already suspicious, will they continue diggin' for more answers or will you be able to side-track them?

Also if anyone wishes to be tag in further chapters, please contact me through my message box. I'll only be going up to 20 tags for each chapter! Thank you.

Likes, Comments, Reblogs, and Follows are very much appreciated if you enjoy the story, it's always exciting to know that you like my writing and gives me more motivation to update faster!

See you all soon, Stay Gold! <3

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oonajaeadira · 3 years

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The Mandalorian Tarot: Major Arcana

If you’re following me, you know this is a Mandalorian obsessive account. I love the man, I love the show, I write a Mando-fando that is all about pining and touch. I tend to go all in when I have an interest.

Another one of my interests? Tarot. A friend challenged me to Mandalorify the major arcana. And because Jon and Dave know their stuff and are good with archetypes (which is all tarot really is), it was an easy fit.

YOU GOT MANDO IN MY TAROT. YOU GOT TAROT IN MY MANDO. TWO GREAT TASTES THAT TASTE GREAT TOGETHER.

But. I can’t draw, so I’ve dreamed them in words and included the Rider-Waite-Smith deck illustrations that I would riff on if I could.

READY? LET’S PLAY.

(All tarot illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. All Mandalorian images property of Star Wars/Disney.)

UPDATE! @heathenashtattoos has taken up where I cannot and is making these cards a reality! I will post them individually and come back to link them to this post as we go.

0 THE FOOL = THE MANDALORIAN / IT IS MADE! --->

The story of the tarot is the Fool’s journey, the arc of becoming. So it makes sense to me that Din would be the fool. Fits even better, since he has tremendous Fool energy in his himbo tendencies, just rushing forward into situations without a lot of planning--he’ll deal with it when he’s in it--ready to rely on others to show him the way or guide/help him to the next step.

If I could draw: Din on the cliff, with his jetpack on, meaning he has no fear of falling. Instead of the bindle-stick the Fool carries, he’d have his pulse rifle slung over his shoulder. Instead of the dog nipping at his heels, Grogu. And, of course, the landscape would be Tatooine/Navaro-esque.

~~~

1 THE MAGICIAN = LUKE SKYWALKER , IT IS MADE! --->

The Magician is someone who is still learning to bend the laws of magic/the Universe, but very adept with their tools. Since Luke is only a few years into his Jedi training at this time, he makes a pretty good Magician.

If I could draw: Luke in his blacks, holding up his lightsaber. The Jedi symbol would replace the infinity sign.

***

2 THE HIGH PRIESTESS = AHSOKA TANO / IT IS MADE! -->

High Priestess is further along the path of her magic than Magician, and her knowledge is more intuitive, her skills more effortless. Where the Magician is still learning the balance of light and dark, the High Priestess knows the value and pitfalls of both. It was always going to be Ahsoka.

If I could draw: Ahsoka sitting cross-legged in meditation mode, but with eyes open and a knowing smile. Instead of two pillars, she holds her lightsabers up and parallel to each other.

***

3 THE EMPRESS = PELI MOTTO / IT IS MADE! -->

The Empress is the mother figure, the energy in the universe that provides all that is needed and embodies the energy of creation. I can see the argument for Omera being the Empress--mostly because she is a mom and she’s soft and a lot of people see the Empress as a soft female figure, I get it. (And if I were to do a minor arcana, girl would show up as one of the Queens for sure.) But in the end, I gave it to Peli because she’s a recurring character, more relevant in his story, and if Din is the Fool, Peli is more an Empress to him. She’s able to be the provider of his particular needs; services to his ship to get him up flying, contact and location information, and she’s always willing to care for Grogu whenever she gets the chance.

If I could draw: Peli sitting in the dock, against the R4 unit, holding aloft a spanner and surrounded by her pit droids.

***

4 THE EMPEROR = BOBA FETT / IT IS MADE! -->

The Emperor is all about authority. And all I gotta say about Boba is BIG DICK ENERGY.

If I could draw: Just put him on the Jabba throne and let him lounge like a badass.

~~~

5 THE HIEROPHANT = THE ARMORER / IT IS MADE! -->

The Hierophant is the keeper of traditions and a spiritual guide. As the leader of the covert and keeper of the Way, The Armorer fits.

If I could draw: The Armorer, framed by her forge, holding aloft her tools, with Mandalorian acolytes. Instead of the crossed keys at the bottom, let’s just have a mythosaur skull.

***

6 THE LOVERS = FROG LADY AND FROG HUSBAND

This should be obvious and I will fight anyone who says it isn’t the right thing to do. I will die for this.

If I could draw: I would actually depart from the Smith depiction and just draw them embracing or holding each other by the arms and staring into each others’ eyes. Some kind of glowing background? Maybe the egg tank?

***

7 THE CHARIOT = THE MUDHORN

Oh. You thought I was going to say the Razor Crest, didn’t you. Don’t worry, I have plans for our beloved craft, but it ain’t here. The Chariot can be a ride, yes, but it’s about victory. Sometimes it’s about the victory over your inner “beastly” natures. To travel to the next phase in the journey, the Fool must take on the beasts that drive the Chariot and claim dominance over them, and when he does, they will carry him to the next level. Since it’s the victory of the beastly mudhorn that brings Din to his bond with Grogu and becomes his signet, Mudhorn for the win.

If I could draw: Again, I’d probably play on Smith’s imagery, put the charging mudhorn in the middle, and replace the rams with Din on his knees brandishing the vibroblade and Grogu in his pram with his Force hand up.

***

8 STRENGTH = CARA DUNE

Don’t come at me about including Cara. I am glad Gina got shown the door and I lose no love on that bigot. But. Cara is not Gina and to cut her out is to cut out Jon and Dave’s creation and I won’t do it. I actually love her a lot--she’s got her flaws, but she’s sassy and strong and solid, and I would happily accept a piggyback ride from her any day. She’s also a major player in Din’s story and deserves a spot in it. Strength comes after the Chariot--once you’ve conquered the beast within, you have confident dominion over it and it becomes a companion or a tool for your use. Cara is one with her toughness, she’s used it to do some good and bad shit in her past, and she continues to wield it effortlessly and fearlessly. She is absolutely this card.

If I could draw: I would put her maybe sitting on top of the downed ATST. I’d replace the infinity symbol over her head with the one on her cheek (Rebel Alliance).

~~~

9 THE HERMIT = KUIIL

The Hermit is a loner, yes, but in his solitude he looks within, learns from all he’s been through, and becomes wise. He holds aloft a light of wisdom and truth. This was always going to be Kuiil.

If I could drawn: Just our buddy, looking out over the Arvala-7 landscape, holding aloft an in-universe working lamp. No need to get fancy. He would want it to stay simple.

***

10 THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE = IMPERIAL SYMBOL AND STORM TROOPERS

The Wheel is fate. You win some, you lose some. Sometimes you’re on top, and sometimes the Wheel crushes you beneath it. You are helpless to its roll and where you’ll land. Storm Troopers are such a sad bunch. They are keepers of Imperial Law on the ground. On a good day, they capture a Rebel or hold off an attack. On a bad day, their Moff just blasts them to make an example.

If I could draw: The wheel would just be the Imperial symbol and there’d be Troopers on and under it. Maybe the one on top is just standing there, looking authoritative. The one underneath has been blasted. Some Wheels have two more figures--one on each side--and I’d add those too. The one on the down-going side would be falling, arms flailing, blaster shooting (if only sound were available, there’d be a Whilhelm scream), and the one on the up-going side would just be dangling by one arm, along for the ride.

***

11 JUSTICE = COBB VANTH

Well, it just feels right to make the Marshal into Justice. But it’s not just a literal translation of making sure the right thing gets done and the bad guys are punished. Justice is about wiping away emotion and making decisions with bare truth, looking at every side of the situation and understanding what is really there. And I think Cobb fits this well. He doesn’t want to give up his armor because of what it means for the protection of his people. But he’s willing to consider it, if there’s another way he can protect them. Emotionally, he doesn’t want to deal with the Tusken Raiders, but he does it because he can see it’s the best course of action. He flies into battle with the Krayt Dragon. He gives up his armor without a fight. He makes a fair trade and sees the balance in it because he walks away from the emotion and chooses the best course of action. Cobb Vanth for Justice, errybody.

If I could draw: Cobb in the Fett armor, but with the helmet at his feet. In one hand, a bottle of spotchka. In the other, the Tusken mushroom drinky thing; he’s holding them with equal balance.

***

12 THE HANGED MAN = MIGS MAYFELD

The Hanged Man is not just about a dude who’s hanging upside down. (If that was the case, I would have just gone with Gor Koresh and called it a day.) Hanged Man is about changing your perspective to see things in a new way so you can grow. Many times, this growth also requires sacrifice. Over the two episodes we see Mayfeld, we know he goes from Imperial sharp shooter, to traumatized deserter, to merc, prisoner, and exonerated friend. He’s seen some shit, given up a lot, and he’s willing to see how he can be a help to others and find redemption for himself.

If I could draw: Hear me out. Take the image of Mayfeld hanging upside down from the Crest hatch into the prison ship. Mirror that above with an image of him in his Imperial Ground Transport gear. Flip it all upside down so bad Mayfeld up top, good Mayfeld on bottom, images mirrored but inverted, hence “looking at things a new way and getting everything a little topsy-turvey.”

~~~

13 DEATH = MOFF GIDEON

Death is about transformation, so it’s not always the most sinister card. But Death does not discriminate. It comes for us all, constantly stalking, and it will strike you down to serve its needs. You need to face Death to get to your redemption. But really, Gideon is our big baddie here, so why the hell not.

If I could draw: I would forgo the Smith illustration and go for the Marseilles tradition on this one. Gideon and the Darksaber replaces Death and the scythe.

***

14 TEMPERANCE = IG-11

Temperance is the transformation that comes after Death. Once Death has chopped your physical being into pieces with his scythe, Temperance is there to take all your pieces and put them back together into something new and better. It’s also a card that asks you to re-evaluate your priorities and see if you can find better motivations than you previously had. IG’s death and reprogramming speak loudly to me on this.

If I could draw: IG pouring the tea.

***

15 THE DEVIL = THE CLIENT

Here’s another baddie card that’s all about your worst faults, about excess and giving into the stuff that will eventually kill your soul. The Client holds on hard to the Empire, doing whatever he’s ordered to do to be one of the top dogs. And in the end, it doesn’t matter. Gideon takes him down like he’s nothing.

If I could draw: The client, wearing his Empire bling, with chains around Doctor Pershing and a rough-looking Storm Trooper.

***

16 THE TOWER = THE RAZOR CREST

I don’t know about you, but Chapter 14 killed me. And not because the Dark Troopers flew away with Grogu. We all knew Din would never stop at getting him back. But when the Crest was destroyed, it was like someone punched me in the soft parts, and I made a lot of severely anguished noises. The Tower is the most tragic card in the tarot. It’s when forces beyond your control make a very big (and usually negative) impact in your life and everything changes. You are left to pick up the pieces and survive any way you can with the skills and resources you’ve been blessed with.

If I could draw: Just that moment of the ray hitting our beautiful Crest, just as it begins to break apart, maybe with Din, Boba, and Fennec watching in horror in the foreground.

~~~

17 THE STAR = GROGU

The Star is hope. It comes after the biggest tragedy in the deck to tell you that not all is lost. There is always something there to live for. C’mon, kids. In this series, there was only one choice.

If I could draw: Just Grogu. Maybe drinking his soup. Or maybe he’s levitating his metal ball overhead, reaching up to it with a smile on his face. *coos*

***

18 THE MOON = BO KATAN KRYZE

We all like Bo Katan, sure. But remember my Clone Wars/Rebels fiends, she was Death Watch, and they were terrorists. She sided with Maul to take over Mandalore. Sure, she’s come a long way and her path is a bit more honorable now, but she’s got an agenda, which makes her hard to trust. Since the Moon is about more feminine energies and has themes of illusion and deception--things look great in the moonlight, but maybe not as they really are--Bo Katan’s our girl.

If I could draw: Head and shoulders profile, double-imaged so you see her face, but her Nite Owl helmet superimposed in profile over it. Nite Owl signet on the bottom. Possibly flanked by her two Nite Owl cronies.

***

19 THE SUN = GREEF KARGA

Everything's sunny when Greef’s around! He’s the feel-good gramps that’s going to make any situation A-Ok! If you’ve got a problem, Greef can sort it out...or he knows someone who can! The sun is always gonna shine on you and take you back.

If I could draw: Just Greef smiling and being cheesy with the halo of the sun around him.

***

20 JUDGEMENT = FENNEC SHAND

This card traditionally shows the resurrected rising from the grave, ready to be judged. Fennec’s got a lot to answer for in her life, but she is being given a second chance, and my number one girl crush is going to do new and wonderful badass things with it.

If I could draw: I’d either just show her opening her gut pocket to show her new works, all full of aura, with her looking down at it reverently. OR I might do a scene of her being rescued by Boba.

~~~

21 THE WORLD = THE HELMET

Din’s helmet is the world he lives in. But it’s also a symbol of The Way. The World represents completion, a wholeness of self and being, the end of the journey. And since Din is our Fool, his journey is an exploration of his morals and honor, what it means to walk the way of the Mandalore, and what the meaning of the helmet is for him. He may choose ultimately to keep it on and go all-in on Mandalorian-4-lyfe (Child of the Watch style), or he may understand that the helmet is just a symbol and the honor was in him all along; he can wear it or not wear it and it’s all the same.

If I could draw: The World usually depicts a circle or sphere of some kind, the symbol of perfect completion. The helmet is close enough, so it takes up the center. Traditionally, there are four symbols in the corners that give more meaning to The World, and I would replace them with The Razor Crest, Grogu, the Mudhorn Signet, and the pulse rifle or blaster. These represent his home, his foundling, his clan, and his religion, all of which make up more of the whole; what it means to him to be Mandalorian.

~~~~~~~~~~

Challenge accepted and faced.

Adira dops her witchy mic….

#the mandalorian #mandalorian #tarot #mandalorian tarot #star wars #din djarin #luke skywalker #ahsoka tano #grogu #bo katan hate gang

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hiddenhistoria · 3 years

Text

Find the word tag VIII

Tagged by @zmlorenz and @sleepyowlwrites, thank you both! My words are: flower, friend, fragrance, fun, free/ air, break, clear, danger, and excite/ suspect, sick, safe, and solid. As always, snippets from These Cursed Paths.

Flower

She makes towards the kitchen, feet soundless, hand reaching for her gun. The parsen is still on the set table, waiting to be feasted upon. She looks away, ignoring the pang of her chest, and focuses on the task at hand. No intruders here, either. Jehona figures they must be watching the entrances.

And she is right.

Another Kairanese girl has made base in the living room, facing the front door. She doesn’t hesitate. The girl slumps much like her companion outside. Jehona sweeps through the rest of the house with the same efficiency, finding two more girls, one in each bedroom. Only the last one, a Kairanese that must have been Rumaysa’s age, is vigilant enough to sense her coming into her room and put up a fight. Jehona breaks the only flower vase she owns over the girl’s head. She makes a mental note to replace it and the wilting flowers that have fluttered to the ground before Rumaysa finds out.

Chapter 8

Friend

Another shot pings on the cobblestones. Rumaysa bites her lip to stop from making any noise. Her leg shakes from the strain and she leans against the wall of a building, moving at a crawling pace. Rounding the corner, she drags herself along the wall. Even her head fails her, her eyesight going blurry as she slides down, sitting on the road, the yielding a reprieve for her battered body. Everything hurts: her leg, her shoulder, her hands. The crutches escape her grip, clanging as they hit the ground.

“Who’s there?”

Rumaysa starts, hope blooming in her chest. She knows that voice, the cold uninterested timbre it adapts with strangers. Her eyes, which she didn’t even realize had slid closed of their own volition, fly open. “Jehona?”

And it is indeed her best friend rushing towards her, brown locks flying with the wind, voice frantic. “Rumaysa?” She crouches down in front of her, placing blessedly cool hands on her flaming cheeks. “Are you hurt? What are you even doing here?” Jehona’s eyes do a sweep of her sprawled body, the brown dark with worry and panic.

Chapter 5

Fun

“Can you even worry?” he snips back.

She shrugs. “If I try hard enough. Now, I’ll operate under the assumption that you actually got some information to share with the class—” Hideyoshi nods. “—so we’ll retreat for tonight. I doubt we’d be able to go out again, either way, what with the uproar you’ve caused.”

“That would be advisable,” the gargantuan remarks, pulling a miraculously clean kerchief from somewhere on his person to wipe at his face. “I’d also advise you against wearing that cloak next time we go in. You’ve made an enemy.”

Jehona turns on her heel, leading them back. “All in a day’s work, Hideyoshi,” she throws over her shoulder.

“Of course she’s flippant about it,” he mutters under his breath and she smirks to herself. He’ll make her life hard and, in turn, she’ll make his life hard. Thankfully, riling the gargantuan up is fun.

Chapter 10

(Hideyona, Hideyona!)

Free

“Pity,” she laments, circling again to find the girl’s fingers. “Your poor friend will have a hard time wielding a sword with nine fingers. That is, of course, if she doesn’t contract an infection first and die. I haven’t cleaned this basement in ages.”

The subject of her attention whimpers and Jehona is reminded just how much she absolutely hates her job. She drives one more proverbial knife in.

“If you want to blame someone sweetie, let it be your friend, who keeps her silence while you are threatened.” Jehona unfolds the girl’s fist gently and the girl sobs.

That seems to do the trick. “No, wait! Wait! We don’t know! We don’t know, I swear!” The leader all but screams.

Jehona circles back to meet her eyes. “You don’t know?”

“I swear on my life we don’t. That is information shared on a need-to-know basis and we don’t need to know,” the girl reasons. “For this reason exactly, if nothing else.”

She accepts the explanation with a sigh. It makes sense. These girls are just grunts come to kill her. And she doesn’t have any more time to waste with them.

Jehona sets the dagger on the floor about two meters from the girls, hilt facing them. “That wasn’t so hard, now, was it?” She looks at the tear-faced girl. “You scared your poor friend for nothing. I have to go now. Use this—“ she points to the blade, “—to free yourselves. And do try, please. I’m not keen on coming back to four rotting corpses in my basement. Have a good day, ladies.”

With that, she walks out.

Chapter 8

Air

He smiles at the soldiers. “At ease, Wolves. Mirmengsi to all of you.”

“Section Commander, sir.” Erisa appears at his elbow and salutes. She’s a tiny woman, barely reaching his shoulder, always shrouded in an air of seriousness that he can’t disperse no matter how many stupid jokes he cracks. Even Jehona hasn’t resisted that long in her more serious moments. The two four-pointed stars on her left breast catch the morning light as she faces him.

“Major Arlet, good morning,” Klevis greets, turning on his heel and motioning her to follow. He’s aware of the eyes that closely follow their movements. There’s an ongoing rumor about the nature of his relationship with Erisa, which has now turned into wishful thinking on the Wolves’ part since neither one of them has done anything to encourage the rumor. They’re just a bunch of romantic fools, in his opinion. And they’re going to have to wait a while longer to see a romance blossom between him and her, given he’s aromantic and Erisa is done with his shit. The only pro to the rumor is watching the serious facade crack a little more each time a pair of eyebrows is wagged in their direction. Coincidentally, that is also the only con.

Chapter 11

Break + Clear

She rolls her eyes. “Not in Hideyoshi’s presence, Maysa.”

“Why not?” he protests with narrowed eyes. Jehona likes to think he can feel the jab she’s about to send his way.

“Because,” she starts slowly like she’s talking to a toddler, “in order to explain, I’d need to break the law. I fear you’d faint at such a transgression and, as you can clearly see—” Jehona gestures to the black lump in her lap, “—I can’t move fast enough to catch you, darling.”

He glowers and Maysa snorts, all worry for Klev momentarily forgotten, alongside inquires about RT’s powers. Jehona is too good at this. Hideyoshi stops in front of her chair, impossibly tall from this angle. And, honestly, every angle she can reach at 1.65m. “Even if that were the case, you couldn’t possibly carry me, chīsame no yatsu.”

She leans forward, narrowing her eyes. “Say that last bit in Lukovian, coward.”

He leans down, resting his hands on the table. They’re practically nose to nose. “E vockël.”

Jehona gasps and, from somewhere behind Hideyoshi, Rumaysa snorts. Some best friend she is, laughing when an asshole calls her ‘little one’. Even RT wears an amused smile at that. Klev really found the day to abandon her. “Why don’t I shoot you and then we’ll find out if I can or can’t carry you, you abominable shit giraffe?”

“Can an ant carry a giraffe?”

She scowls. “If the ant tears it to pieces first, it sure as fuck can.”

Hideyoshi straightens with such a saccharine smile, her teeth hurt. “Why so irritable, chīsame no yatsu?”

“Listen here, you uncivilized dickheaded gargantuan,” she starts, ready to inflict bodily harm. Luck, however, seems to favor him as the door slams open at that moment with a bang that has RT starting and Rumaysa glowering.

Chapter 12

(HIDEYONA, HIDEYONA!)

Danger

Rumaysa rolls into the bunker with a disapproving frown, ready to chide Dezi further for wandering. Until she catches sight of Kass clutching him, silently crying and Jehona by her side, smiling like an idiot. She looks from her to her cousin and her cat, then shakes her head. “Nevermind. Seems like I’m already asleep.”

Afraid not, Jehona signs.

The rumble of her wheels sends Kass’ heartbeat through the roof. Rumaysa draws nearer with the sort of look anyone with a grain of common sense wouldn’t want to be directed at them and, fine, Kass is terrified. Dezi wiggles out of her arms as if sensing danger and not wanting to be caught in the crossfire and even Jehona takes a step back when Rumaysa cranes her neck and addresses her by her full name. “Kassiani Trantis.”

Kass swallows. She is screwed.

“How dare you—“ her voice cracks and Kass sees her eyes well with tears. “How dare you not hug me after all these years—“

She doesn’t wait for Rumaysa to finish, dropping to her knees and throwing her arms around her umzadya.

“—you asshole?” Rumaysa finishes with a sob on her shoulder.

Chapter 13

Excite

They clamber to their feet slowly, stiff as Jehona pushes thoughts of an angry Rumaysa from her mind with a shudder. Up on their feet, they’re a head taller than her, all gangly limbs and awkward posture. Most probably a recent growth spurt then. With a messy head of very wet brown strands, blue eyes, and a smarting of faint freckles on their cheeks, they remind her inexplicably of a puppy. A very excited puppy.

“I’m RT,” they say, extending a hand and almost hitting her arm. “Non-binary.”

She smiles despite herself, grasping his hand and shaking twice. “Jehona. A very kind woman, as you can tell.”

They laugh at that, allowing her to place their hand on the crook of her elbow, effectively getting them out of the rain. “Thank you, Jehona. I was starting to lose hope of making it back home tonight.”

“You didn’t. It’s dawn.”

Chapter 1

Suspect

Jehona looks then and what she finds on his face stuns her. It is understanding, written plainly on the arch of his brow and the line of his lips, in the way he looks at her, all of the pieces she’d laid bare for his inspection and does not flinch or judge or hate, as she’d expected him to. “Look at what you’ve done,” he says quietly, running a hand through his hair. “How can I hate you when you’re just like me?”

Her chin trembles.

“Really, siren.” Hideyoshi smiles a small, heavy smile. “That was rather rude of you.”

An inexplicable spark warms her chest, chasing away the terrible cold. “For what it’s worth, I am sorry for what I did to Tomoki and Yukito.”

“I’m not the one you should be apologizing to.”

She snorts. “Well, yes, but I suspect if I went to apologize to them, I’d have injured them for nothing since your clan members would most definitely kill me on sight.”

Chapter 12

(HIDEYONA, HIDEYONA!)

Sick

By the time the parsen is done, the house around her is sparkling clean and orderly, their little dining table set and ready, and Jehona a mess of nerves and anxiety. She has worked herself up into a frenzy and she is sick of it. This must be how her dad felt last night. His anger makes so much more sense now.

Restless energy plagues her and she takes to pacing the length of the living room. Her injured leg throbs dully; she’s overworked herself in her measly attempts to pass time. Jehona plops on the couch, stretching her leg out, and sighs deeply. She is being ridiculous. The events of the previous night have set her on edge and she’s letting hypotheticals get to her. It won’t be long until her father comes back, whining about how he’s ravenous and all will be well. There is no good reason for them to dispatch Captain Trantis’ squad to the third district. They’re usually assigned to the sixth district and they do a damn good job of keeping order there. Whatever reason the President-General has for sending men into that district, he surely wouldn’t endanger good capable men. Not with the threat of Austeria hanging over Lukovia like an axe ready to drop. Avniel may be many things but a fool he is not.

Chapter 4

Safe

Klevis just sighs. “Now that’s out of your system, back to my genius idea. Jehona is going to live with Hide.”

“Klev, dearest, weren’t you harping on about me needing to be safe?” Jehona points at Hideyoshi’s glower. “Does that look like someone who won’t kill me the first chance he gets?”

“I am no murderer.”

“With the right incentive, everyone is.”

Hideyoshi only glares harder. “Fine, then I won’t sully my hands with your blood.”

“You sure about that?” Jehona smirks. “A hasty conclusion, given you haven’t even heard of my latest nefarious deeds.”

He narrows his eyes. “What did you do?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“This is getting a little out of hand,” RT comments. “Any grownups want to intervene?”

Rumaysa snorts. “Sorry, RT. Those are in short supply around here.”

“Klevis, what did she do?”

Klev shrugs. “How am I supposed to know? Is this about those four Nonaka girls who breached your house?”

Chapter 8

Solid

She shifts in her wheelchair now, finally pulling the infernal device off of her leg and dumping it aside unceremoniously. “Not that I’m not eternally grateful to have found you two there—“ Rumaysa meets Jehona’s eyes, deciding to bite the bullet, so to speak, “—but what were you doing in the third district?”

Her best friend’s anger has always been something akin to spears of solid ice and has been used as such: with calculation and precision. And rarely has it surfaced, a trait Jehona shared with her mother. Both were too adaptable and solution-oriented to be sweeped by emotions. Except for tonight, apparently.

“We?” Jehona’s voice is a burning brand, in the way something too cold feels hot to the touch. “What were you doing there, Rumaysa? Do you think this is a fucking game? That shithead would’ve killed you!”

Rumaysa finds she doesn’t have much patience tonight. “I asked first.” She says matter-of-factly, eliciting a snort from Klevis. Rumaysa can’t quite tell if it’s from amusement or disbelief. It seems he himself can’t either.

Chapter 5

Some of these are a little too long (yes, I’m talking about the Hideyona bits) sue me. I’ll pass this on to @writingamongther0ses, @sleepy-night-child, @fictional-semantics, and anyone else who thinks they can find these words in their manuscripts: smooth, shatter, sliver and smirk.

#find the word tag #my writing #amwriting #wip: these cursed paths

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inkribbon796 · 3 years

Text

Like a House of Cards Ch. 11: Opposites React

Summary: The heroes go looking for Dark and Logan’s group.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

As they stood on the street, the Anomaly that would appear in a bank vault gone from the Host’s hands, they had to recover from the power of the Anomaly coursing through them for a second time.

Chase collapsed onto his knees, feeling just a soul-deep sorrow. He was crying from memories and loss he couldn’t remember. “Fook.”[1]

“Chase?” Jackie dragged his feet over, he was feeling sluggish but it was thankfully easing from his body quickly.

“I’m fine,” Chase wiped his face with his arm. “I’m fine.”

“We can stop fer[2] a bit,” Jackie promised, helping Chase up.

“I’m grand,”[3] Chase promised.

“The Host and Chase will form one group, and Silver, Ethan, and Jackie will form the other as they try to find Dark’s group. “He asks that the heroes get their outfits back on, and for Silver and Jackie to try not to get themselves into trouble.”

“Ehh, we should be fine,” Jackie promised. “So long as Chase is gonna be okay.”

“We gotta talk anyways,” Chase nodded at the Host. “Try not ta[4] fight a hoard ‘a[5] bears.”

“No promises,” Mark smiled, and then the three of them left.

Silver, Crank, and Jackie waited in the alley for almost five minutes, getting bored. Ethan’s ADHD kicked him in the teeth before Mark’s did. Then a shootout started next to them. Several people were screaming and someone that the heroes thought looked a lot like Dark when he was pretending to be Damien. Except he wasn’t in his typical outfit, his hair was wild, and there was a streak of blue in his hair.

Ethan immediately cloaked them with his invisibility. They began to approach.

Two guys jumped on him and dragged him away. And then someone who looked almost exactly like Chase passed by the mouth of the alley.

“Don’t fookin’[6] let that arsehole[7] escape again!” Chase shouted.

The heroes got closer as the men used magic to tie “Damien” up.

He looked down at the bonds and then smiled at “Chase” which made the other man groan, “Dames, Don’t.”

“Kinky,” Dames smiled, his smile huge, leaning forward as much as the bonds would let him. “Chase. How’s life, doll?”

Chase glared at his captive before leaning in to get close to his face. “What the fook is wrong wit’ yeh?”[8]

The bound man just smiled, shrugging, “You’re going to have to be specific?”

“I meant Marvin, yeh mad fook, are yeh tryin’ ta kill my kid?”[9] Chase spat.

Dames’ only answer was, “If you wanted to get rough in bed, we’d need a bed for that.”

Chase grabbed him by the front of his shirt, “Keep yer[10] brat away from my kid, I don’t want the General killin’[11] him.”

“What’s with all this “killing” business,” Dames chuckled. “You and Gen are worried so much for your little games. They’re old enough to make all kinds of decisions.”

“Yeh taking the boys ta’a whorehouse isn’t a good choice, ya nutter,”[12] Chase spat.

“True,” Dames agreed, “they really had more fun with each other.”

“Fook this,” Jackie finally decided, as his whole body began to shake.

Silver grabbed Ethan and flew up, Ethan keeping them invisible as Jackie punched one of the thugs and then grabbed Dames, racing off with him. Silver flying in to keep up.

“What are you doing?” Silver demanded. “We’re supposed to be laying low.”

“I don’t know, I’m makin’[13] this up as I go along,” Jackie yelled, tugging Dames with them as they ran.

“What are we doing?” Dames asked. “Are we playing tag?”

“Yes!” Jackie yelled before anyone else could speak. “An’[14] Brody back there’s it.”

“Oh,” Dames said with a soft realization, then he smiled and grabbed them. “Well, we won’t win like this.”

Then they suddenly found themselves being slammed into the concrete wall of an alley, Jackie taking an especially hard hit because of his momentum.

Dames was looking them up and down as the heroes regained their composure, the corner of Dames’s mouth twitching a little bit. “You three aren’t from around here.”

“How’d yah[15] guess?” Jackie smiled as he got up, Silver floating before he was able to stand.

“Silly cheaters,” Dames laughed. “Couldn’t win your own game so you jumped to a new board.”

“It is so weird seeing you like this” Silver set his feet on the ground.

Dames shrugged, and then a portal began to twist open. It wasn’t quite like Dark’s dark purple-black Void magic. It was a deep red-magenta that felt more like hands ripping their way free.

Ethan tried to shield them but Dames couldn’t be cloned and excitedly stepped free to meet the man who stepped out of the portal. He had a sharp black suit and a bushy black mustache. A red and magenta aura coming off of him like Dark’s red and blue aura. He had dark red and magenta after images that echoed and stuttered off of him.

“Gen,” Dames smiled excitedly, holding his arms out.

“Where’s Junior?” Gen asked.

“I don’t know,” Dames denied, his good mood quickly starting to evaporate. “Ask your little trackers you put on them.”

General glared at Dames, “What were you two doing?”

“Nothing,” Dames almost giggled.

Dark’s glare became more baleful and he grabbed Dames by the front of his jacket, Dames giggling in response. “Don’t give me that bullshit, Dames. Did you let Bim go off with that hooligan?”

“Mayhaps,” Dames’s smile became almost giddy.

“Dames!” the General pinned him against the closest wall. “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did,” Gen spat. “You can waste your time at brothels and clubs all you want, but you leave Junior out of it.”

Dames began giggling, “You have to admit, yours and Chase’s faces when you saw they were gone was pretty hilarious.”

“This isn’t funny!” the Entity snarled. “Bim is impressionable, no thanks to you. It burned down with them still in it!”

“At least I show him how to have a good time,” Dames dared. “You’d have him at a desk working papers until he died. He’s a kid.”

“Not anymore,” the General warned. “He stopped being a child when he turned sixteen. They all did.”

Dames rolled his eyes, “Ughh.”

The General stepped closer, “You cannot insist on treating them all like children, they are not.”

“Only because you wanted them to grow up, they never got to be children in the first place,” Dames argued back.

“You’re absolutely insufferable,” the Entity scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Why is being alive and safe so unfavorable to you.”

“You’d have him die in an office,” Dames spat.

“No I’d have him alive doing something,” the demon spat. “You insist on treating all of them like children. They are not, nor have they been for years.”

“I want my babies back,” Dames looked away, clearly upset. “What was so wrong with them being my babies? You said I could keep them.”

“They are safe, that should be enough. Do I make myself clear, Doomstrum?” Gen spat, his aura coiling just a hair too tight around the mad mayor.

Dames struggled in his hold for a bit before stopping, clearly refusing to look at or answer him.

Mark would have forced himself out of Ethan’s invisibility bubble, but the hero watched the demon’s expression soften for a couple seconds and then sighed before opening up a massive portal to show a relatively spartan office except for a very nice looking desk and a couch that looked extremely comfortable to sleep on. He let Dames go. “Let’s go Dames.”

The madman frowned and took a step before turning around, a smile spreading on his face again, “Oh, Gen, I have to introduce you to my new friends.”

“Your what?” The demon growled in frustration.

“Yeah they’re just,” Dames began, pointing to the three heroes at the end of the alley right before a portal ripped open behind them and a dark purple aura pulled them in and swiftly closed before the General or Dames could really react in more than surprise.

The three heroes landed on their backs around Dark’s feet in a dimly lit room.

“There we go, problem solved,” Dark announced.

“How does this solve our problems, you’ve led him straight to us!”

Jackie looked up in confusion, Virgil didn’t come with us?

When he looked up at Virgil however he was in a huge dark grey-black overcoat. His hair was different, but the eyeshadow still darkened his face.

Dark brought his aura up in time as a red-magenta magic tried to get into the room. He threw his aura against it and it was gone. “Nonsense, I can cloak areas to keep

magic from getting in.”

“Andy,” someone in a black beanie insisted, tugging on “Virgil’s” coat. The Side had some vitiligo marks on his face and hands, his eyes a deep golden yellow.

“Dee, not now,” Andy hissed.

“But they’re telling the—” Dee tried to report, before he was protectively pushed behind Andy.

“No,” Andy nudged his companions back and pointed to Dark. “I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t trust you,” he pointed to Wilford.

“And I sure as shit don’t trust you,” Andy spat at the Host. His voice was practically dripping with contempt.

“All we need to get to the next rift and we’re gone,” Dark scoffed. “We don’t need your trust.”

“So what’s the actual plan for getting home?” Silver asked the Host. “Seems like they’ve got a lot to deal with right now.”

“Simple we go into what is probably a horribly designed version of my office, and activate the Anomaly so it takes us home.” Dark dusted off his suit with his aura. “The plan’s already been made if you want to talk to the others.”

The Host dispelled an illusion and they saw the three Sides talking to Glitch Logan, and J.J peacefully napping in the corner. There was no sign of his double anywhere.

“I will have everything under control,” Logan spat at his doppelgänger.

“I don’t need to be reassured of anything,” Glitch Logan dismissed. “I have made redundancies and failsafes to ensure they do not die. If I was not certain, I would have raised my complaints. You will protect them, that is the only objective I need to give. If you work with the heroes, or with Google, I care not. Roman, Virgil, and Patton’s survival is all I care about. We spent a year’s worth of time working for it and I have come too far to fail now.”

“I will do so without needless killing” Logan promised.

Glitch Logan gave an inhuman smile, “We shall see, either way it’s inconsequential to me.”

The Anomaly glowed and it engulfed the two Logans completely before just Logan was standing there. He gave a shudder and a bunch of nanites fell to the ground around him, twitching once and then going offline, their components frying themselves so they couldn’t be used by anyone else.

Logan stiffened and Roman raced in to catch him.

“Lo, sweetheart?” Roman pleaded desperately as Logan blinked and coughed as air returned to his lungs.

The Host used a couple words from his narrations and the nanites were all gone from the floor.

Janus briefly checked on Logan before clearing his throat and drawing attention to himself, summoning his staff.

“The Host allowed us to speak with the other Sides, we got but a minute but we’ve come up with a plan,” Janus reported. “There is one fusion we have that enables us to make as much noise and commotion as possible, while showing that we are different people. I have spoken with this world’s Deceit and they cannot fuse—”

“Please don’t call me that, that’s not all I do,” Dee asked.

Janus paused, looking at Dee, “Of course do you have a preference?”

Andy was just watching Janus, staring at him.

“Dee,” Dee told him.

“Alright,” Janus agreed. “Anyways, I have spoken with Dee and they can’t fuse so it will be the easiest way to get the message across.”

“So we’re gonna use Remy?” Jackie asked.

“No,” Logan cut in. “Even before the merge I was not in the right emotional or mental mindset to fuse. My fusions are impossible without that mindset. My future self hinted the feeling would get worse and unfortunately he was right.”

“Okay, you’ve never exactly told us how fusion works,” Ethan reminded. “But I’m guessing that I’m gonna take a group in?”

“The heroes will not need to cause a distraction because the fusion will be enough to convince the General that they are different. Besides, the General will wish to speak to the Entity.”

“Will he?” Dark asked. “Last time he saw me he tried to take my head off.”

“Maybe we should talk to him,” Wilford smiled. “We never gave them a chance.”

“It is so weird seeing him in pink,” Andy commented.

“Why, what’s wrong with it?” Wil frowned. “Pink is a lovely color.”

“Nothing wrong with it, it’s just you’d rather set yourself on fire than wear pink,” Andy explained.

“No I wouldn’t, I’m wearing pink right now,” Wil gestured to himself.

Dark rubbed at the bridge of his nose, “This is going to take forever now.”

“No, I meant the other you, the douchebag in Armani,” Andy explained.

“Well then he should wear pink too,” Wil decided.

Andy let out a snorting chuckle, “Oh, trust me everyone in this city would love to see that.”

The group started to plan a bit so that Silver and Jackie knew what they were doing, and during that time, Janus leaned over to Roman.

“This means nothing, I’d rather Remus was here,” Janus told Roman.

“Well I'd rather Patton was here,” Roman agreed, emotions still running high from the mess with the doppelgängers.

“Good,” Janus spat.

“Good,” Roman glared at him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Accessibility Translations

1. Fuck

2. for

3. I’m alright

4. to

5. of

6. fucking

7. asshole

8. What the fuck is wrong with you?”

9. I meant Marvin, you crazy fucker, are you trying to kill my kid?

10. your

11. killing

12. You taking the boys to a whorehouse isn’t a good choice, you nutter

13. making

14. And

15. you

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sublimateradiate · 3 years

Text

🖤 🖤 tag game! get to know me 🖤 🖤

tagged by: theamazing @thetaoofbetty

1. what is the color of your hairbrush? Plain black, with a red rubber inside. Do hairbrushes usually come in exciting colors?

2. name a food you never eat- BANANAS. They are my nemesis. Don't tell me how delicious they are. They're the devil's fruit. Interestingly enough, I love plantains.

3. are you typically too warm or too cold? Too cold, but mostly because of that bullshit in the office where the temp is prioritized to men in suits. Also because whenever my mother visits, she goes through my apartment and opens all the windows, no matter the season.

4. what were you doing 45 minutes ago? Finally getting around to working on my LinkedIn profile, and cringing all the while. The employment world changes a lot while you're working for the same company for 11 years...

5. what’s your favorite candy bar? If we're talking regular gas station candy, probably the dark chocolate Twix. If we're getting fancy, any bar of dark chocolate 90% or above.

6. have you ever been to a professional sports game? Yup, baseball games when I was little and then purposely to the WNBA because have you seen them???? Sigh.

7. what is the last thing you said out loud? Singing along with the music I have playing. So based on what the last song was probably "I have to carry the cross" whispered dramatically.

8. what is your favorite ice cream? The original Breyer's Vanilla Fudge Twirl, which doesn't exist anymore. (the current version is "frozen dessert" and has all these fillers in it that make it mushy and foamy, so gross)

9. what was the last thing you had to drink? Tea from the goth con called "Black Tea #1" which is a play on a Type O Negative song. 10. do you like your wallet? My wallet is serviceable. I don't like getting rid of things until they break, so consequently I've had the same black leather wallet on a chain since 8th grade. When I bought it, it has a silver dragon stamped on it, but it's so old you can't see it anymore.

11. what is the last thing you ate? Chocolate chip pumpkins muffins that I recently made. And I still have so much pumpkin left, I have to figure out what to do with it.

12. did you buy any new clothes last weekend? Nope. Thankfully. I'm trying not to do that. But shein has so much crazy shit dirt cheap I often go through it, put 30 things in the cart, then close the browser.

13. what’s the last sporting event you watched? Fencing in the last Olympics, whenever that was.

14. what is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Cheddar or caramel.

15. who is the last person you sent a text message to? A friend to figure out what a group watch is gonna be.

16. ever been camping? Yup, used to go all the time when I was little as a family vacation. I miss it.

17. do you take vitamins? Yup, I have iron and vitamin D deficiencies, because I am an actual vampire.

18. do you regularly attend a place of worship? Nope!

19. do you have a tan? No, I stay out of the sun and/or wear sunscreen because skin cancer. .

20. do you prefer chinese or pizza? Pizza for sure. I mean, it has cheese.

21. do you drink your soda through a straw? only if you

22. what color socks do you usually wear? I have a collection of weirdly patterned socks that I wear when I'm going out, for the last couple of months I've just been wearing black non-skid toeless yoga socks so I don't fall on my ass while creeping around the apartment.

23. do you ever drive above the speed limit? Not unless I'm goaded to "go at the speed of traffic" by a companion and even then I only do it grudgingly. I stay out of the left lane though, so no one should care.

24. what terrifies you? Facism. Also waterbugs, but I'm working on it.

25. look to your left, what do you see? My dining room and fish tank.

26. what chore do you hate most? Washing dishes without gloves (with gloves totally fine) or changing the sheets because it's always an ordeal. Oh, and I'd add folding fitted sheets, but that would imply that implies it actually happens instead of me just getting frustrated and balling it up.

27. what do you think of when you hear an australian accent? @lucivar , an absolutely delightful person with a delightful accent.

28. what’s your favorite soda? Does ginger beer count?

29. do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Drive through, as I'm usually only in them if I'm traveling.

30. what’s your favorite number? 8. Dunno why.

31. who’s the last person you talked to? my mother.

32. favorite meat? I'm a vegetarian, but quail, based entirely on an experience I had at Medieval Times as a child.

33. last song you listened to? "Sober Up" by Lizette Lizette

34. last book you read? @strangenightsofdaydreams got me into reading romance novels this month and I just finished "The Governess Game" by Tessa Dare.

35. favorite day of the week? Saturday. Does anyone actually put a weekday as this answer?

36. can you say the alphabet backwards? Very slowly, tortuously, and it would involve me reciting the alphabet in my head multiple times.

37. how do you like your coffee? Not a coffee person, but I can tolerate mochas.

38. favorite pair of shoes? That I wear regularly? My one pair of knee high lace up boots with no zipper, because I am a stereotype. Otherwise I have several lovely pair of heels I fall over in.

39. time you normally get up? Reader, I wish I knew.

40. what do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets? Sunrises.

41. how many blankets are on your bed? 2

42. describe your kitchen plates? White rounded squares with a black accent. One of those standard corelle sets.

43. describe your kitchen at the moment: Well stocked and chilly.

44. do you have a favorite alcoholic drink? Limoncello, Irish Cream over ice, peach Lambic. I also have a fondness anything with a particularly weird flavor, like Birkir, which comes with an actual twig in it.

45. do you play cards? That involves other people, so the last time was a long time ago.

46. what color is your car? Don't have one. My old car was mint green.

47. can you change a tire? Nope. I'm lucky I even know how to drive, most people in my city don't.

48. your favorite state or province? I don't really have feelings about states? I guess Ohio, because I went to school there.

49. favorite job you’ve had? Creating a handbook for a program that had been running for years but never had one. If @lucivar , @a-true-janian-reply , @meditationonbaaal, or @strangenightsofdaydreams, feel like doing this, go ahead. But don't feel compelled to, it's long. long post

#memes #about me #long post

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randomguywithwords · 4 years

Text

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 17 (Dabi X fem!Geten Slowburn)

Chapter 17: A Frozen Heart

AO3 Link: Here

Previous Chapters: 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1

Long chapter ahead btw. 2.8k.

–––––––––

For fifteen minutes, Dabi watched the broken, unconscious form of Geten breathe, every inhalation causing a shudder to ripple through her body. Every time she made a hacking cough, blood spurted from her mouth, making his fists clench tighter and his teeth grind against one another with building rage. Ten minutes in, he reduced Takame’s corpse to ashes to vent some feelings.

That was all he could do. He couldn’t move her because of all the broken bones and fractures. The one thing he could was to shift her head an inch, to ensure she didn’t choke on her blood.

All he could do was wait. The throbbing pain in his arms from blocking that hit was nothing compared to the pain in his chest at seeing her on the verge of death, enduring a merciless pummel that she didn’t deserve.

He felt like every breath he took injected him with even more fury that he wanted to scream, to let the world know he wanted to burn it all.

Stupid girl. Why can’t you see that you never belonged to the MLA? Why are you getting yourself killed for them?

Geten shuddered as she coughed out more blood that stained the rusty containers’ surface. Dabi tore his eyes away. You could have stopped Takame before he went after her. You’re weak.

Wasn’t my fault I got sent on this damn assignment, he argued on instinct.

He paused, feeling his conviction disappear upon seeing Geten’s state. He ignited his arm, feeling the fiery torture wrack his already fractured limb. It didn’t expunge the guilt, but he liked to think that it could, somehow.

Did Shigaraki know, sending two people whose quirks don’t work well against him?

He was confronting Shigaraki when they got back, that was for sure. But for now, his attention was drawn to her.

Is her breathing slowing? Shit.

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling helpless, so utterly helpless. C’mon, girl, don’t die on me. Please.

When he opened them, he saw two figures rushing towards them. He recognised one of them as the soldier who had welcomed them at the airport.

“Help her first, I’m good.” He said as he extinguished his punishment. The two of them nodded. One of them stepped forward to lay a hand on Geten.

Dabi slapped it away with a glare. “Are you an idiot? She’s in no state to be carried.”

The soldier gave a patient smile. “I’m not moving her. My special ability can teleport people to a nearby location I’m familiar with by being in physical contact. We’re bringing the both of you back to the airport where Compress will take you back to Deika.”

“Ah,” Dabi said, leaning back, “My bad.”

With one hand each, the soldier touched each of their shoulders, while the other companion laid a hand on him. The teleporter closed his eyes.

In the next few seconds, Dabi felt a light tugging sensation, definitely smoother than the gunky horridness that was the Doctor’s method. The next moment, he found himself back at the airport on solid ground.

“Keep her spine in line,” Dabi ordered, and the two obeyed, gingerly holding Geten in place. “How long till Compress gets here?”

“ETA ten minutes,” The teleporter announced. Dabi swallowed – If he doesn’t get here on time...

The night was quiet and of a cool temperature, but Dabi was still sweating, and the serenity of this scene was destroyed by the haggard breaths Geten was drawing. He kept looking at the sky, trying to spot a black dot in the darkness. When a seeming eternity had passed feeling more anxious by the minute, he saw it, illuminated by red lights.

He heard the whirring sounds of the chopper as it closed in and landed. Dabi spotted the familiar orange-brown coat and the black hat of Atsuhiro Sako, and a painful smile of relief tugged at his lip.

One thing Dabi liked about Compress was that despite his showman persona, he didn’t mince words, or speak when there was no need to. Sako raced out of the aircraft, compressed Geten and pocketed her.

“You need me to do you, too?” Sako asked him.

Dabi shook his head. “Let’s go. Thanks, you two.” He acknowledged the soldiers, who bowed in return and left. The two Lieutenants climbed into the helicopter and the pilot lifted off.

“No headsets? I’m not going deaf here,” Dabi shouted over the whirring.

“Chill, the pilot has a noise-cancelling quirk. He’ll activate it soon.” As Compress said this, the ruckus disappeared, as if they were back on the jet. Another pang of hurt poked at Dabi, thinking about his nonchalance at the start of the mission.

“You look like hell.” Compress noted Dabi’s arms and the dust and grime on his coat.

“Yeah. Assignment was harder than we thought.”

“I presumed much. Who was it?”

“One of the advisors in my regiment, and his daughter.”

Dabi heard the surprise in Sako’s tone. “Oh, Skeptic’s gonna go mental. Not that he already isn’t.”

That got a chuckle out of Dabi, but it died as he thought about the damage Takame had done.

“But you guys finished the mission, right?” Compress asked.

Looking out the window at the night sky, he muttered, “Yeah.”

“You didn’t throw her under the bus, did you?”

Dabi’s head flicked back to face Compress. “What the hell, no! Why would I?”

The performer raised his arms to placate his anger. “Sorry, last time you talked about her, you were ready to kill her or whatever’s in your head. You mean to say that you guys are on good terms now?”

Dabi sighed. “I just don’t hate her. And I have no reason to let her die. Shigaraki wouldn’t be happy.” He added as an afterthought.

He gave a tiny sigh. “Well, I’m sure you have a thrilling story of how you two managed to get to this state.”

“We definitely do,” Dabi said dryly.

“Tell us all about it tomorrow. Go get some sleep tonight. The doctor has a cell activation quirk, he’ll fix you up first, then her.”

“No, get her first. I’ll wait.”

“Fine,” Compress relented after seeing the adamant expression on Dabi’s face. “You’re really...concerned for her. It’s weird.”

Dabi replied with a yawn.

––––––

The doctor flipped through his clipboard. “Multiple fractures on her arms, five broken ribs, dislocated jaw and she suffered a skull fracture.”

“But you fixed all of it...right?” There was an undertone of a “You better have.” that the doctor understood, given the reassuring smile he wore at Dabi’s question. He was getting sick of people trying to calm him down with smiles, like that would help.

“I used my ability as best as I could, and it fixed most of it, but I only sped up the recovery of the cell reparations. We’ll be providing iron and calcium supplements to help her along, but she’ll be bedridden for the next few days.”

“Any permanent damage?”

“As long as she gets enough rest and doesn’t exert herself, she’ll be fine and back to normal in a few weeks.”

Dabi exhaled. “Alright. Thanks doc.”

Dr Shimano nodded and left the room. Dabi looked at Geten, whose chest rose and fell at a stable pace as she slept, no longer shaking, a significant improvement from just an hour ago.

“Sorry Geten,” He said. “I fucked up.”

As the words left his mouth, he took a second to realise what he had just said. He blinked. When did I start caring so much?

The air-conditioned room and the leather chair he was seated on let the remaining surges of adrenaline fade out, to be replaced by an ice-cold fist of realisation – The events that had transpired in the last couple of hours punched him in the face.

He had not left her side once the entire time.

You’re really...concerned for her.

He got out of his seat, staggering upon registering Mr Compress’ words from earlier with clarity, similar to receiving a fiery touch on his skin. What the hell?

He glanced back at Geten sleeping, then he left the room with extended paces. I should get back to my room. Yeah, that’s a good idea. He pushed all thoughts of the girl out of his mind, focusing on the inevitable debrief from him the next council meeting, since she couldn’t –

He swore under his breath. Stop thinking about her. These thoughts, feelings, whatever they were. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was unnatural. Foreign. Probably dangerous.

––––––––

The next morning’s meeting convened, in the absence of Lieutenant Apocrypha, with Dabi’s debrief of the mission.

“Alright, Dabi, care to explain what happened?” Shigaraki drummed his fingers on the table.

Dabi stood up, wearing his trademark lazy expression, though he was actually fatigued. “So our target turned out to be a Mihara Takame, daughter of Shingu Takame, who was an advisor to Violet Regiment.”

He noted the widened eyes of the old MLA executives. Hanabata’s gaze flickered between the desk and him. And was that a bead of sweat rolling down Skeptic’s forehead? It might have been his imagination.

“What?” Re-destro gaped, then turned to Shigaraki. “Grand Commander, I apologise deeply for this treachery. I had no idea —“

Shigaraki waved his hand. “Never mind about that first. Continue.”

“We got into a fight, which turned out bad for Apocrypha, who took most of the damage, but I managed to finish the assignment.”

“Yeah, that’s the part I wanna know.” Shigaraki leaned forward, clasping his hands together. “Why did you guys end up taking the beating you did?”

“Takame’s quirk was a shitty matchup against mine and hers. He just wouldn’t feel any pain. Impossible to incapacitate him.”

“And Apocrypha’s ice did nothing?”

“No, it didn’t hinder him much.”

“Then how did you kill both of them?”

“I took out the woman first.” Dabi mimed twisting a neck. “For her old man, I concentrated my flames onto his head. Carbonized it. He probably died from brain failure or something.”

“Ah, copying Endeavour now, eh?” A small grin made Dabi bristle, though he concealed it.

He shrugged. “What can I say? He’s got decent moves to copy, and I have the firepower to match his. Speaking of which, you might want to send a team to dispose of the body. I didn’t burn up the girl, only Takame.”

Shigaraki frowned. “Why don’t you do it?”

“Excuse me?” The coldness in the room spiked as the two stared at each other with venom.

“I don’t know why you could cremate the larger-sized adult male but not the small girl. Go fix your mess.”

“You’re really going to send me all the way back just to burn one more corpse?”

“Yep.” Shigaraki’s eyes were still fixated on him, as though daring him to act out. What do you want? Something about the way his leader questioned him was off. Hell, he was never so interested in these small problems that cropped up. Dabi had talked to Twice before the meeting. According to him, a small riot broke out in the town centre over Shigaraki’s leadership, and the latter didn’t seem to care.

Did you send the hit squad on us? Dabi’s eyes swept the room. Hanabata and Skeptic’s faces were whiter than normal, but that was because Takame was on their list that Apocrypha freaked out so much about, right?

Dabi was about to argue further, but decided against it. He needed answers, and he doubted anyone in the room would offer anything worthwhile. Maybe going back would be helpful.

He spun around and walked towards the door. “Fine. I’ll get to it now. Prep the jet, Skeptic.”

Without waiting for an answer, or for Shigaraki to stop him, he left the room, slamming the door behind him with a growl. He had to admit, though, that the solitude and this menial task given to him allowed him time to think about everything that had happened last night, and he kept coming back to the one name.

Mesa.

That was all he got from the thug. A name that he couldn’t even be sure was real. Dabi was somewhat confident it was a legitimate answer: the thug was terrified of dying, especially after Dabi used his partner as a demonstration.

When one was about to die, truths became more apparent. They stopped lying and told the truth, whether one was on their deathbed or backed up against an alley.

Sensei had done the same thing.

Dabi frowned, and quickened his pace. Which reminded him...that factory, it looks similar to the one that night. Guess I’ll look around there too.

He emerged from the underground tunnel to the airport, a convenient distance from the mansion. And his face blanched. Why the fuck is she here?

Geten was talking with the pilot, her posture bent, and Dabi didn’t need a doctor to tell him she was still injured.

He marched up to her and waved off the pilot. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m going back.” She said, her face tight with pain. Or defiance. One worried him, the other annoyed.

“No, you’re not. You’re still fucked up, you’re going back to the hospital.” He pointed away from the helicopter beside both of them, which reminded him of a parent sending a kid to their room.

And just like the kid, she was acting like a brat. “I need to go back. Please. How did you even know I was here?”

“I didn’t.”

“So you’re going back to Tokugawa?”

Dabi bit back a retort. “No,” he tried.

Her eyes narrowed. “If you’re going, I’m going.”

Dabi envied Sako for the issues he could solve with his quirk with one tap. He stretched his sigh out. “Alright. Fine. One condition.”

“What?”

“Go take a shower and change out of this. You look and smell like shit.”

Geten seemed to be in no mood to shoot a returning insult. She nodded.

–––––––––

The two took a helicopter ride, which Dabi figured was Skeptic’s way of flipping him off — he was in the mood for another private jet ride, at least up till Geten showed up.

Along the way, Dabi explained what had happened while she was unconscious or hospitalised. She nodded, rather numbly, to everything. He felt like pressing her on why wanted to come along, but she looked to be in such a somber mood Dabi kept quiet once he was done.

“Thank you,” Geten said, which caught Dabi off-guard.

He stared at her. “Huh?”

But she lapsed back into silence.

Takame’s words really affected her, huh? He got the gist of it: Takame was pissed off. Dabi was too focused on finishing the job, and the concussion dulled his senses, even as he crept up to the both of them. He didn’t hear everything Takame said, but enough of it.

He still had no idea what she was doing here. Guess he would find out.

They touched down a while later, took another motorbike ride, also in silence, to the factory. When they got off, there was a rush in her step, as though in anxiety, to reach the site of their Pyrrhic victory. Although, Dabi managed to keep pace with her.

Mihara’s body was still there, and the imprint of Shingu was visible on the stone ground. Geten took out some ice from her pocket and used them to shut her wide eyes, then adjust her broken neck. She looked like she was sleeping.

Next, she fashioned her ice into a platform which carried the young woman. Dabi quietly watched all this unfold, not wanting to interrupt whatever she was doing.

Then Geten walked towards the nearby forest. Taking out more ice, she formed a wide, curved object, which she used to shovel dirt.

Oh, so that’s what she’s doing.

As if in a trance-like state, he picked up some sticks off the ground, lit the tip of them and passed three to Geten, who had laid Mihara’s body in the grave and filled it with dirt.

She looked at the makeshift joss sticks, then at him, and gave a quivering smile. She knelt down to place them on top of the grave.

As she tried to stand up, she stumbled a bit with a wince of pain. Dabi grabbed her shoulders to steady her. “Hey. Don’t stress yourself.”

Her footing is off, he noted that, as well as her constant flinching. Her ribs were probably still hurting.

He sighed and muttered, “You – You can lean on me. Just don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“I’m fine,” She said with less believability than a hero’s promise. But she did, after a pause, rest her head on his shoulder, as the two stared at the blue flame that slowly died, its bright azure radiance leaving small spots in their eyes.

“Why’s it seem like you trust me all of a sudden?” Dabi had to ask.

After a moment of silence, Geten mumbled, “I think...I think I just do. You’re not the worst.”

That’s a first.

“So why’d you bury her?”

“Because…” She looked at her hands. “They didn’t deserve it. It’s weird, isn’t it? I got beat up so much by them, but I’m still respecting her.”

“No, it’s not weird. It means…” Dabi considered his next few words. “It means your heart isn’t cold.”

––––––––

Nice chapter to write, though very long. I realised I had a lot to say so this is sorta still part of this arc, but I’m starting to transition to the next. And now writing these two just became a lot harder, given the change in character.

So if you guys have any feedback on whether I’m too OOC on them, given what’s happened to them, do let me know. I’d appreciate it. I’m especially worried about my portrayal of Dabi this chapter, whether he’s acting too nice (for his character) too abruptly.

I’ll have to do a long re-read of the whole story after a while to reboot and see whether their character progression is plausible.

Nevertheless I hoped you enjoyed this chapter.

And also yeah we’re starting to get into some Dabiten stuff. Should be fun, and hard to write.

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paradisecost · 4 years

Text

TIMELINE: ATTICUS

Are you ready for 1600 words of Atticus lore? Then BOY HOWDY do I have some good news for you. I ran out of steam by the time I hit the last few verses so they have way less detail, but whATEVER. I’ve also completely skimmed over so many details (like Atticus’ lingering issues with being cut off from his Indigenous heritage; his father’s disappearance; his relationships with various friends and lovers throughout his life; some of the shit he did and witnessed throughout his time with the gang and in order to escape them; etc) because otherwise the word count would be RIDICULOUS.

Note: There’s no set time period for this. A lot of Atticus’ mainverse is tagged as “v: age of sail” for the convenience of keeping most of my verses vaguely within the Black Sails timeline (1705-1720 usually) but realistically these are probably within the 1800s somewhere. The real question is: who gives a shit, it’s MY sandbox and history is what I say it is.

Under the cut for length. Warnings include talk of gangs, gang life, and so on.

Note: This is VERY much a work in progress and almost no detail has really been hammered out, especially regarding Atticus' time as an outlaw within the gang since I have a lot of research to do in that area (since I know more about modern gangs and cult dynamics than Ye Olde ones). Nonetheless, all of these verses are open for interaction/asks/etc - though verses marked as (intermission) or (segue) really exist more to bridge some verses together.

v: before it all (childhood) (0-13)

Atticus' early, pre-outlaw life, spanning from his birth to the age of about 12-13. He lives with his mother and sister in a small town in the middle of buckass nowhere; his father visits once a year or so up until Atticus is about 10, when he mysteriously stops coming. It isn't long after this that Atticus first becomes involved with the [redacted] gang, likely through befriending one of the younger members by accident. By the time he's about 12, he's built up a steadfast trust and codependence on the group - and his relationship with his mother has steeply declined, in part due to her reticence about his Native father and determination to erase any non-Whiteness from their children, and in part because of how vehemently she opposes his involvement with the gang.

v: drinking the water (gang member) (12-28)

Spans around eight years, from when Atticus is 12-13 to roughly 20-28. Atticus is ass-deep in the cult-like dynamic of the gang and has lost all contact with his mother, though he and his sister exchange letters here and there. He is extremely loyal to the group and considers them 'his people', is inherently distrustful of outsiders and has precisely no interest in living amongst them.

Grievances with the gang's behaviour towards both him and others start accumulating, however, when Atticus is about 18-20. They start off small, but as his sense of self develops and he starts to get more of a feel for who he is as a person, the problems start building up. This may be in part due to exposure to other dissenting members of the group who were swiftly either disposed of or, uh, re-educated; Atticus did not like seeing that shit At All despite his usual cognitive dissonance.

That isn't by any means the only factor; as he gets older, he's also granted significantly more freedom, which results in exposure to all kinds of people and places that he simply wasn't aware of as a kid. By the time he's about 25, he knows for sure that the life they're living now isn't one he wants to keep, but you don't simply leave a gang like that. It takes him a couple more years to a) figure out some kind of plan and b) gather the resources, courage, and knowledge he'll need to pull it off and live.

v: the aftermath (post gang) (28-30)

Somehow, Atticus finds his way out of cult-gang hell. There are no dramatics involved - he simply disappears during a hunt one day, to arouse the least suspicion. Unfortunately, he wasn't alone on the hunt- the gang's leader had sent someone along with him to keep an eye on him, as (unbeknownst to Atticus) his growing resentment and flightiness had not gone unnoticed by the rest of the group. It's likely that the person sent with him was someone Atticus liked a great deal, as the leader hoped that this would dissuade him from doing anything stupid to get away--

--but needless to say, they were later found dead in the woods, and Atticus was gone. He spent the next two years flitting around as much as possible, trying to get as far away as he could. The gang sent out hunts for him, of course- at first with the intention of simply talking to him and seeing if they could persuade him to come back. After Atticus started killing them off, they sent out searches for him with significantly less friendly intentions.

It's during this time that he takes on the name Atticus as his own. No forename/surname: just Atticus, or Mr. Atticus if folks are feeling polite. It's also during this time that he acquires Bad Jim, a black and white horse that accompanies him for the next several years, often as his sole companion. He buys Bad Jim (then unnamed) from a horse trader entirely legitimately, but pays an absurd amount for him because the trader--according to Atticus--had "clocked [him] as a wanted fella of some sort and wanted to capitalize on his desperation".

(The truth is a little different: the trader had, indeed, clocked him as a wanted man, but he raised the price of the horse to compensate himself for the risk of selling a horse to a possible felon).

It’s during this time that he meets The Captain--then called Amelia--for the first time; the two stay in contact for the remainer of Atticus’ life.

The gang stops actively searching for him about a year and a half in, though Atticus still doesn't let his guard down for a good couple of years afterwards. During this time, higher-ranking members of the gang begin to spread the story that Atticus is dead. In later years, this story will become that Atticus never existed - younger members who join later on have no idea who he is, as to their knowledge, no-one escapes the gang and lives.

v: solo outlaw (30-36)

No longer quite so intensely on the run from the gang, Atticus encounters a problem: he is definitely still wanted by various authorities for his involvement with them. Not only that, but he has no damn idea how to exist outside of them. He makes a few token attempts at honest work--tries taking odd jobs for people, herds cattle and has a brief stint as a stableboy--but in the end, he just can't take to it. Within a few months, he's more or less going off the rails: where before he'd at least tried to steer himself towards being what he thought of as a Good Man(TM), he repeatedly finds himself committing actions he would abhor from anyone else. He tries real hard to find some kind of moral balance between doing what he's good at and doing what he wants to be good at, but alas, the poor bastard's more or less on his own and having a shit time of it.

Other than that, no fucking idea about the details of this verse. He's an outlaw still - he's just on his own instead of with a gang, and more often than not, he takes on jobs from people who need someone killed or threatened.

It's during this time (when he’s about 32) that he meets the woman who eventually becomes Icarus' mother. There's no immediate spark, nothing like that; she neither trusts nor likes him at first. It's when he tells her--a half-Black, half-Indigenous woman--that his father was Indigenous that she first gives him the time of day, and it's long after that, when he talks about his feelings of inbetween-ness and his frustration at being cut off from half of his heritage that she starts to actually warm to him even platonically.

Icarus is born soon afterwards, but by then, Atticus and [I'll think of a name one day]'s relationship has already begun to... not deteriorate, exactly, but shift. They were never really in love to begin with so much as they were good friends who found a comfort in one another they couldn’t find elsewhere.

Anyway the point is, they separate when Icarus is still very small; Atticus is losing direction and feels as stuck as he did before, and his presence is causing more problems than it solves. He vows to stay in touch, though, and he does- and later in life, much of the money he makes from bounty-hunting goes back to his friend and their kid.

It's towards the end of this verse that Bad Jim is killed in combat, during a run-in with Atticus' old gang - specifically some newer, younger members of it that don't know him, but Atticus is able to recognise them. The horse falls atop Atticus as it dies and essentially crushes him to the ground- he's only saved from being completely crushed by the overturned wagon beside him that takes some of Bad Jim's weight. Despite still sustaining severe injuries from it, Bad Jim's death saves Atticus' life: he has no choice but to play dead until the shooting's over and the smoke clears. The gang members give him a cursory check to see if he's dead, but given that they have no idea who Atticus is, they have no reason to do anything but check and move on.

v: in recovery (intermission) (36-38)

It takes Atticus a long time to recover from the injuries sustained in the fight that took Bad Jim; he's essentially forced to find somewhere to lie low and recuperate, and has to rely on the kindness of strangers and mere acquaintances during it.

Towards the end of this time, he also acquires the dog that now accompanies him almost everywhere; an Anatolian Shepherd I still don’t have a name for.

v: bounty hunter (segue) (38-42)

TL;DR; Having recognised that he Fucking Hates being an outlaw but isn't much good at anything else, Atticus finds a compromise: he becomes a bounty hunter, straddling both sides of the law at once.

It's during this time that he he meets Isaiah, who helps him out of several rough patches.

v: bounty hunter (42+)

Just the previous verse but at the default ‘canon’ point in the timeline sdkfjnsdjfkn. All interactions take place in this verse by default, which is often also tagged as "v: age of sail (atticus)". Local cowboy is a sort of bounty hunter, blahblahblah.

#facts: atticus #verses: atticus

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quickspinner · 4 years

Text

Hey Gorgeous - Under Your Skin 13

Life was good, the world was beautiful, and he was on his way to pick up his hot girlfriend.

His hot girlfriend who had left him speechless yesterday when he'd begged her to wear the black dress tonight and she'd giggled and said, "Oh, I c-can do better than th-that old thing."

Luka could see that she was waiting for him as he approached, talking with another girl he hadn’t seen before. Luka frowned at their body language. Marinette had her arms crossed and she was turned half away from the other girl. He quickened his pace a little, only to stop dead when their conversation hit his ears.

“—just don’t know if that style’s really flattering on you, Marinette. I mean, guys like girls to be feminine and delicate, not all, you know...lumpy. Maybe it would be better if you covered up a bit more.”

I’m not exactly the delicate type I guess, he remembered Marinette saying. I didn’t think...I’ve heard guys don’t like girls with muscles.

Luka ground his teeth. This explained a lot. The fuck this girl was going to get away with—

“I mean,” the girl said in a sickly sweet, oh-so-sympathetic tone, “You need to make a good impression, because, you know...well conversation isn’t exactly your strong suit, is it?”

Oh that bitch. Luka took a deep breath, and wiped his anger off his face. “Hey Gorgeous,” he called cheerfully as he jogged up the steps. “Ready to go?” He took some satisfaction in seeing the nasty girl’s eyes widen and then sweep over him, though he didn’t look at her at all, keeping his eyes fixed on Marinette as if the other girl didn’t exist. Marinette turned towards him and he didn’t have to fake an ounce of his reaction. “You look amazing,” he breathed, his eyes raking over her, still completely ignoring her companion. “Wow.” She wore a red halter dress with black polka dots, fitted through the waist and then flared to her knees, the skirt fluffed out by a layer of black tulle underneath. Her strong arms were bare.

“T-told you I could do b-better,” she said, pivoting slowly on her toes. When her back was to him, he heard a strangled noise come out of his own throat and slapped his hand over his mouth, eyes riveted to her exposed back. She looked back over her shoulder with an innocent expression and clasped her hands behind her in a classic pose that just happened to flex her back muscles.

He’d never seen anything so sexy in his life.

Luka let out one more moan behind his muffling hand and then shook his head, letting his hand fall. “You’re a masterpiece, Marinette. A fucking work of art. I doubted you when you said you could top the black dress, but I will never question your skills again. You’re seriously hot.”

He made a sympathetic face as she completed the turn and faced him again, a pretty blush in her cheeks. “It’s such a shame about your lipstick though.”

“What’s wrong w-with—“

He caught her hands before she could raise them to her lips, pulled her close, and kissed her. Luka took his time about it, guiding her hands up around his neck and then wrapping his arms around her, cradling her gently against him, mingling tenderness and passion, wanting her to know that she was both loved and desired no matter what that jealous harpy was spouting.

When he finally released her, her red lipstick was indeed utterly ruined.

“Sorry,” he said insincerely, grinning. “I know how you feel about kissing in public, but there’s no one around but us, so I thought it’d be okay.” There was a loud snort from somewhere near his elbow. Luka ignored it and kissed her lightly. “We better get going, Gorgeous, Jules’ll kill me if we’re late again because I couldn’t keep my hands off you.”

Marinette giggled, letting him lace their fingers together and tug her down the stairs. He grinned to himself as she shot a smug look over her shoulder. “Bye Lila,” she called sweetly.

“T-tell Alya not to w-wait up for me, will you?”

When they were out of sight, Marinette pulled Luka to a stop and jumped him—literally, he had to catch her as she hooked her arms around his neck and her strong legs around his waist—and kissed him fiercely. As if being climbed like one of her parkour obstacles wasn’t enough to kill him by itself, holy shit.

Somehow he survived the kiss and her slide back down him to the ground, but only barely.

She giggled at him while he mimed a heart attack.

“What was that for?” he asked innocently. “Not that I’m complaining.”

“You know exactly w-what you did, you b-beautiful mmman.”

Luka just grinned. “I don’t know what you mean. I just want you to know that I think you’re gorgeous and I love everything about you.”

“Uh-huh. And the fact that Lila just happened to be p-p-picking on m-me had n-n-nothing to do w-with it.”

Luka bit back an impolite reply that he knew Marinette wouldn’t approve of and just said, “Oh, was there someone there? I remember a stick wearing bright colors. I wondered who left their flag lying around.”

Marinette snorted and laughed, tucking herself against his side. “I love you so m-much,” she said, and even though she said it in laughter, his heart soared.

“I love you too, babe,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her hair. He put his arm around her waist and they started walking again. “So who was that--charming person?” he asked, making a face.

“An old enemy,” Marinette replied, making a face of her own. “I th-thought I was d-done with her but she’s f-friends with Alya and Alya invited her to ssstay with us f-for the weekend.”

“Seriously?” Luka said incredulously. Marinette shrugged.

“L-lila’s insidious and c-careful. She only shows her t-true colors around p-people she c-can’t use. Alya th-thinks I’m just b-being oversensitive.” She sighed. “It’s g-gonna b-be a long w-weekend.”

“You could stay with me,” Luka offered immediately. Marinette looked up at him and he shrugged. “Juleka won’t care. I can sleep on the couch.”

“Y-you don’t have to sleep on the c-couch,” Marinette admonished.

Luka grinned ruefully. “Yeah, I kinda do.” He stopped and turned Marinette towards him. “Babe, I already can’t look at you without feeling like I ought to go to confession.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re not C-catholic.”

Luka shrugged. “The point stands. Anyway I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep in bed with this,” he motioned to all of her. “Not unless we did a few other things first.” He paused, choosing his next words carefully, face heating. “And while I’d be more than willing to do those things with you, that’s probably something we should talk about without that kind of pressure.” He cleared his throat and smiled down at her suddenly round eyes. “So I’ll sleep on the couch. All that aside, we should probably fix my face and your lipstick before we get to the club, or I’ll catch hell from Juleka for weeks.”

@thethirdwheelfriend

#hey gorgeous #hey gorgeous 2 #campus delivery boy luka #lukanette #i am lukanette trash i admit it #luka couffaine #marinette dupain-cheng #miraculousladybug #miraculous ladybug #quickspins

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pi-cat000 · 4 years

Text

MSA: Winged Arthur AU (part 13)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11 , Part 12

Note: Backing up a bit with a Lewis POV

“I’m telling the truth!” Lewis reaches towards Vivi like he’ll be able to physically close the distance between them. He tries stamping down his flames, which are leaping about, mirroring his emotional distress. Maybe, if he looks human, she’ll be more sympathetic.

“Please.” All he needs is a chance to explain and make her understand that the Arthur she is protecting isn’t the person she thinks he is.

Her expression hardens into a glare. The front door to Kingsman Mechanics’ is slammed which such force that it rattles the frame. For a long moment, all Lewis can do is stand, stunned, with his arm outstretched. Flames run down its length, eating away at the human illusion, leaving black cloth and a skeletal vestige behind. Slowly, he clenches his hand into a fist, which alights a bright purple, letting off a frustrated yell. A column of fire shoots up into the air.

Conflicted, Lewis tries to follow Vivi but, as soon as he steps in close to the building, he is stopped by some unseen barrier. It smothers his flames and saps him of energy, leaving him weirdly exhausted. Accompanying this process is a sense that he is very unwelcome and should leave right now. A ward of some sort? Lewis has come across a few in his brief time as a ghost, and trying to force his way through had never ended well.

Upset, he steps back to stare longingly at the door. Around him, flames creep out over the ground, feeding on his frustration. The fire is halted by the same barrier. Why? Vivi acted like he was a monster. He’s not…Lewis glances around and realises he’s set the whole front driveway, and all the scattered debris, alight. Shame creeps up on him, settling in alongside the anger. It’s not the first time he’s lost control since awakening.

It is a deliberate effort, but he manages to cut his emotions off from the flames, leaving them to wither and die without fuel. Luckily, they don’t ‘burn’ inanimate objects, meaning the driveway is unscathed. The same protection is not extended to other living creatures. Lewis grimaces. He has almost burnt Vivi several times now. That wasn’t counting him running her off the road. Lewis glances over at Arthur’s van which is a twisted mess of steel. She could have died.

What’s wrong with him?

Lewis circles the workshop, attempting to find an alternative entrance. He needs to explain himself. He needs Vivi to understand and remember who he is. Once she knew the context for his death and Arthur’s true nature, she’d understand…right?

“…I have is this feeling that I know him, the ghost that is, from somewhere...”

The sound of Vivi’s voice drifts through one of the glassless windows. Lewis inches as close to the window as he dares, trying to see in. The barrier doesn’t let him get near enough for a good view, forcing him to crouch and listen instead.

“…Did we meet on a case or something?”

“Not quite….” Lance answers, voice less angry now he’s not aiming a gun at Lewis. The is no sound of Arthur, meaning the traitor is either not in the room or still unconscious.

“Yeh know that thing… The thing Arthur’s been searchin for this last few years.”

“Yeah…of course I do. I mean I should, I’ve been here for most of it.” Vivi responds, then pauses before adding, “Lewis is connected to my memory loss, isn’t he?”

It makes Lewis’s heart ache, to hear Vivi talk as if he is a stranger who’s motives needed to be dissected like he’s one of her mysteries.

“That thing… not really a thing at all. More of a person. A person who went missing the night yeh lost ya memories and Arthur lost his arm.”

“…and this person is Lewis,” Vivi finishes to which Lewis frowns.

“That’s the name.”

The are several seconds of long silence while Lewis waits anxiously for Vivi and Lance to continue talking. Why would Arthur search for him after murdering him? It would explain why no one came looking for him. Lewis had always suspected that something might have gone wrong when no one came to collect his body.

“That ghost…the one outside…is he the same Lewis?”

Yes! He is Lewis. He came back.

“No idea.”

Vivi continues, her tone sharp and angry, making Lewis wince. “Because he was pretty intent on hurting Arthur. Why would Arthur want to find someone who’d want to hurt him?”

“The three of ya were close friends for years. Did everything together. Don’t know nothin about wraiths, but if it wants ta hurt Arthur, then it’s not the Lewis Arthur is searching for.”

“Surely, I would remember someone that important? Or Arthur would have mentioned him.”

“The kid tried,” Lance answers, “Multiple times. Whatever got the memories, it targeted Lewis and stopped yeh from retainin any info about him.”

It was a ruse? It had to be a ruse. Arthur must be putting on the appearance of trying to find him to cover up his murder. Though, if Vivi ready had forgotten everything about him, like this conversation implied, then what would be the point of a that? Lewis massages the floating heart at his chest, trying to relieve some of the tension. If Vivi had been Arthur’s goal, then why bother to search for him? Unless Arthur is telling the truth about not remembering.

“I knew it.” Vivi comments, “There is a connection between all the missing memories. It’s not random. No wonder Arthur always got upset when I asked questions.”

If Arthur hadn’t been the one to erase him from Vivi’s memories then who? Why? Hadn’t he suffered enough? Wasn’t dying enough torture?

“…But I remember now. Well, I recognised the name at any rate…so that’s something. A wraith is an embodiment of anger and pain. When a person dies, and the circumstances surrounding the death are traumatic enough, their negative emotions trap them between here and wherever souls go. That’s what the books say.”

Lewis doesn’t want to listen anymore. He can’t bear to hear Vivi talk like he’s a monster. And yet he feels he can’t move. Not yet.

“You said Lewis disappeared the night Arthur…When Arthur lost his arm. What if, whatever happened back then, it killed this person…Lewis. I mean, we already know the event was bad enough to give us both blackouts, and god knows Arthur gets enough nightmares from the incident. Maybe it was bad enough to create a wraith. Of course, that still doesn’t explain why it wants to hurt Arthur. If you are right about us being friends and stuff, it shouldn’t be targeting us.”

“The Lewis I remember wouldn’t have hurt either of yeh…” Lance grunts.

Lewis stumbles upright, wrenching himself away from the window. The fire is back, more subdued now it is fuelled by pain as opposed to anger. Instead of bright purple, the flames are dark, almost black. This is all wrong. This isn't how his revenge is supposed to play out. With Arthur not remembering his death and Vivi not remembering him at all.

Hastily, Lewis makes his way to the opposite side of the crashed semi-trailer, so he has a view of the Tempo desert. It is empty, a flat plane of nothing stretching to the horizon. The perfect target for a long stream of fire which shoots out in a line. Lewis lets it grow and feed off his unstable emotions.

‘A wraith is an embodiment of anger and pain.’ During his time alive, Lewis had skimmed many of Vivi’s books on the supernatural. Hard not to when she carried them around everywhere. A wraith was a malevolent spirit that brought indiscriminate death and destruction on those around it. Described as evil, uncaring, unthinking, they thrived off the pain of their victims.

Lewis never planned on killing Arthur. All he wanted to do was force out the truth and get some closure. Maybe, scare the shit out of him in the process. Yet, in that moment, as he was chasing Arthur down, he hadn’t cared. Then he had thrown Arthur off the cliff, mimicking his own death. It hadn’t been satisfying. In fact, he had felt pretty bad afterwards. Really bad. Like he’d made a huge mistake.

He'd killed Arthur and regretted it. Or, he thought he had killed him…Arthur wasn’t dead after all.

Lewis summons his smaller companions, affectionately named Deadbeats. They are all a little shaken from having one of their compatriots severely injured by Vivi, so only two, the bolder of the bunch, answer his call.

“What’s wrong with me?” He asks.

The two Deadbeats glance at each other, bobbing up and down, which is pretty much their standard response to most questions. Deadbeats were little more than a manifestation of his fire, made semi-sentient through bonding with weaker wisps and spirits. He still takes solace in their reaffirmation.

Letting his fire simmer down, Lewis recalls his memory of the cave…of Arthur pushing him and smiling. The single, blurred, frame of memory is all he has from that night. He compares it to memories from his life before, which are equally hazy. Like half-forgotten dreams.

“I’m still Lewis.” He is just angrier. Rightfully angry. He’d been murdered! Anyone would be angry about that. Though, re-evaluating his motivation, the anger, while still destructive, is more directionless now. For the first time since dying, he doesn’t know what he wants.

Lewis is unsure how long he stands there, stewing in a mix of anger, confusion, pain and regret, but it must have been a while because the sun starts to lighten the sky. He is about to return to Kingsman Mechanics and maybe try and sort something out with Vivi and confront Arthur again when a strip of white appears on the horizon. The longer he watches it, the thicker the white band grows, heading in his direction. A wave of white, speeding across the desert. The ground under him shakes, and Lewis floats a few feet into the air, eyeing it with apprehension. It is a good thing he does because, without warning, several trees sprout from the dirt and rocket upward. With white bark and twisted limbs, the trees curl toward the sky, forcing him to dodge to avoid them.

Confused, Lewis stares at the forest growing around him.

Note: Kudos to an answrs who guessed the eavesdropping plot point back around part 9 XD. hope this lived up to any expectations.

#mystery skulls animated #MSA #fanfiction #fanfic #Lewis pepper #Vivi Yukino #WINGS!#winged-arthur #descriptions of violence #lewis re-evaluates his reason for existing #angst #all the angst

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