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deadlymistletoe · 2 months

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Moonlit Misery

Pairing: Killian Jones/Captain Hook x Reader

Request: @notalizard asked: Killian Jones x GN! Reader but they have a a son who is stuck on pans island (pre curse) and they are both angsting about potentially never getting him back together

Genre: Angst

Description: On the anniversary of being separated from your beloved son by the devil known as Peter Pan, you and Killian despair under the moonlight with thoughts of your failure.

Warnings: mentions of manipulation; peter pan

Word Count: 1262

You glanced up from your spot where you sat on the edge of the pier, legs dangling in the air when the familiar footsteps stopped beside you and leather rustled as your husband sat down beside you, swinging his own legs over the dark ocean below.

The moon cast a gentle light over the water, its reflection moving with the swirl of the water and you raised an eyebrow as its reflection glinted off the bottle of rum the dark-haired pirate held in his hand.

“Really?” You questioned, watching as he used his teeth to pull the cork, dropping it from his teeth to the side. Normally you’d find the move incredibly attractive, and he’d accompany it with a suggestive wink. Not tonight though. Instead he only shrugged, the tiny, crooked smile he gave you forced and full of pain.

“Now, love, surely you’ve worked out by now that bemoaning over our loss isn’t complete without a bit of rum to sip depressingly at. Ruins the image.” Even as he held out the bottle to you, the spark in his eyes that usually accompanied his quips was gone, the blue that mirrored the ocean below dark and blank, void of life or happiness.

You sighed, taking the offered bottle and taking a long sip, grimacing only slightly at the flavour - you’d never been a massive fan of rum, but tasting it on Killian’s lips so often over the years had gotten you used to it. Besides, he was right. The two of you may as well fit the image.

Said image had become a yearly occurrence for the two of you ever since that fateful night. The rest of the crew knew well enough to keep away, and to keep others away by now. They also knew never to speak a word of it: both the yearly routine and the event that it was the anniversary of. Instead you would only receive sad glances you hardly noticed as the two of you stumbled back onto the Jolly Roger in the morning, slightly tipsy, slightly hungover and ready to ignore the event for another year.

But for tonight the fake ignorance was gone, the raw truth that weighed on both your hearts loud and clear.

“Do you think we’ll ever get him back?” You murmured as Killian finished taking his own swig of the drink.

You heard the sigh more than you saw it as he stared at the drink in his hand. “I hope so,” He answered, but you could both feel the worry between you that his hope would never be any more than just that: a hopeful wish that would never come true.

The truth was, the likelihood of getting back your son was very unlikely. The likelihood of getting him back unscathed was almost non–existent.

The absolute devil known as Peter Pan would make sure of that. Years ago, when he had sucked your son into his circle of lost children with fake acts of kindness and sincerity, none of you had known what you’d been about to lose. Not you, not Killian, not the crew who also adored your son, and not your son himself. The truth was, you didn’t even know if your son saw it as a loss.

A young boy of 11, he had been captivated by Pan and his charm and promises. Peter used that to his advantage to keep the boy drawn in, so there was no telling what Pan had told your son about the absence of his parents. Neither of you said it, but the worst fear of both you and your husband was that Peter had poisoned your beloved boy’s mind with lies of his family abandoning him.

It had haunted you ever since that even if you could get your son back he wouldn’t want to leave the so-called ‘family’ made up of lost boys.

What had started out as a tentative alliance - particularly when your son had taken an interest in Pan - had ended when the devil refused to let you take your son off shore after a venture through the island after he found out you intended on leaving, the alliance turning forced as he kept your son hidden and away from you, taunting the two of you with stories of how happy your only child was without you - how he had found a real family that didn’t steal and plunder for a living - as he used threats of the 11 year old’s safety as a way to keep both you and the rest of the crew of the Jolly Roger in check, doing his bidding.

This continued, pieces of you and Killian’s hearts chipping away as time continued to go by until Pan struck the final blow; giving you the option to finally leave the cursed island and its waters, only without your son. The ‘option’ had ended up being an order, and the night after Killian turned down the offer with a few choice words the lost boys went into action, forcing Killian to turn the boat away from the island lest more of his crew fall victim to the ruthless children, the lost boys chasing you until you passed the barrier and it shut behind you, casting you back into the waters of your own realm with no way back in, cursed to age and die while your son stayed young with Peter for eternity.

The only signs of what had transpired had been the youth of those who had been there along with the absence of your son and the dead and wounded bodies on your ship.

Now you leaned into the welcomed warmth as Killian put the bottle aside, wrapping his arm tightly around your shoulder and pulling you into him. You swallowed tightly, staring out at the dark sea.

“This is our fault.” You muttered. “We never should have risked taking him to that damn island, let alone the realm in the first place.”

You felt Killian’s fingers tighten on your shoulder as you uttered the same regrets you did every year. This time though, Killian pulled his arm away, turning your head to look at him, fingers lightly on your chin. Determination hardened his features. “This was not our fault. We didn’t know what would happen. And I swear to you and the gods, we will get our son back, however long it takes - whatever condition he is in - and we will be a family again.”

You swallowed once more, taking in the steely glint in his eyes that replaced the blankness. “What changed since last year? What makes you so sure?”

“What changed is that I won’t let us keep suffering like this. I won’t let that devil keep our family apart to prove a point.” He glanced at the water before looking back at you. “I am a very patient man, and mark my words, sooner or later we will get him back if I have to bargain with the Dark One himself.”

You pulled Killian’s arm around you again, leaning into him as you picked up the rum to take a last sip. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that, yeah?”

When dawn came and the two of you stepped back onto the planks that made the deck of your home, the crew took note of the difference from previous years; the new determination in both of your gaits and the hope that burned in your traded glances.

It was in silent agreement that the crew would do whatever they could to get your son home again.

A/N: I am open to writing a sequel at one point set in S3 where they reunite with their son if enough people are interested, so let me know if you are.

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#killian jones x reader #imagines #female reader #killian jones #once upon a time #ouat #ouat fanfiction #once upon a time x reader #fanfiction #deadlymistletoe #my writing

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thresholdbb · 4 months

Note

For the reverse unpopular opinion meme: Neelix

Thank you for the ask!

Neelix is a character I did a full 180 on. I thought he was annoying, but I've come to really like what he brings to the crew. I fully believe he has the funniest line in the whole series. I think Neelix is at his best when he's being a little mischievous, and he stands up for himself when the rest of the crew underestimates him, which happens kind of often. He really is resourceful, and I'm not convinced the Voyager replicators make good food to begin with, so he made sure this ship of strangers was well fed. I think his best episode is probably The Haunting of Deck 12. There's a point in that episode where you're not fully sure if he told the truth or made everything up, which is a really fun quality in a character.

Also of note, Neelix is the character who first suggests the Doctor start expanding his program and learn how to sing during Phage. He also is very wary of nebulas, which everyone sort of dismisses, but he's also right about them every single time.

Neelix is admirable because he's 100% got everyone's back, as soon as he got his imposter syndrome out of the way. If there's someone they can count on, it's Neelix. In Caretaker he meets the crew and tries to dupe them into rescuing Kes, but he immediately decides there's something worthwhile in this group and he decides to start taking care of them. Overall, he's a good guy who's doing his very best and tries to continue improving. He can be annoying, but that's also relatable

#Also Ethan Phillips may have been my favorite actor encounter...

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pampushky · 2 months

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Creature (Both Haunted & Holy)

Vinsmoke Sanji/Reader - Chapter 13 - 4.6k

You are haunted by what has happened to you. The boys tease Sanji.

ao3 | series masterlist | masterlist | next part

You hate the doctors, you’ve decided. You’re currently clutching Usopp’s hand as you sit in the lighthouse. It’s cozy enough, and the rest of the crew is sprawled around, nosily poking through a few different areas. Nami is on your other side, and Sanji stands behind your chair. His scent is comforting, and you find yourself reveling in it.

Now, you’ve been to the doctors before, or rather, the healers. You’d even trained a bit as one— it was part of the Selken Isles schooling— before you were taken away. But, you were still miserable. The healer's rooms had been clean but cozy, with tea and warm cider ready to be made in the case of something upsetting happening. Your uncle, Remi, had been a great healer and had even snuck you and your siblings candies, had you behaved. Remi had also been speared on Arlong's sword for the offense of trying to stop the fishman from taking you.

But non-selken doctors… they were almost sterile, or cold. It scared you. The doctor of Cocoyashi had been kind, yes, everything felt freezing to your touch, with you whimpering when he had to touch you. It had felt like he was doing a chore, not helping you heal, even as he apologized. You did not often see eye to eye with many doctors, you realized. Crocus sat before you, adjusting his glasses in a nearly bored manner as he scribbled down a few things already, looking back up, and focusing on the two scars on your face. “How old are you currently?”

“Uh…. I’m about eighteen. I was born in the winter, so… about eighteen and a half now?”

“And when was your last doctor’s appointment?” Crocus looks at you expectantly, and the woods die in your throat. “Your navigator only said things had been rough for you, for the last few years, so I assume before that?”

“Uh— yeah. Uhm. I don’t really recall, actually.” You scratch your neck nervously. You’re suddenly aware that all the crew— your pod— has come to circle you, watching you. The smell of anxiety is thick in the air, your anxiety, to be exact. You wish they didn’t have to be here for this, and are half tempted to ask them to leave. But they should know, your mind hisses, They need to know what you tricked them into. When they became your pod.

“I didn’t mean to trick them,” you argue with the voice in the back of your head. “ When would I have told them?”

“Anytime before this. Perhaps before even your cycle,” you can almost picture the shadowy form of Arlong speaking to you, a hand wrapped around your neck as he stands behind your chair. “ You’re going to be nothing but a burden.”

You stop arguing. The voice is right about that.

“Uh, I think it was a few months before I got taken?” You play off your pause as though you had been thinking, nervously smiling at the doctor, who only nods, and writes something down.

“Taken?” Crocus sets down his notepad and leans forward. “I’m aware that the selkenfolk are… uncommon, and that can relate to being sold into slavery.” You fidget in your chair, and Usopp squeezes your hand. You can hear how Sanji shifts behind you, and all you can imagine, despite the comforting scent of your crew around you, is Arlong’s form standing behind you, making sure you don’t say anything to condemn him. The doctor looks at the crew around you.

“You should go watch over your ship. The navigator can wait here with your boatswain,” Crocus juts his chin towards Nami. “Gods know what may be out there, waiting for the chance to take your ship.”

Begrudgingly, the men leave, with Sanji shooting a final concerned look over his shoulder as he closes the door. Nami folds her arms and sits on the chair beside you, eying the old man warily.

“I just wanted to ask if you’d prefer to talk alone,” he stands from his chair, and makes his way to his kitchen, grabbing spices from the cabinets and setting the kettle on as he fills a small metal container. You can smell cinnamon, fennel seeds, fresh milk, and cardamom, among many others, as he makes something. “Your grandfather always liked talking one-on-one with a warm cup of tea.”

“Pell?” You squeak, surprised, and Nami holds your hand. “Wait— how’d you know he’s my grandfather?”

“He’s an old crewmate of mine, from our younger days.” Crocus puts a kettle on, and then leans against the counter, watching you. “You’re a spitting image of him, as was your mother, in his youth. You even wear your hair similar to his.” He laughs to himself a bit. “Besides— I’m partially Selken myself. My great-grandfather was of ringed-seal lineage. Gave me a keen sense of smell,” he taps his nose, “And your pelt smells of my old friend.”

You manage to stop your jaw from hanging too much, as he finishes up whatever he’s made. Crocus comes back with a steaming cup of what smells like a spicy milk tea, carefully handing it to you, and then offering another to Nami.

“I understand it’s probably a very hard thing to discuss, what happened to you. When the news of what happened to Seal’s Drop came here, I was devastated. I was your mother’s guardian when she was born.” He sighs, rubbing his forehead. “And I’m certain that it wasn’t pleasant, knowing what Selkenfolk are usually taken for.”

You only nod, and Nami bites her bottom lip, gripping your hand harder. Baggage. Nothing but a burden. Who would want you? Shadow-Arlong whispers, and you cringe. Crocus sighs, before setting his hands on his knees.

“I won’t need to do many physical examinations on you, you’re still underweight, just based on looking at you. I would like to weigh you and take some blood to do a few tests, but that’ll be all.” He walks over to a shelf, kicking out an electric scale from underneath it, while pulling a small set of needles and tubes. “Then we can talk about what you went through, which is why I wanted your friend here. You’ll need a good support system established on your crew. I’d outright recommend a therapist, but that can be rather difficult to find.”

Crocus leads you through the motions, asking before he does anything, and then explaining it thoroughly, as he performs each task. It makes it easier. You watch as he runs the blood tests, and writes down notes, putting them in a folder, your name across the front.

“I’m assuming you have the same last name as Pell?” Crocus doesn’t even look up as he writes Blackfin beside your first name. “Memory serving me, it passes down from oldest to youngest, each parent taking a turn giving the last name starting with the oldest, correct?”

“Yes,” you nod, “My sister took my Mama’s, and I got Mam’s. The twins were split.”

“Blackfin it is.” He turns around, looking at your weight on the scale, and motioning for you to go sit down again. “Settle in. We’re going to talk about what you went through. I’ll get more tea.” He stands, and you squish down into the couch, suddenly very aware of how much you’re about to drop on this poor man, who had shown you nothing but kindness. Nami squeezes your hand.

“It’ll be okay,” She smiles at you.

“There’s stuff I haven’t even told you,” your voice comes out as a whisper.

Ungrateful. Shadow-Arlong hisses, and you flinch.

“I’ll never be mad at you for that,” her gaze softens, “Actually— I am sorry. About how I yelled at you earlier, when we were trying to get away from Laboon.”

“Who’s Laboon?”

“Oh, I guess you were passed out during that whole thing, uh, that’s the whale. It’s Luffy’s rival now.”

“What the fuck?”

And Nami only shrugs. “But I am sorry. You didn’t need that, and you were terrified .”

“I— I didn’t even remember it,” you mumble, “But I’d forgive you for anything.”

“But it’s okay to not forgive me,” Nami squeezes your hands, “You’re allowed to be mad at the crew. And hold grudges.”

“But— they’ve all been nice,”

They’ll throw you away when you become useless to them.

“And they haven’t done anything.” You chew your bottom lip, and it feels like Arlong is leaning over you, hand grasping around your throat again. “Luffy can be interesting—”

“He can also put the crew at risk. And you’re allowed to tell him off.” Nami looks you in the eyes, hard, and it scares you a bit. “You’re allowed to set boundaries with people.”

Are you worthy of them, though, pet? Arlong sneers, his ghostly fingers squeezing your windpipe. You’re nothing. Nothing, to them. But a tool. And you should start to act like it.

“I— I just want to do my job. I don’t need to cause issues, I’m the newest member, after all.” You mumble, just as Crocus comes back, two cups of tea in hand.

“Boundaries are important.” He tuts and nods approvingly at Nami. “Had I not chewed out my own captain each time he did something reckless, half of the crew would be dead or sick. It’s a part of being a member of the crew.”

Know your place! You exist only to help.

“Would you happen to have… voices, thoughts, even, that encourage you not to do that?” Crocus handing you the tea, and looking directly at you. “Do they imply that you don’t deserve good things to happen to you?”

Behind you, you can almost hear and see the way Arlong would seeth, gnashing his teeth, and you almost feel the phantom pain of his grip on your neck. Do not speak, he hisses, How dare this old human—

“Yes.”

Your voice comes out small, and suddenly, the shadow of Arlong is gone, and you realize you’re crying, with Nami holding your hand tightly.

“Yes. They— they sound like him,” you whisper, “And I don’t know what to do.”

Nami lets out a heartbroken noise, and you sniffle, bringing your free hand up to wipe at your tears.

“Is there something wrong with me?”

“No.” Crocus leans forward. “I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with you, and whatever happened was not your fault.”

“It feels like it was.” You say hoarsely. “My village, my pod, they’re all dead, because Arlong took me.”

“They’re gone because he did that. Not because of you,” Crocus gently says, crouching in front of you. You start to warble, and Nami pulls you into a side hug. “The actions of another are not your fault. What happened was because of him. Not you. Him. ”

And you cry, Nami holding you. It’s another two hours in there, slowly going through everything, and Crocus gives you time to freshen up and breaks between all the talking.

“I’ll give you some vitamins, and a few books I have to help with that, along with my notes from whenever I treated Pell. Should have all you need. Along with a few books on how to be gentler with yourself.” He hands Nami these. “Repeat something affirming to yourself whenever these thoughts tend to take over. Set boundaries and establish a way to speak nonverbally with your crew.” He lightly taps your head, frowning. “You’re much more than what’s happened to you, Blackfin.”

You nod hesitantly, and Nami squeezes your hand again. Crocus is about to escort you to the ship when you get an idea, turning to him so quickly it startles him a bit.

“Wait! Do you know how my grandfather used something? Since you were on his crew.”

Crocus regards you carefully, adjusting his glasses. “Depends.”

“I think you’ll know this,” you smile shyly. “Do you remember a trident?”

“I don’t like how long they’re taking,” Sanji is in the kitchen, cutting up carrots. He had already gone through the onions and the leeks that hadn’t been processed yet, keeping them in the freezer so they would keep longer. A pot of curry was bubbling on the stove. Fresh rice had just been taken out of the rice cooker. And Zoro and Usopp wanted to gouge out their own eyes from how much Sanji was talking about how worried he was about you. Luffy had fallen asleep across both of their laps.

Oh, he talked about Nami, of course. But mostly you.

“Do you think she’s okay?”

“I’m really worried. She looked so… broken.” Sanji stopped for a second, brushing carrots off of the cutting board and into a bowl. “How can you be so calm right now?”

“Because we don’t have a crush on her,” Usopp deadpans, and Sanji’s face turns bright red.

“I do not have a crush on her!”

“You do.” Zoro still has his eyes closed, as if he’s trying to nap, from where he sits on the couch. “You’re in denial.”

“I am not,” Sanji wipes his hands, and throws the towel onto the counter, leaning across the island with a deep scowl. “Besides. That would be the last thing she needs to think about.”

“Whatever you say.” Zoro sighs deeply, cracking open an eye when Luffy shifts in his lap, grunting when one of the boy’s feet comes up to smack him in the jaw, eyes finally flickering open from the shock. He looks at Sanji, tutting. “Oh, you do have a crush. Look at how red your cheeks are.”

“What would you even know about love? You’re absolutely disgusting, with how badly you smell.”

“Enough.” Zoro scowls back. “And I showered last night I am fine. ”

“After climbing around the belly of a whale.”

“So were you!”

“I changed and showered. The moment I got on the ship,” Sanji sneers.

“Whatever,” Zoro throws his hands up. “I don’t have anyone to impress!”

The cook groans, digging the heels of his palms into his eyes, before glaring at the swordsman. “I’m not trying to impress anyone!”

Usopp clicks his tongue. Luffy blearily lifts up his head. And Zoro snorts.

“Okay, maybe I am trying to impress the finer gender on this ship,” Sanji admits with a slight blush, “But that's just manners.”

Luffy yawns out your name and Sanji’s face goes red again. “You’re trying to impress her, right?” The captain rolls off the couch with a thud, walking over to Sanji, and snatching sliced carrot pieces from the bowl. “Like, the selkie dating thing, she told us about? When we were all drinking?”

It had been a simple suggestion by Nami. Each of you would share three fun facts about yourself or your home island. Two would be lies, and one would be true. If someone guessed the truth, the speaker would take a shot. If the guesser picked a lie, they would take a shot. Simple enough.

Usopp was currently the most drunk, followed very quickly by Luffy and Nami. Sanji and Zoro were buzzed, and you were just a bit past tipsy, pelt slipping off your shoulders, revealing a spattering of charcoal skin, freckled with pale gray and white. It almost looked like constellations and galaxies, from certain angles, while your stomach was a pale, blue-grey.

“Okay—okay,” you straighten yourself out, giggling, “One. Selkies have a thing called courting that’s like… advanced dating. Two. I’ve caught a fish with my mouth. And three. My favorite food is kelp noodles.”

It’s Sanji’s turn to guess, and he purses his lips as he thinks, before leaning forward with a grin. “I’m choosing one. That was way too specific.”

“Aw, shit,” you lean back with a groan, and the crew breaks out into laughter. “Was it really? I thought for sure you guys would believe that second one.”

“Oh, I do.” Zoro groans. “I’ve seen you do it.”

“Wait, then that shouldn’t count then!” You whine to Nami, who only looks at you with a sympathetic smile while pouring you a shot, the crew laughing at your slight blunder.

“Drink up!” You throw it back easily, sticking out your tongue at Sanji, who chuckles. Your cheeks are stained a darker shade of gray than normal, and the paler dapples and freckles across your face shine under the moonlight. “But that’s so… traditional. The courting thing.”

"Haha, that’s a good way to describe selkie culture,” you laugh, tracing shapes onto the deck with the tip of your pointer finger. “Selkies, are if nothing, but really specific about stuff.”

“How so?” Usopp tilts his head. “You’re nitpicky, yeah, but you’re not that crazy.”

“It’s about ceremonial stuff that it gets weird. I’m just being a good resource manager.”

“Weird how?”

“Like—my Pap, my Mama’s dad, would bring in a giant tuna every time she had a kid, for good fortune,” your eyes go cloudy, as you fight to remember details of your childhood, “Oh, and he was apparently really picky when Mam and Mama started courting. Would check over all the catches Mam would bring to her, examine the gifts n’shit, to see if they were good enough,” You tilt your head as if to see your own invisible patterns on the deck from a new angle, “It’s like, the whole pre-mating stage. Goes on for months and months if not years. It’s really romantic, I guess. Shows the commitment, n’all the lovey shit,” you giggle, covering your mouth. “N’then you bone, mark each other up, and you’re officially mated then. Wham bam done!”

You roll back on the deck with a laugh. “It’s so goofy.”

“It sounds romantic,” Nami sighs, holding her head in her hands. Sanji nods his head in agreement. “Showing your commitment and then having it all culminate in a night of passion?”

“Seems dumb to me,” Luffy shrugs, and Zoro hums in agreement, “If you love someone, why not just say it, and make that it?”

“It’s like… a whole thing,” you groan, waving your hand in a circle. “It’s basically the founding of a whole new pod, bound together by the new mates. You gotta impress the elders of the two founding pods, and become all exclusive,” you sloppily pour yourself another shot. Sanji holds his breath as he watches as some of the rum splashes over your hands, and you suck it off your fingers greedily. “And you gotta line it up with a cycle, and your more… like, seal, part has to approve, it’s just a headache,” you lick away the remainder of rum from your lips, and Sanji is hypnotized by the way your tongue moves. “I agree with Luffy here. I’d rather just pop the question.”

“It has nothing to do with that,” Sanji looks offended at the proposal, though a blush does spread across his face. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Fine,” Luffy whines, and reaches for more carrots, only to have his hand smacked away. “Why can’t I eat a few? It’s not even meat!”

“Because. We’re waiting for the rest of the crew, and,” Sanji looks Luffy dead in his eyes, your name coming off his tongue with reverence, “… and Nami gets served first, considering how she just had a several-hour-long appointment with a stranger, and Nami helped her.”

The sound of footsteps on the deck catches their attention, and right as Sanji leaves the galley, he notices you pointing your trident at the water, while Crocus seems to adjust your form, before telling you to try again.

You bring it in an arc, before hitting it against the deck. Tide rings, clear and beautiful, and as you hum along with the ring, tendrils of water rise up from the ocean beside you. The moment you gasp, the water drops, but you look excited, rather than how exhausted you would normally be. You turn over to the crew slack-jawed, shocked you've even managed to do that, and Luffy whoops as he tackles you in a hug.

“That was so cool! ” The captain has you by your shoulders, “Can I try? Can I?”

“I don’t think you can,” you laugh, pushing him off, “But— Crocus was telling me how my grandfather used to use Tide like a battle hammer! And then I just thought—” you hit the trident off the deck again, listening as it rings again, “—well I may as well try!”

You match the pitch with the fading of the hum, your rumbles turning melodic as you sway with the trident, almost using it like a large baton, conducting a symphony. It’s helping to direct your energy, and when you reach a high note, trilling loudly, the snake-like form of the water shoots past the crew and down the trap door that leads to the storage room, and you hear a faint scream, just a few seconds later. Your jaw drops again, as you look at Tide, then to the direction of the trap door, then to your trident, sprinting towards it with a worried rumble.

“What the hell?” Zoro walks the way the water had gone, before calling the rest of the crew down.

Before you are two people, a ginger man, and a pale-blue-haired woman, both frozen to the wall with ice. And you let out a growl, low and threatening, that no one on the crew has heard from you before as you scent the air. Crocus laughs a bit into his fist at that, for how territorial you’re being, especially considering you had very little control of your element.

“Who are you?” You bring Tide up to the ginger’s throat. Naturally, it freaks him out a bit, and you narrow your eyes as Zoro pulls you back.

“Hey, bit intense there, you already have them frozen to the wall.” The swordsman hisses in your ear. “Which, by the way, didn’t know that was a thing you could do.”

“Neither did I, being totally honest right now.” You whisper back, and you swear you can hear the way Zoro stares into the back of your head. “This whole not being tired after calling the water is new to me.”

The swordsman only sighs, walking up to the two intruders, and holding up a weird compass. “I’m assuming you’re here for this?” Behind you, Luffy lets out a gasp, smacking around what you can only assume are his shorts.

“You took that from me!” Luffy pushes past you and starts to swat at the item, much to Zoro’s chagrin. “Give it back! I found it!”

“They have the log pose!” The girl cries out, and you turn your head to look at her. Upon closer inspection, it appears that Zoro does have a log pose in his hand. One which Luffy seems determined to break. You only just start to open your mouth when you hear the sound of Luffy’s arm stretching.

“What— Luffy, stop you’re gonna break—”

It didn’t even stand a chance, being smashed up against the wall by Luffy’s palm, and you groan, while Luffy stares at his now bleeding hand in confusion, as if he hadn’t just smashed it into a delicate glass bulb. You only groan, rubbing your palms into your eyes. Not only did you have to clean up broken glass, but now you’d have to find another log pose somewhere.

“Why’d you do that?” You grab Luffy’s hand and gently pull the glass from the cuts. “Now we can’t navigate.”

“What?!” Nami screeches, and you stop her from clobbering your captain by pushing him partially behind you. “Luffy, you dumbass!”

“He probably didn’t know,” you soothe your friend, before gently pouring some water on his hand from the gourd on your hip, feeling the draw of the energy around his minor cuts as you keep it from leaking through his fingers. “Don’t be too mad. Most people don’t even know what a log pose is, unless they're born on the Grand Line, or a seafaring race.”

The water that sits between your hands hums with energy, as you make it shift back and forth over the cuts, slowly stitching them back together as your voice is caught in the back of your throat, almost sounding similar to distant thunder. Luffy pulls his hand away when you’ve finished, looking at the unscarred skin in awe. You only smile, accidentally letting the water drop onto the floor when you stumble, thoroughly spent from all the water calling. Sanji catches you— you hadn’t even realized you’d been stumbling— and helps you right yourself, looking down at you in concern, his visible eyebrow arched above his eye.

“Ah, thank you,” Your smile made him feel like his heart was going to explode. Your hands brush along his arm before you hold his wrist tightly, still wobbly, as a tired rumble comes from your lips. His heart stops and restarts at the same moment as your grip tightens. “Would you— I think I need to just—”

“Of course,” he puts a hand on your waist, and and pulls you against him gently. In the back of your mind, you can hear how your hindbrain coos, and commends him, mumbling to you about what a wonderful mate he would be, with how well-fed he makes sure you are. “Let me know when you’re good to stand.”

The strangers laugh a bit, which is silenced by Zoro looming over them. The interrogation is rather quick after that, with Zoro learning their names, what they work for, and their goals. He even manages to get out of them that their boss is rather unhappy with them at the moment, so much so that they were nearly killed by a pair called “The Unluckies” and that Going Merry was the only real option for a place to hide.

Sanji’s already cleaned up the broken glass, and you’re left with Zoro and Luffy, wondering if you should give them a chance, when Crocus clears his throat.

“I’ll be the first to admit they’re rather annoying, especially when it comes to their attempts at killing Laboon,” both shrink under his steely gaze as he says, “But, I’m sure they’d be willing to throw their own weight around if you drop them off at the next island.”

“We don’t exactly have a log pose anymore,” Nami sulks, but cheers up upon immediately seeing one in Crocus’ hands.

“Consider this payment for stopping Laboon’s… more self-destructive urges.” The old man hands it to your navigator, who cradles it like a baby. You swear you hear your friend cooing at it too. “The doctor’s appointment is covered by that as well, but it would have been free, anyway, considering you’re Pell’s grandpup. Now let ‘em out, try the same thing with the trident again.”

Hesitantly, you tap Tide to the floor, and it hums, sounding much louder in the smaller space. You let out a low, yet delicate, croon, and the ice melts away, snaking up your arms, around your torso, and then out the door, and presumably back into the ocean, similar to the ribbons many gymnasts would use in performance. You regard your weapon with a wonder-filled stare, but look over at the two strangers. Something tugs at the back of your mind, settling there as if it's greeting you.

“Names?” You tilt your head, and the quiet clack behind you lets you know Zoro has a hand on his swords. “I don’t trust either of you for shit, I hope that’s clear.”

The man and woman share a glance and introduce themselves as Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. Nami sets a course for Whiskey Peak soon after, with the crew waving goodbye to Crocus as his lighthouse fades from view, the wind catching in the sails.

#black leg sanji #vinsmoke sanji #sanji x reader #sanji x you #vinsmoke sanji x you #one piece insert #one piece x reader #one piece x you

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hounds-tooth-icto · 2 years

Text

Running After You

Crosshair x fem! oc / cw: angst, ptsd

Idk this is just a lil self-insert fic to cope with the ever-messed-up relationship between my ptsd + sleep… and how much I miss Crosshair. Also this is my first fic aaaaaaa

•••

She’d gotten used to sleeping on Crosshair’s bunk. She argued with Echo that it was his to take, but he’d insisted. Despite what he had to say about preferring the hammock he’d taken to since joining the squad, she couldn’t shake the twinge of guilt that lingered every night she occupied the bunk. Even with more crew aboard the Marauder than ever, Crosshair’s absence never really settled in. Not with her, at least.

She couldn’t believe it when she found out they both had the idea to turn to the Trandoshan informant on Ord Mantell after the fall of the Republic. She couldn’t believe that Clone Force 99 weren’t killed in their escape from the Empire, and she really couldn’t believe that they were now doing the work of mercenaries. Since being forced to flee the only life she ever knew in the lower levels of Coruscant, she’d been uncertain as to whether her clone allies in the GAR could still be trusted and, if they could, whether that meant they were just as endangered as she was. But she was grateful to have found them when she did. If only she could see Crosshair again.

The first few nights were hard. The only thing to cut through the anxiety and lull her to sleep was the scent of the man she loved, still covering the bunk she lay on. When sleep did come, it was intermittently, her tense form muttering and moving, often waking herself or the others as a result. Tech offered to have her lightly sedated, but the idea of not waking up quickly enough from the nightmares terrified her.

She rolled onto her back. Despite the heaviness in her eyelids, she couldn’t bring herself to close them long enough to fall asleep. She couldn’t hear Wrecker’s snoring from the bunk below, which left this part of the Marauder in an uncomfortable silence. It felt unnaturally empty, in a way she couldn’t figure out. It was almost as if she were the only one on board. Hell, since learning about Crosshair, sometimes it felt that way.

Crosshair. She wished she could forget about him. She wished she could believe that he had betrayed his squad, that he chose the Imperial Army over them, that he accepted his fate, and that she was left to imagine what that fate entailed. She wished that it was just as easy not to lose focus when the lives of her squad, a child, and herself depended on it as it was for the others, but she couldn’t. Every night he came to her in visions of torture and brutality, the massacres she’d heard of, the stories he’d share before the Empire, now in a setting she doesn’t recognize, possibly as a man she wouldn’t recognize either.

She turned to her side, now facing the rest of the bunks in the upper part of the ship’s hold. Tech was not in the bunk across from her, as he often was. He must have been in the cockpit, likely with Hunter. She wondered if Omega was sleeping. She wondered if the young clone had nightmares as well. If she did, she never let on about it. Strong girl, she thought, she shouldn’t have to live through this. What will become of her?

Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps on the ladder leading up to their bunks. Hunter, probably. She recognized the light sounds of a careful gait, as if he were weightless, as if he was trying not to wake her up.

She closed her eyes. She didn’t want to talk, and she didn’t want to get any grief about her not sleeping.

“I’m not sure who you think you’re fooling. This is just lazy. Pitiful.”

That voice. It was too breathy, too toned-up to have been Hunter. She recognized the sharp articulation of the man that thinks more than he speaks, the voice that has haunted her for rotations on end. She wanted nothing more than to hear that voice again, but she didn’t open her eyes. It couldn’t have been him. No, this was either a cruel prank, or she was far more sleep deprived than she thought.

She felt his eyes on her. This was worse than any nightmare. Her jaw tightened, determined as all hell not to open her eyes and have her heart broken to see that he was not there in front of her.

“Not to distract you from a clearly very restful sleep, but you are taking up my bed. Could you at least move over?”

Her eyes flew open, instantly landing on the weathered black and red armor.

She opened her mouth to speak but, if she had the words for how she felt, they didn’t come out.

He just looked at her plainly, almost bored in appearance.

“Crosshair…? You—you’re back?”

“Back?”

She reached out a hand, tentatively, gently resting it on his armor. The sun-warmed plastoid stood still atop the even stiller man. She felt the slow movement of his breaths as he awaited a response.

Her vision began to blur. She’d been more than used to holding back tears but, this time, it felt far too heavy for her tired eyes. Done waiting in the months since he’d been lost, her tears finally spilled as she tried to speak.

“How did you—when…? Are you…okay? Are you safe?”

Crosshair’s stoic expression began to soften as it became apparent that she was genuinely concerned. As her hand slid up his chest plate and nestled in the crook of his neck, he placed one of his own with the softest touch over hers. He was confused but, beyond that, he was worried about her.

“Of course I’m okay, when aren’t I?”

At that, her grip on him began to tighten. There’s no way this is real, she thought. As panic began to set in, and fear of losing him again took hold, she held him tighter.

“This—isn’t happening…you…please—be here. Please stay.”

Crosshair cradled her head with his free hand and tightened his grip over her hand with the other. He didn’t know what to say, what to ask. It was obvious that she was upset but, hell—the way she was crying, you’d think that someone died.

“Please stay,” she sobbed, her head falling onto her outstretched arm, “Crosshair, I’m..I’m so—sorry—we…we couldn’t help you.”

As it dawns on him that she truly believes him to be gone, all composure seeps from him. His skin begins to chill. It’s clear to him now that he shouldn’t be here. Whatever happened, he’s not supposed to be here.

He sighs.

“I…I’m not going anywhere. I promise. I’m sorry. Cyare, I’m so, so sorry.”

She feels the weight of his head lower onto hers. His steady breaths falter as he hides his face from her view, unable to show the same tears she’d clearly been hiding for far longer than himself.

Together, they grieve something neither of them could fully understand. The relief of having the other’s touch, the fear of letting go weigh down their breaths, heavy on each other’s skin. What else is there? This could be it. This should be it. Just she and him, together, allowing each other to feel what they couldn’t in the presence of anyone else.

She’s not sure how long they spend like this—Crosshair, fighting to compose himself as he reassures her of something he can’t confidently believe, and herself, whispering between sobs, trying to say everything she’s wanted to for countless rotations. She can’t believe he’s back. She can’t even take herself out of the moment enough to wonder why, what his return means for the squad—for them. She just loses herself in this moment of reunion, in the relief, in him.

He does the same.

They both shoot up at the sound of blaster fire. She hears shouting, Hunter’s shouting. Meeting Crosshair’s eye, she can hear the others running out the ship, blasters shooting.

With a reassuring nod and a comforting squeeze of her hand, Crosshair runs to join the others, and he’s down the ladder before the situation processes in her head.

The panic returns. Seemingly on their own, her feet pick her up and take her in his direction, no armor, no weapons, nothing. She’s not ready to take her eyes off him yet, not yet settled in the reality of his return.

She finds the door to the ship closed. Unable to think, mind clouded with fear, she pounds at the door, screaming to be let out, screaming for Crosshair, drowned out by the shouts of the others.

The next thing she’s aware of is Wrecker’s arms wrapping around from behind her, restraining her, blood on her hands and the panicked shouting of her squad all around as she attempts to kick at the door.

But Crosshair isn’t there.

“It’s okay, you’re okay,” Wrecker grunts, trying to keep her still.

Hunter is trying to get her attention, not getting too close, hands outstretched. He speaks sternly, in small sentences, and the look of concern on his face is more disturbing than comforting to her.

“Hey, look at me. Look at me. You’re okay. You’re here, you’re with us. You’re safe.”

Safe, she thinks. What about Crosshair? Where is he?

“I told you this would happen,” she hears Tech say over her shoulder. “She can’t sleep on her own. She needs to be sedated, at least until she gets her strength back. She’s not doing well.”

What is he talking about? Where is Crosshair?

Her tears have come back, her efforts to escape Wrecker’s grip forcing them out from behind her eyelids.

She meets Hunter’s gaze, her eyes wide, eyebrows raised in a plea for help. She can hardly catch her breath with the strength of Wrecker’s hold on her.

Hunter’s eyes match her concern. He gives her a reassuring half-smile, then quickly turns his gaze over her shoulder and gives a nod to the man behind her.

The last thing she’s aware of before she loses consciousness is the shot of a bacta infusion and a muffled “I’m sorry” from Tech as the arms around her loosen and she slowly sinks to the floor. Her last thought is of the gutting certainty that Crosshair is truly gone.

He doesn’t come back to her in the dreams that come.

#clone force 99 #the bad batch #bad batch crosshair #ct 9904 #star wars tbb #tbb crosshair #crosshair x reader #crosshair x oc #look I’ve got massive issues and Star Wars is responsible for like half of that #this is my first fic plz be nice to me

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samabigailalan · 17 days

Note

Hi! For the ship meme ask:

15, 20, 22, 31, and 37!

Hi! And Thanks for the asks! 🥰

I’m really sorry this took so long to answer.

15. Have you ever shipped at first sight?

I think I answered this one for truedairship but I don’t mind getting them more then once : ) basically yes, I will ship cannon pretty easily, a show presents me with a pairing I like and I will ship it, occasionally I will ship characters who are friends in cannon though because I just think they would make a great couple.

20. Talk about a ship you feel alone in shipping.

Probably Kate/Will, but mostly because I think everyone seems to have a hate for Will,😆

I mean even I have hate for season 4 version of Will but I really liked him in the first couple of seasons and I think him and Kate would have made a good couple, I think they would have driven each other mad being used to opposite sides of the law in how they do things, but I like to think it would have been one of those slow burn gradual things where they just slowly grow closer. Plus I keep seeing all these looks they give each other when I rewatch episodes witch I am now reading waaaaay to much into 😅

22. Which of your ships have the best chemistry?

Teslen is probably at the top. Helen and nikola both have such great personalities and it’s never dull when they are on screen together.

Helen/john have great chemistry as well but when I say that I mean pre-Jack John, but I also love the moments in the series that hints to what they used to be like in Haunted you get little glimpses and you can see how much Helen still cares.

I want to say Helen/kate as well but it’s more I like the AU fic them because on screen I see found family Kate and Helen but off screen their such an awesome pairing and I love them! If that makes sense.

31. Talk about a favourite headcanon for a ship you love.

I have a few I love for the Helen/kate AU im working on. It’s a sailing ship AU and I like the idea that when ever Kate and Helen meet up, when their paths sort of cross they end up sitting on the top deck watching the sky, they do it so often that even when they go their separate ways they continue to do so in the late afternoons not even knowing that the other person does it also. It sounds kind of cringy but I love it.

37. Do you have a favourite trope and/or AU for your OTP

Yes!!!! Im repeating myself a little bit but I love this AU. For Helen/kate I have a sailing ship AU, I want to say pirates but they are not really pirates, just branded as pirates because of how they live and what they do. Helen is the captain of a ship which the crew has come to call The Sanctuary many of which are abnormals hunted down by the rest of the world because they’re misunderstood.

Kate is also the captain of her own vessel but she is a business/thief and basically she was branded a pirate and is also being hunted because she doesn’t care who she does business with and she has traded and helped Helen.

It’s sort of a set In a world where there is a never ending war against abnormals under the pretence that they will come after you if you don’t get rid of them first, the world kind of evolved to have the country’s navy’s as the leading power and Helen sort of ended up captaining a ship never staying long in one place because no shore is safe.

I hope all that makes sense, I don’t think I’ve explained it very well but it is my favourite AU for Helen/kate.

#ask answered #ask game #sarcasticsciencefictionwriter #thank you so much!

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nathantheauthor · 4 months

Text

I'm excited to get into the post I'm going to drop as I finish it, take a while, but the next major information post isn't a character exploration... But, design concepts! The four main designs for the characters throughout the Revver era of the Ripper Inc story. But as I put that on the back burner, this post is about mythology and the international branches. It's not going to be that detailed. Just kind of a teaser for some of the stuff going on with them and some of the conceptual ideas, and some of the crossover elements of the universe.

For those who are just seeing this, the main concept of Ripper Inc in this giant crossover fanfic sandbox is a company that reforms monsters and serial killers, or even just gives people a job. Austin time they hunt down other serial killers and monsters, but sometimes they're hired security, birthday party attractions, etc. They're technically morally good, they'll do anything they're paid to do, but a lot of them do have very questionable backgrounds and needed the mental help program offers. Of course, most of the following examples don't fit that criteria, as they were approached due to already being morally all right, most of them at least. The main idea of the organization is to rehabilitate killers and monsters by turning their violent tendencies on to other killers and monsters all while giving them psychological help they need.

But, before we get into the lot of their members, I think we should introduce....

BRANCH DIRECTORS (PART 1)!

Because this whole postal focus on just the briefest summary of the directors.

Mary-San!

Starting with Japan's very Phone Call From Mary. This is one that's very much done for both the colony of it and because of the terrifying practicality. For those unfamiliar with the urban legend, Mary-San, or Phone Call From Mary is a Japanese ghost story about a haunted doll and phone challenge rolled into one. As per the legend, if you call her first you will get a series of phone calls from Mary-San, each one her announcing herself in a location you had recently been to until finally It All leads up to "Hi, this is Mary-San, I'm calling from behind you." Her height may make her a comedic choice for a largely yokai branch, but she is the perfect tracker, equipped with only a phone call she is a master strategist and can locate anyone.

I am also very much playing with the backstory of her mythology, with the very reason she originally joined Ripper Inc being the promise of finding her original owner, who by the point she enters the story is already a very old woman. By the time the promise is fulfilled, it's a visit to the grave of the woman, with the rest of her branch and her own boss there to comfort and support her.

Sun Wukong!

Also hailing from Asia comes the Chinese branch director, The Monkey King himself. I'm not going to get into how I'm handling gods and all that in this post, but I will say that I'm leaving him very much the trickster gremlin that he is. In fact, inspired by a friend's Fate portrayal, I've elected not to give him a set design outside his origins. Wukong instead will shift and use the designs of adaptations and depictions of him, or characters inspired from him. Meaning he could look anything like Lego Wukong to Son Goku.

The Victorious Fighting Buddha's reason for joining repairing is a mixture of responsibility calling to him and the simple fact that he finds the concept and idea to be absolutely fun, the idea of HIM being the leader of a company branch is hilarious. How could he say no? It is an evolution of some of his themes, he may still be a trickster, but knowing their ultimate mission he takes the job rather seriously, often he can't help but recall The Journey To The West when working with his crew.

Annora Petrova!

For the Russian Branch director, I know a lot of you old school Creepypasta fans might recognize this name, she is an underrated classic. I say Russian branch, however they do more cover the collection of countries around that area (minus China). I do have an explanation for why she's around, given I actually haven't rewritten anything about her story!

In this reinterpretation she has become the Slavic spirit of folklore... A Rusulka, this is due to a character I won't spoil editing her wiki and once more altering the course of her story. She's now come to be the director for this large branch of Ripper ink and works closely with / shares resources with Wukong. Everyday she has the temptation to check her wiki, to see what it has to say about her. To see what isn't about her newfound fame.

Brianna Grianne!

Hopping on over to Ireland, we meet the first OC director! Brianna is a fey, one that outright goes against the will of her people and instead uses her fae powers to aid and give people what they need. It's very notable in her wording, never does directly ask for something, avoiding fae deals.

She much rather live and be part of the human world than amongst her less benevolent kin, finding the world of mankind to be much more intriguing and hospitable.

Nero Claudius!

Who better to lead the Roma- Italian branch than this resurrected Roman Emperor? They were all seriousness, it is very much they're fully resurrected Nero's way of still serving and protecting her country, finding herself having to figure her life out after the events of Point Breaker's closing act.

She's very much the same Red Saber we all know and love, however, she is a composite variant, and very much a living Nero, so she's got quite the legs up on her Fate canon counterpart.

Cameron Bryce!

I haven't tagged this SCP for nothing! Turning our attention over to Scotland, I introduced the next OC director, Cameron Bryce, a former Global Occult Legion squad leader.

After a cold winter night in his youth his life was forever changed, finding himself scooped up by the GOC to hunt down anomalies with deadly precision... But ultimately he hated the job and jumped at the offer for the directoral position. Working with and meeting people who will actually see tomorrow, with more competency, and power, than his GOC squad. He's generally really chill, one of the most laid-back people you'll ever meet.

Camille Noemie!

The French director, and Dame Blanche (White Lady), she's very much a spectral figure trying to do her best for her community, alongside other legends from france, and their few serial killers capable of joining, they're one of the smaller branches, but they make do!

Camille is a very friendly woman, merely using her afterlife to help her community and work through her regrets from life. She's merely trying her best, and she'll do everything in her power to help.

Now, stay tuned for part two tomorrow, featuring the directors for the branches in Canada, Germany, Britain, Korea, Australia, and more!

#creepypasta #creepypasta rewrite #creepypasta au #my writing #slenderverse #mythology and folklore #chinese mythology #japanese mythology #fate series #irish mythology #french folklore #scp foundation #global occult coalition #slavic folklore #nero claudius #scp #goc #annora Petrova #sun wukong

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outpost51 · 8 months

Note

ghost hunt and secret for cosh and dekdek pls i love them

[oc asks: not-so-nice edition]

ghost: Who or what haunts your OC? What happened? How do they live with their ghosts?

oh boy i’m gonna need a cut for this oops oops i'm sorry this got really long really fast

Dekdek is haunted by the memory of her nyityof companions that didn’t make it home. Her nyityof started uneventful enough; like other uknuks before her, she made the trek with her traveling companions — Toz Morningsun, Govi Mossyplum, and Zuzu Earlybloom — from Makafe Commune to the bustling Themis Spaceport to rent a charter ship. It was there they met Gatha, who was looking for a helping hand on her voyage, and they just so happened to have eight hands perfect for helping. Their first stop, in the Ellyt'it System one cluster over, consisted mostly of loading cargo and Gatha’s (definitely exaggerated) tales of her many adventures across the galaxy. En route to the cargo’s destination, however, they were set upon by pirates. Dekdek was in the cockpit at the time fixing a few loose panels; quick thinking by their captain saved both of their lives — Gatha stashed Dekdek beneath her shirt and pleaded with the pirate captain for mercy. They were both dead anyway if he didn’t, so it was worth a shot.

He did.

Dekdek’s companions didn’t have the same luck.

Neither Dekdek nor Gatha took their deaths well, but neither Dekdek nor Gatha particularly cared for mercy. They waited for the crew to go to sleep, planted a few explosives around the ship, and made for the escape pod. One of the jerry-rigged explosives detonated early. Gatha only just managed to snatch Dekdek up before she was shut on the wrong side of the escape pod’s blast door. Dekdek suffered burns on the left side of her body and Gatha ultimately ended up losing her right arm. It took them a year and a half to procure another ship and take it from ‘garbage’ to ‘will probably survive a few jumps’, and from there, Gatha took Dekdek home to Makafe Commune. Dekdek had all that time to move past the guilt of losing her companions. Seeing the little caves Toz and Govi and Zuzu would never return to brought it all back. Of course everyone was happy she was safe and home and alive, and warmly welcomed her very large, sad friend, too, but all the tinkering with her caregiver, Boki, and hugs from her mama, Tulo, and snuggle piles with all her neighbors and nest-siblings wouldn’t resurrect her friends.

It took a very long walk across the wilderness with Patriarch Mogi to shake the depression from her shoulders; they talked about what happened, he told her what a disaster his own nyityof had been — his companions had been eaten by wildlife on Pruna — and they concluded their trek at the memorial field: where they laid to rest the spirits of all the brave and adventurous uknuks who never made it home. It happened often, he told her, and it’s why they never forced anyone to leave on a nyityof. It was a dangerous galaxy out there for little uknuks, and everyone accepted the risk when they left the communes that they might not come home with all the pieces they left with, or even at all.

Speaking of missing pieces, Cosh also had a pretty fucked up time away from home — he’s five years Dekdek’s senior and very much the annoying older brother she always begged her parents for. He’s haunted by a lost crew, too, and he’s got a reminder that’s a lot harder to hide; somewhere out in dark space, there’s a burned-out husk of a derelict freighter that serves as the final resting place for seven of the bravest souls Cosh has ever met — and his left hand, probably. Bits of it, anyway. Rest in pieces, Lefty, you were the best companion an uknuk could ask for on cold, lonely—

Ahem.

He shrugs it off, dodges the subject, and meets every question about his past with a joke or a question of his own, and that’s how he copes with the fact that — though his crewmates would never see it that way, and it was in fact just. a horrible fucking accident no one could have predicted — it’s his fault the Stolen Star is nothing more than a charred coffin.

hunt: Who or what is your OC hunted by? A person, a feeling, a past mistake? Is your OC able to let their guard down, or are they constantly alert?

If anyone’s hunting Dekdek, they’ll be chasing a ghost for a long, long time. During the year and a half she and Gatha were trying to get the fuck home, they became paranoid, jumping at shadows and cowering any time they spotted anyone who looked a little too much like that pirate captain — just in case, it was always ‘just in case’ with them. Better safe than sorry. This does not, of course, apply to any machine she touches. No, those require a fair bit of faith and possibly a kick-start and/or a lead container. Though when you really think about it, why else would someone that paranoid rig so much shit to explode, set traps and tripwires around any hotel room she has to stay in, take things apart and put them back together just a little bit wrong?

Just in case, right?

She only lets her guard down during the night cycle, when she burrows under Gatha’s blankets to sleep.

Cosh, though. There’s a reason he checks the guns and hull’s integrity and shield generators over and over and over again. There’s a reason he makes sure Dekdek’s ‘fuckin’ experiments’ have failsafes and killswitches. There’s a reason he doesn’t sleep when Dekdek’s asleep despite also being naturally diurnal, and barely sleeps when it’s his shift. There’s a reason he doesn’t take his eyes off the system console for hours at a time — Suzo refused his request for a bucket, the germophobic bitch, but that’s why a ship never has just one engineer.

It doesn’t take much to cause a catastrophic failure in space.

secret: What's one secret your OC never wants anyone to know about them?

Let’s lighten things up a bit, huh?

Dekdek chews on her thumbclaw in her sleep. Her street cred would be ruined.

Cosh cheats at cards every fucking time. Rees still hasn’t figured it out.

#xatal ocs #oc: dekdek #oc: cosh

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rosesradio · 11 months

Note

Vandangelo prompt.

"I love you"

"I'll pass"

thanks for the prompt ! likes & reblogs are appreciated, & my inbox is open for drabble prompts :-)

word count: 705

It was late into the night when he said it, one of those nights where you get pulled in two different directions.

On one side, there was conforming this sphere to the control panel. If Leo showed his crew mates in the morning, he imagined they would think it was pretty cool. Or, rather, they’d say it was cool while not really caring.

On the other side, there was the sleep Leo so desperately needed. Sleep deprivation weighed him down so heavily, he could cry—but he always avoided sleep. With sleep came letting his guard down, and dreams about monsters and cities burning to the ground. When he was awake, at least he could somewhat control what haunted him.

The mechanic’s bay, Leo’s little home, was big enough for two cots. Leo had made a room for himself, but he worked in here so often and so late, he ended up moving a cot into the tiny room.

The second cot was for Nico.

When he first joined their amateur crew, Leo offered him his room. Nico didn’t accept—some weird noble reason, he imagined. He started staying in the mechanic’s bay, in Leo’s sacred space, much to Leo’s vexation. He even had the nerve to tell Leo that if he tried anything—such as an innocent ‘hand in a bowl of warm water’ trick—he would melt Leo’s bones into shadows. Leo didn’t even know if he could do that, but he didn’t want to find out.

So the company was nice.

It actually was—once they got past their initial sleepover squabbles, they actually had some nice conversations. Nico would ask Leo what he was working on and even laugh at his jokes. It was a little more difficult to get Nico to open up, but when he did, Leo could really understand him.

Looking at him now, Nico’s head resting against the pillow as his hair splayed out, Leo felt none of the disdain he had when first meeting him. There was just…affection. He really liked him, cared for him…even loved him. He wasn’t even entirely sure in what way—romantic, platonic, whatever; he knew as sure and sound as the air in his lungs that he loved Nico di Angelo.

Leo smiled at the sight of him—the guy needed a haircut when they got out of this. He brushed a stray lock of hair from Nico’s face, his touch lingering for a moment.

“Love you, Nico…”

Leo honestly wasn’t sure how he’d explain himself if confronted on it; he hadn’t even said that type of thing to Piper or Jason, though he loved them, too. Love was a powerful and intimidating feeling, especially to demigods, but it was also the only thing that kept them going.

Nico rustled a bit, swatting fruitlessly in the air as if Leo’s hand had been an annoying bug.

“Mm…I’ll pass…” he managed with a yawn.

Leo felt his face flush, embarrassment and pain filling his chest like concrete. He heard himself laugh, though he knew he didn’t mean it. “You’ll…you’ll pass?”

Nico nodded faintly, clearly still half asleep. “Too many people…too much…stuff going on…I can’t be responsible…for you…”

Leo’s heart thudded off-beat in his chest. “You don’t have to worry about being responsible for me, Nico. I’m covered.”

Nico nodded again, eyes still closed. “Maybe some other time…okay? I’ll love you tomorrow…”

The bittersweet cage around Leo’s heart seemed to loosen, ready to break. He laughed again, this one more genuine. Nico was, after all, really cute when he was half-asleep. “Okay. I’ll love you tomorrow, too. Goodnight, Nico.”

Nico was silent, and Leo knew he was fully asleep now. Leo’s tired eyes gazed along every character of text across the sphere, then over to Nico. He seemed younger when he slept, and Leo found it hard to believe that he was one of the youngest on the crew due to his shadowy disposition. Leo knew that sleep was a luxury they couldn’t always afford aboard the Argo II, though he hoped no one would barge in and wake either of them anytime soon. With a sigh, Leo put the sphere down and went over to his cot, feeling comfortable to fall asleep for the first time in a while.

#kind of some bittersweet…whatever for you :-) i worked on this during my lunch break. but now i’m home 🤠#valdangelo #pjo #rose's asks #leo valdez #nico di angelo

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kimmykoosh · 5 months

Text

Finished all DLC's for New Vegas. Here's what my review of them so far, according to the order I played. Very biased and contained opinions.

Old World Blues (Science fantasy gone wrong).

My first entry to the new world. After failing to make it out from Think Tank for a 987- a couple of tries, I manage to keep myself alive for most of the expedition here. Best DLC in my opinion. New world, so much to discover, new guns, everything is out there to kill you, great. Story wise, I admit, I had to provide extra attention to differentiate the doctors here without confusing things. Most of the science fiction things they often described and the references they gave are all over my head and often made me sleeepy. But I LOVE LOVE LOVE the personified helpers. Sinks, doc, the sexy jukebox and the plant seed thing that helped me too many times in making things. The scientists came to grew on me. I like the suit talking to me because it's lonely being by yourself in an empty world :')))

TLDR; All the science fiction things are snoozefest, but I am still alive after got shot in the head, getting labotomized AND played around with my organs. NPC's are fun and have many personalities. Lots of new weapons, upgrades and big place to make my stimpaks. 10/10 would give Muggy more coffee mugs for his sanity.

Honest Hearts (A much more vertically challenging desert with a view. )

Entered this with half of my things, and a heartache coz I actually reseted 4 times just to save my Caravan crew. And accidentally shot Follows-Chalk because I thought he was a baddie before I realize I'd done goofed up. Story wise, the whole thing was okay. Nothing much I'd care since Salt-Upon-Wounds will kill me regardless if I'm doing pacifist or not. I did enjoy getting high to fight a ghost bear. The map was big enough for me to find everything, but didn't make me care for it much. Joshua Graham is okay, but he didn't like me raiding his stuffs to make bullets that fucker has a bajillions of pistols wtf rude.

TLDR; Forgetable DLC, NPC is one-sided. But the view though. Plentiful mountains, greeneries and high skies. Also lots of fresh water. Sometimes rain. That's new. Weapons are, meh. Useful if you use unarmed or melee. 4/10, would kill more Yao Guai.

Dead Money (Ghost Town Heist With the Gang. )

Started this with a bump on the head (poor Courier holy shit) The only DLC that made me feel challenged because of the constant ducks and sneaking. The Ghost People are creepy and also hard to hit. I cant remember how many times I had to look down and check at my feet or I'll be blown up and get detected. The place is very barren of any places to make stuffs and bullets so you'll learn to adapt with alternate weapons and use any ammo you do have or get, while the Sierra Madre vending machine becoming your next best friend. The NPC's though. The beeping on my neck will haunt me for the rest of my days and I get that casino Obsessed freak to thank for. I'm sad I didnt get too much time with Christine, because she seemed to be a great character towards the end. Dean Domino is a charismatic asshat that gives out very convenient stashes everywhere, but we didn't get to be friends. I did like him though, brilliant mind, just doesn't trust in people. Didn't get to know much about God, coz Dog is too fun and made me feel safe from the people. Story wise, it's very well paced. Though after I opened up the casino, and darted through ALL the ghost people in town by myself, I cant help but noticed I missed something else, but the collar keeps on killing me and I had to go to the next place without checking. Just wished I can check it myself without dying.

TLDR; DLC's challenging, but not that you can't do it. You can do this without killing as much of the Ghost People if you can. Story is rich in juicy details. Betrayal, conflict, and also, plain love. Always love Laura Bailey inside as Vera Keyes. 8/10 for exploding collars.

Lonesome Road (The Sad Tale of the 2 Couriers. )

The only DLC that has a history of the player in past tense, other than being dead, and a mailman. This also introduces our antagonist of the DLC, Ulysses. A very angry ghost who talk through EdE.

Okay, Ulysses is interesting. We got to know about him more throughout the DLC. His history and how he came to here. Interestingly he knew about the factions in New Vegas and everything that is happening there. He is honestly my saving grace in this DLC, but god, his prosses and the way he talks is so BORING. Often I had to relax and do something else for me to understand much about what he is saying. Does that outed me for being an idiot? Maybe? I guess coming from the Legion, he has a style of talking that is unique.

As for the rest of the playthrough, the DLC provides a different thing in going through the whole map. We get to use the laser blaster to blast through and open up certain sections of the blocked roads. Other than some extra weapons, the map and gameplay was decent. I certainly didnt expect to see the Deathclaws coming in here.

TLDR; A very good connection towards Ulysses, a fellow courier that saw our work, and then blamed us for nuking the entire map. Among all of the DLC's I enjoyed this one for the courier per courier connection. I dont really enjoy the Deathclaws and the long and frivolous way to get to Ulysses' hideout. 4/10 for more couriers sending bombs towards the Mojave wastelands, to combat Ulysses' boring speech.

#fallout new vegas #fnv #fallout new vegas dlc #old world blues #lonesome road #honest hearts #dead money #kimmyplz

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tflegendarium · 10 months

Note

How are the constructicon in your au?

The Constructicons are definitely present! They have a whole story in Origins!

Why You Don't Answer Greetings At Night is from Scavengers point of view. They are a construction crew and often travel for work. Scrapper, their leader, has a bit of a rivalry with Grapple and Hoist who are, to Scrapper, as mismatched as the every shifting group that make up Grapple's construction company.

Even though Scrapper hates them you do not travel the Wastes alone so they are camping together while crossing the Wastes to save money to get to a job. Scavenger isn't as involved as the rivalry as Scrapper or the others are and ends up becoming attached to Dagger, a small newbie with Grapple. Dagger doesn't really look designed for construction and gets teased by Bulkhead and Breakout who are Grapples regulars and who they occasionally shared jobs with before they joined up with Grapple. Scavenger is the smallest and gets teased by his gestalt so he sympathizes and lets Dagger sit with him once out of pity and now is stuck with a small ball of sunshine beaming at him which makes him equal parts flustered and proud and embarrassed because the other Constructicons definitely give him hell about it.

They are hanging out near and old half buried Temple and everyone knows well enough not to go in there and Scavenger finds a distressed Bulkhead yelling at and equally panicking Breakdown. They'd dared Dagger to go grab something from the Temple to prove himself but didn't think he would. Scavenger knows it is really haunted and tells them to go get the bosses if they aren't back an hour before morning and goes after Dagger. They are all afraid of Dagger or BHBD being fired which is a genuine horrifying concern.

They end up spending the worst night of Scavengers life running from ghosts while Dagger is hearing voices before being rescued by Breakdown and Bulkhead who couldn't stand leaving them. They all get yelled at and Bonecrusher admit the place isn't actually haunted. He and Long Haul pretended to be ghosts to mess with Scavenger years ago. It is dangerous though because it is unstable. Scavenger though knows what he saw and that was real.

Bulkhead and Breakdown have now bonded with Dagger and Scavenger and apologize for how they behaved. Dagger ends up cheekily showing he did get something. It is the hilt of a sword and they gush and laugh. He only tells Scavenger, who shivers, that the voices told him to grab it.

He also tells Scavenger that he is renaming himself Saber and they exchange contact information.

Dagger -> Saber -> Star Saber

I love Scavenger and Star Saber because Star Saber continues to think Scavenger is the best thing since sliced bread well into the future and Scavenger and the Constructicons end up helping him reforge the Starsaber. Absolutely no one understands what is going on between those two.

Scrapper and Grapple are both the definition of "haha, you are so obsessed with me, that's so sad for you" followed by Scrapper screaming incoherently and having to be held back, again, by Hook and Long Haul. Hoist just groans in the corner because his husband is an idiot who provokes this. Scrapper does not want to fuck Grapple despite accusations, but they do eventually become friends.

Still settling on personalities for the rest of the main group. I do love the Constructicons though.

#tfl constructicons #tfl scavenger #tfl star saber #tf fan continuity #anon ask

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saltinekryze · 1 year

Text

guess who’s still thinking about sabine’s decision to give up the map to baylan? that’s right, it’s me!

would sabine even have been able to destroy the map? probably not, but we don’t have to pretend she made a wise decision — she didn’t, and that’s okay. she made a choice based on emotion, and while it objectively wasn’t smart, it makes perfect sense for her character and for the story. she’s a flawed character and that’s okay!!!! (i am thinking about the percy jackson novels and how percy’s fatal flaw is his extreme loyalty — to save a friend he would sacrifice the world — sound familiar?)

now, would a jedi like ahsoka have made the same choice? eh, probably not. but although sabine is undergoing jedi training, she wasn’t raised as a jedi — she’s a mandalorian. her loyalty and motivations are tied to her family, to her clan — and in her mind that includes ezra. to understand why she made the choice she did, we have to understand that this is a sabine who is at a low point. her relationship with ahsoka is obviously still strained, and it seems like she probably doesn’t see hera and jacen that often (and presumably not zeb either). we also now know her family died on mandalore (RIP clan wren).

so for those reasons, sabine is holding on to her commitment to ezra because she feels it’s all she has left. he told her he was counting on her and even left her a special message separate from the rest of the ghost crew — and i think that haunts her. how could it not, when she’s living in his old home in lothal and watching over the planet in his absence? every day, she is surrounded by reminders of ezra. she even wields his lightsaber. of course she couldn’t give up the chance to find him again.

this brings me to what i’m worried / curious about… how far do they want to go? is dave writing us a tragedy? because when you think about it… sabine believes she made this choice for ezra, but if that choice results in thrawn’s return, then what was the point of his sacrifice? if thrawn’s return is related to the rise of the first order, ezra’s sacrifice only delayed the inevitable.

my nightmare scenarios are that ezra will either be a) unable to return home, rendering her decision pointless, or b) upset with sabine for what she did. but he also specifically told sabine her fight wasn’t over, so maybe he somehow foresaw this too.

thrawn is notably not mentioned in the sequel trilogy so maybe we’ll be surprised — maybe they’ll incorporate some elements from the thrawn novels and have him remain in a separate galaxy to deal with a larger threat, instead of contributing to the first order. maybe the real antagonist isn’t thrawn, but instead morgan or baylan/shin.

anyway. really all i want is for ezra and sabine to hug and for both of them to come HOME. ezra deserves to see the revitalized lothal. he deserves to see hera again. he deserves to meet his master’s son. he gave up so much and now it’s time for the universe to give some of that love back.

#ahsoka series #sabine wren #sw meta #text

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shivunin · 1 year

Note

For the edgy meme - #1 and #10 for your whole crew? Please? 🥰

Brave to ask about all of them haha!! Thank you for the questions, Lilou c: These questions are thought-provoking for sure. That first one was a doozy.

(Edgy OC Ask meme)

1. What memory would your OC rather just forget?

Arianwen: Ooh this is a tough one. I think Wen would often like to wipe the slate clean and start fresh, so to speak. It would be easier and less painful in some ways. If she were to pick just one, I think it would be going back to Ostagar and having to watch Alistair find his brother's body. I think it was the first time she could admit to herself she really cares about him and there was nothing she could do to help. That's a hard place to be if you're used to not caring about people and acting before thinking.

Maria: The sound Bethany's back made when the ogre snapped it. Not her whole death---she wouldn't want to forget her sister's last moments---but the sound haunts her.

Adahlena: The moment she realized her father had been made Tranquil. She could handle losing him and she could handle helping him settle in to his new life, but the moment she realized he was never really coming back is the singular most painful moment of her life.

Elowen: None. The idea of forgetting anything terrifies her. She keeps meticulous notes just in case.

Emmaera: Halamshiral. She despised the experience and now that it's done with and she knows she'll likely never have to interact with the Orlesian crown again she'd rather wipe the whole experience from her mind (except the balcony. She'd hang on to that dance on the balcony)

Salshira: Watching her best friend die as a child. She has always felt responsible, and for a long time would never have given up the memory (it's her fault; she owes it to Saeris to remember), but I think once she comes to terms with it as an adult she would rather put the memory to rest and stop having nightmares about it every night.

10. What's an AU that would be interesting to explore with your OC?

This is a really funny question because all of my Lavellans were originally written in AUs. Emma, who is my actual canon Inquisitor, has an extremely flimsy timeline because the first fic I wrote for her was an AU haha.

Arianwen: I am working on a sort of spy vs. spy one with her and Zevran right now that's been really fun, but I am playing with the idea of Wen being stuck in a time loop and (entirely separate) a soulmate au inspired by that *strangles you with the red string that ties us together* post

Maria: I just finished the only AU I had planned for her so far (the magician au) but I also was playing with a circus au before that...but I'd have to find a way to make it distinct from the magician au so I need to think on it more.

Adahlena: Her entire existence is an AU, so none.

Elowen: I have an avvar au and a love triangle au for her more than half written, I just haven't felt like coming back to them lol

Emmaera: The mermaid au I'm currently working on! She is an archaeologist at heart and would be out there exploring Elvhen ruins if it hadn't been for the Inquisition. I'm enjoying writing this one because she gets to be in full archaeologist mode (and finds a mysterious man on the beach etc etc). (I want to finish this but I keep getting distracted by Maria). I've also toyed with some kind of vigilante au with her (but let's be real, she spends the greatest swathe of her time in Kirkwall clearing out Darktown and it's not that much of an AU)

Salshira: I also just finished an AU for her! I do think a princess/bodyguard AU would be fun with her (because she would be climbing out the window constantly) but I don't currently have plans to write one. Oh, also the various Josiemancing fics I have for her I guess? They're not really AU but they are alternate to her main timeline.

#oc ask meme response #ask response #i have a big long list of AUs i sometimes use as warmups but i haven't come across a ton of standard ones that interest me #though i have 3 or 4 lavellan modern AUs i never intend to post haha #i really like twisting canon events into AUs as opposed to like the standard cafe/modern/etc AUs (though I enjoy reading the latter)#i just have trouble fitting characters' personalities into that kind of AU if that makes sense #thanks again for asking! <3 i think i asked you one when i stuck this in drafts but if i missed you lmk!

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margridarnauds · 8 months

Note

Tav asks, 4, 10, 13, 14, 22

4 and 10 answered here for Kitrye and Malla

4. Is there a reason why your Tav starts out as Level 1?

For Ana, I think that the reason she starts out at level 4 is partly the tadpole, partly that she's genuinely not had that much time OUT. She's been relatively sheltered, despite or because of everything that her father's been doing.

10. What was your Tav like as a child?

Boisterous, mischievous, incredibly clever, and very good at wrapping her father around her finger to get whatever she wanted in the few instances that he actually was willing to visit her (Raphael was...not a particularly attentive father as far as the day to day minutiae went). She was mainly raised by Kitrye, in Kitrye's own manor in the city, which she quietly bought after the game and kept running with a skeleton crew of servants and a couple of people to manage its affairs when she isn't there (which is often, since Raphael prefers for her to stay in the House of Hope). (There are. Many local legends about it being haunted or cursed. For obvious reasons.) At some point, when she was slightly older, about 8-10, her father's enemies were able to pinpoint her location, causing her to be raised for the rest of her childhood in the House of Hope. She showed an early aptitude for the violin, which her father eagerly encouraged (at least partially out of a sense of narcissism, because He Made That), becoming a master by an early age, with a penchant for the dramatic and the extra.

13. What was your Tav's first reaction to Lae'Zel?

Lae'zel is a fantastic character to demonstrate how what you do/don't do in this game can really impact your impression of the characters because Kitrye? Was generally fine with Lae'zel. The reason? She forgot. To bring her to Zorru. Before the Tieflings left. (Also didn't even REALIZE Dammon was there, oopsie.) So she never had time to see Lae'zel's idea of an "interrogation" or got to be called a "subordinate." Yes, some of what Lae'zel said put her teeth on edge, but she was also, from personal experience with the Drow, able to recognize a fellow victim of cult brainwashing when she saw one, so...she made a lot of decisions that Lae'zel disapproved of, but she also was quiet enough and discrete enough that Lae'zel didn't fully know, while, at the first opportunity she had, she worked to undermine Vlaakith. A fun fact is that I actually had planned to kill Lae'zel in Kitrye's run, specifically killing her for trying to kill Orpheus, but as the run progressed, I realized it would be out of character for her to do the actions required for that, and so Lae'zel fully turned against Vlaakith and supported Orpheus by Act One.

Malla? Even though she DID take Lae'zel to Zorru, she was honestly not fazed by any of it. She could respect pragmatism and she could respect martial strength, and they worked well together. They were Murder Girlbosses through the first act and even hooked up twice after Minthara left for Moonrise, even though Malla eventually called it off in the Underdark because she quickly realized that she was developing actual feelings for Minthara and meaningless sex wasn't really what she wanted anymore. (It's going to be gut-wrenching because, unlike Kitrye, it WAS in character for Malla to encourage Lae'zel to turn to Vlaakith...only to realize, later in her character development, what a monster she'd created. So she *is* very likely going to kill Lae'zel.)

(Ana unfortunately can't stand Lae'zel and I am actively considering sacrificing her early in Ana's run, simply because ANATHEMATISMA, PRINCESS OF THE HELLS is *no one's* subordinate and ALSO she got pissed at some of Lae'zel's commentaries on the tieflings maybe deserving to die, because these are her people.)

14. What was your Tav's first reaction to Shadowheart?

Kitrye honestly got along wonderfully with Shadowheart, specifically because it isn't in her nature to pry. It would be like "I have a deep, dark secret that I can't tell you yet" and Kitrye would be like "Okay, fine" and then ten minutes later it would be like "HERE IS MY DEEPEST, DARKEST SECRET" "Okay" and each time she didn't pry, I would get "Shadowheart approves." (She was calling Kitrye her close confidant by. Like. The goblin camp.) BFFs, quiet cleric girls forever, Shadowheart absolutely does not know Kitrye as well as she thinks she does but she's still probably the closest thing Kitrye actually has to a genuine friend who's in her corner in the camp, as opposed to "people who she does favors for and travel with her."

Malla wasn't AS close, honestly, but she saw her as a valuable ally, and she was and remains part of Malla's Standard Party. (Malla only allows a maximum of one male companion in the party, because Drow.) Both her and Kitrye are naturally suspicious people and hold their secrets close to their chests, but Malla is a little bit more...plainly distrusting and wanted more of Shadowheart's secrets earlier (and Shadowheart clashed with Malla's bestie, Lae'zel, which, before I reloaded, actually led to Shadowheart's death during the confrontation with Lae'zel, oopsie.) (Kitrye would never.)

Ana is better socially adjusted than either of them, aka she asks questions, and so gets much more prickly responses. She doesn't HATE her, but she's a lot more wary.

22. What is your Tav's first impression of the other companions (Astarion, Gale, Karlach, Wyll ...)

Astarion

Astarion and Kitrye? Worsties. Every time I would be like "THIS is the point where Kitrye warms up to Astarion", they just. Ended up hating one another more. They didn't actually ever get below the bad side of neutral, but like. He was constantly disapproving. She was willing to keep him in camp even after he revealed himself as a vampire, but she made it clear her neck was off limits.

Astarion and Malla? She's seen weirder, he was a valuable ally, even if he was a man, and so she never had a problem with him (though she did just. Interact with him rarely enough in Act 2 that she was able to just? Break Yurgir's contract? Without him being pissed?) She's actively toying with letting him ascend for the power. They're not ridiculously close, even though he tends to approve of her actions.

Astarion and Ana? Regrettably, chaotic besties who are also sleeping with one another and might develop more. I didn't even want them to sleep together but regrettably, they had too much chemistry. God help us all. Faerûn is not prepared for whatever comes from this.

Gale

Kitrye and Gale, despite how their arc ended up, started off on great terms. She liked having someone who agreed with her heroic actions, and she naturally likes wizards anyway. Don't. Don't think about her sacrificing Gale and then finding out that the house wizard who was her mentor growing up was executed while she was away from Menzoberranzan. Don't. She turned down his romance because she was pining after the devil she thought they needed to focus on the task at hand, but she liked him and, honestly, didn't even hold it too much against him for keeping his secret, even though she did call him out for endangering them all. In another lifetime, those early moments could have led to a great romance, but unfortunately, Kitrye's taste in men is too shit for that and, as the story progressed, she became too distrustful of him. In some ways, I feel like he intuited more about Kitrye than Shadowheart did, but, like with Shadowheart, he truly didn't know everything that was going on under the surface. So, yeah, just very doomed and tragic all around, especially because they started off so WELL. If you'd told me from their early interactions that Kitrye would have ended up sacrificing him, I wouldn't have believed you.

Malla and Gale? Less warm and fuzzy, she saw him as rather annoying, because, again, Malla is incapable of seeing a man as an equal (she DID make the comment to Elminster about "So we get rid of the Absolute AND Gale in one fell swoop? Win/win", which I was very pleased to hear Elminster call her out on), but he was a semi-regular part of her party because, even though she had very little personal respect for him, she IS used to having a house wizard. I did have her stay with him that night stargazing, just because. Even Malla has standards.

Ana...I wouldn't say thinks about Gale that much. She saved him, she gives him artifacts and doesn't really care about it, he's useful, he's there, but she just doesn't have a really interesting dynamic with him one way or another. She's definitely grown up hearing whispers of what her mother had to do the first time around and she's definitely committed to saving him, but she's too busy having the messy personal life you'd expect of Raphael's Spawn.

Karlach

Karlach and Kitrye...Kitrye helps her out, but, like with ALL of her companions, there's. A lot that Karlach doesn't and can't know, specifically as of Act 3 but even going as far back as their first meeting. She cares for her deeply, she likes having a friendly companion who cares about other people, but she's also wary of how hotheaded Karlach is, because that's a danger. A lot of Kitrye's work has involved a combination of diplomacy, strategy, and a lot of smiting when the other two have either failed or been deployed -- she doesn't know how to work with a barbarian class fighter. (She still picks up and gives Karlach every teddy bear she can get.) I'd planned on killing Karlach off at the end of Kitrye's run, I had actually written out a great monologue that Kitrye was supposed to give to Zariel in a fanfic set postcanon...but after losing Gale, I knew that Kitrye wasn't going to lose another companion.

Karlach and Malla is easy -- Karlach found Malla after Malla may or may not have committed Crimes that led to the Grove being raided (the Tieflings were already dead, fwiw, Malla did NOT commit genocide...she just set things up so that the druids committed genocide, MASSIVE difference), Malla was able to persuade her to not attack...and then Karlach said "fuck you" and one thing about Malla is that, unlike Kitrye, who takes a lot of insults quietly, she does *not*, and so she killed her and now she wears her camp clothing. (It suits her tbh.) RIP Karlach. We barely knew you.

Karlach and Ana have a bit of chemistry, along the same lines as Ana has with e v e r y o n e. (No, really, never have I considered installing a poly romance mod so strongly.) Karlach's boisterous and friendly nature works really well with Ana's, and Ana has to appreciate a woman who's response to almost anything is "FUCK YES".

Wyll

Kitrye knew Something was up with Wyll from the beginning -- not in a way of him being EVIL, but in a way of knowing that there was more to his story than he was letting on. Because she could recognize an eldritch blast when she saw one, recognized the sending stone in his eye, drew the connection that he was a warlock, and drew the connection from THAT that his source was very likely his patron, and so she used privately "killed" and then resurrected Karlach to shut Mizora up and then convinced Wyll to listen to Karlach. She saw a man who was incredibly earnest, not evil or monstrous, but also who was in over his head. Who does THAT sound like, Kitrye?

Wyll just...disappeared with Malla. Because she was too busy getting Drow Girlfriend points, then the whole "oopsie committed a genocide" thing happened, and he just. Disappeared. No body, but he's nowhere to be seen. RIP Wyll.

Ana could, like her mother before, recognize a devilish pact when she saw one, and she also used that exploit, but since this was post-patch, Mizora was unfortunately smarter and still gave Wyll the Tiefling horns. She's been supportive of him in his attempts to get used to the changes -- in many ways, he represents a sort of ideal that she doesn't think she could ever have or want, someone who IS heroic and who believes the best in people, but she's also wary because. She isn't JUST Not A Regular Tiefling, she is the daughter of a man who both Wyll and Karlach HATE and who, in her own timeline, is Archdevil Supreme. (And it's vital to note that she DOES love her father. Despite everything about their relationship, complete with her doing everything she possibly can to piss him off....she does love her father.) Anyway, quite a love triangle brewing. Can't wait to see the carnage.

Halsin (Bonus)

Kitrye...respected Halsin's knowledge of the natural world, as an alchemist. He reminds her of what her father could have lived to be (he is only a couple of decades older than Kitrye, but he's still lived longer than her father had), and so there's...a sense of trepidation there, almost? Regrettably, still not old enough for her tastes. Ngl, along with Minsc, she did the least with him.

Malla...actually freed him, as a bear from the cell, because she isn't MINDLESSLY cruel, but also then he just...disappeared. I hear that if you free him and raid the Grove, he's supposed to come after a couple of long rests to take revenge...but he never did. Also in the second act we had the option to say he was dead, so I guess he's dead. RIP Halsin.

Ana doesn't really HAVE much of an impression of him beyond "guy who might have what I need." A little too...paternal for her tastes. (And not in a "daddy" way.)

Minthara (bonus)

Kitrye was a strange type of conflicted between "talks shit about me being a 'half-breed'" and also, as a Paladin of Eilistraee, WANTING to convert Minthara and show her the world above. But also. She had to die for racism crimes. Kitrye took her armor and used it throughout the first act up until Grymforge, and it really represented her starting to come to terms with her identity in a way she hadn't. She didn't regret it, not really, but it was a really important moment for her character development.

Malla...kind of started to fall for Minthara BEFORE first sight, becoming intrigued the second she heard about a Drow woman leading the goblins and only becoming more so when she actually met the woman in person. I like to think that she actually first heard of Minthara on Menzoberranzan, since Minthara was very much part of high society there. I don't think they KNEW one another or bumped into one another, but Malla might have had a certain respect for her beforehand. Malla actually willingly defied Lolth's command to kill apostates by letting Minthara live, and Minthara, in turn, let her live after they slept together. (#Romance).

Ana...didn't have the personal connection that either of the Symryvvin girls had (though now I'm going to have to revise that because like. OBVIOUSLY in the timeline now, Ana would have to be aware of her Aunt Minthara), she was plotting to murder Ana's people, she had to go down, and she didn't think twice about it. She briefly wore Minthara's armor like Kitrye did, only to meet Raphael and switch it out for the bardic attire she'd been wearing. (I like to think that Raphael told her to STOP trying to mindlessly follow in her mother's footsteps.) (She still wields Phalar Aluve like her mother, though.)

#oc: anathematisma #oc: mallathalra #oc: kitrye #long post

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