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symphonic-scream · 3 years

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Okay so here's the summary of what happens in the first section of the ML Genshin au. If you're overly familiar with the lore of the game itself sorry in advance cause things are gonna be different. It's a mix of wanted to incorporate new ideas and I don't remember everything exactly lmao

This of course contains Spoilers for the first three Archon quests in Genshin Impact :) so there you've been warned. Also warning: long post. I'm sorry

So the story starts with two travelers soaring through the skies, visiting world after world as they go. However their journey is cut short when they encounter a strange god in the heavens above one such world

The travelers hold out against her for as long as they can, but she gets the upper hand, capturing one of the two travelers. She seals away the powers of the other, trapping him in this world

Some time passes. Our traveler has spent his time trying to survive in the wild in this new world, and has now fished a strange creature up out of the sea. Some floating cat thing, that insists he's not a cat. He calls himself Plagg

Our traveler is blond, with striking green eyes. His outfit is very strange, looking kinda like,, a thick leather armour type stuff but softer. There are dark stars on his shoulders, wrists, on the belt, and in the centre of his chest, and his shirt cuts off at the base of his ribs. Pants are much the same, boots ending just below the knees, and he's got some fancy golden gloves and padding on the knees

The traveler explains what he remembers of his story to Plagg, introducing himself as Adrien. He's not of this world, and he's going to find his identical cousin Felix, who was taken by a strange god, no matter what it takes

Plagg decides to be his guide in this world, which he calls Teyvat, and agrees to help him find the god and his cousin. He explains that Teyvat is divided into seven Nations, each under the rule of one of seven gods called Archons, collectively "the Seven". The land they're in now is called Mondstadt, the nation belonging to the Archon of freedom. And Anemo, the element of wind

Plagg leads Adrien into a small valley, a statue resting in the middle of a small lake right in the centre. The guide calls it a Statue of the seven, this one modeled after Barbatos, the name used for the Anemo Archon. Plagg believes there's a chance the strange god could be one of the seven, so perhaps praying to the statue may give them some answers

However when Adrien gets close, he's infused with a strange power. He now has control over Anemo

This is odd to Plagg because in Teyvat, only humans with something called a vision can use elemental abilities. Visions are gifts from the Archons, used to show who has earned their favour through what's usually some inhuman feat or something like that I guess

The statue left more questions than answers, so Plagg decides they should try to find the god in person in the City of Mondstadt. However on their way to the forest that will lead to the city, a dragon flies overhead

Plagg decides a dragon is too much work to deal with and suggests they turn back, cause maybe your cousin will show up on his own- wait - hey come back here-

Adrien marches on, interested in meeting a dragon. He walks carefully through the trees, stopping short when he spots the dragon and a shorter figure

The person slowly approaching the dragon has their back to Adrien, with pinkish-red hair, wearing a somewhat fancy looking grey hooded jacket, black high boots, and dark cyan trousers. On their left shoulder, attached to their lapel, is a spring green/seafoam?? Kinda? Idk- coloured gem

Their hand is outstretched towards the dragon, who growls lowly as the figure shushes them. Adrien leans in to see better, snapping a twig beneath his boots. At the sudden noise the dragon shoots off into the sky, flying off. The figure whips around to face Adrien, summoning a sword from thin air (vision users can just do this?? There's really no explanation that I've cared to read haha). The figure turns and runs off into the woods after staring at Adrien for a moment

Adrien and Plagg continue on their way through the woods, coming out the other end with no other issues. Once they exit the forest, a woman is calling for their attention

She's dressed in for the outdoors, emerald kinda green overalls that are cut like shorts, white,, idk kinda like tights but thicker?? And brown boots, the same colour as the pretty much useless belt around her waist, where a bright green gem and little pouches rest. Under the overalls is a navy collared shirt, soft fabric, button open at the top, a brown half jacket (cut like a crop top) open over it. Dark hair in two pigtails, bright blue eyes

She introduces herself as Marinette, an adventurer assisting the Knights of Favonius, who protect the city, with keeping monsters at bay from the city. She asks Adrien what he and his, cat? ("IM NOT A CAT!") Are doing outside the city, and he tells her he's looking for his cousin, and maybe Barbatos

Marinette explains that they haven't heard from their god in years, and only recently have they gotten any sign that the Archon actually exists, with the first Anemo vision to be given out in ages and the dragon attacks

Adrien helps her clear out a little monster camp before they head into the city, with Marinette planning on taking Adrien to see the Acting Grand Master to see if she can help

But OH NO DRAGON ATTACK. Adrien hears a voice and suddenly he's got boosted abilities, flying (using a wind glider) up with the dragon, chasing it away from the city by blasting it with Anemo energy

When he lands Marinette asks him what the hell he just did, and someone else steps in, claiming they were about to say the same thing. This woman has orange cat ears sticking out of bobbed orange hair, and is wearing glasses over teal eyes

She's got a simple, dark blue jacket on over a light blue collared shirt, a brown vest between the two. Dark pants, tall metallic, silver boots, a small kinda waist cape?? Idk what they are but she's got one and it's white and furred. A pale baby blue vision hangs from the side of her belt

This is Sabrina, one of the Captains with the knights, Marinette explains. Sabrina escorts the two of them to the headquarters of the knights, claiming the Acting Grand Master wants to speak with them

The Acting Grand Master has long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, and tired blue eyes. She wears a long dark coat, an orangey brown vision just off the right shoulder. Under the jacket is a dark brown, thick blouse and vest combo. Her pants are a pale brown, and her boots are the same as Sabrina's. Her clothing looks rather lavish

The Acting Grand Master, Chloe, she insists they call her, listens to Adrien's tale. She explains she can help once things calm down with the whole dragon thing. He wants to help, but she can't just let him in for liability reasons and strikes a deal. If he can locate the one citizen that didn't check in and confirm their health after the attack, he earns honorary knight status

The knights and adventurers head out to seek out the temples of three of the four winds while Adrien and Plagg look for this missing person. They follow traces of Anemo energy, leading them to the roof of the knights headquarters where they come face to face with the figure from the woods, the missing citizen

The citizen attempts to run, but they stop her and say the knights are looking for her. The figure cautiously introduces herself as Alix Kubdel, watching the duo cautiously

Plagg speaks first breaking the silence, asking her about what she was doing with the dragon. You know, the dragon that attacked the city? Got an explanation for that?

Alix hesitates but explains that she was trying to calm down the dragon, bond with it. When asked why, she finally explains that she's the New Anemo Archon, and she's still getting used to what she has to do

New? What do you mean new? Plagg kinda hounds at her, Adrien apologizes, and Alix says the last Archon died, and she was eventually chosen as a replacement

By now the knights are returning from the temples and Adrien takes Alix in to talk with Chloe to convince her that they don't need to kill "Stormterror", the name given to the dragon by the city. Alix corrects them, stating his name is Dvalin

Alix has to reveal to Chloe as well that she's the new Archon in order to convince her to let them try Alix's "bonding plan", and they set into action. The group sets off for the lair of the dragon, to confront him headon

Adrien fights the dragon the same way as before, realizing Alix was the one that gave him the ability to do the funky blasting and flying, and then they've got him weak enough that Adrien can do some weird otherworldly healing thing on him

Apparently the dragon was poisoned by the monsters from the Abyss, and was under their orders. Without the aid of the Archon he couldn't fight it, but now that he's met the new Archon, Alix, all is great and dandy and they have a fun chat

They all head back to the city to celebrate, but they're ambushed by a group called the Fatui from one of the other nations, Schnezneya. During the ambush a woman known as Signora, one of the Harbingers who executes the will of the Cryo Archon, gets a hold of Alix

She snatches something called a gnosis from her, leaving her weak on the ground as they flee. The gnosis, uh, it holds like,, uh, the godly powers of an Archon? It's what makes em an Archon I guess? Sorta? Anyways Alix's was stolen so she doesn't have it now

And that's pretty much it. Alix goes to heal at this big ass tree and advises Adrien fo go check out the next nation, Liyue, and their Archon Morax, to see about his cousin and thats it

Adrien would do other stuff before leaving including meeting two Alchemists and helping them explore a mountain, assisting the two owners of the Harmony Tavern with some bullshit and all that but yeah

This is a very condensed version, of the events, but anymore detail and this would be that much longer lmao

If you have any questions comments complaints or whatever let me know. Sorry this was long I tried to condense it as best I could,

#ml genshin au #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #miraculous au #ml #alix kubdel #adrien agreste #chloe bourgeois #sabrina raincomprix #marinette dupen chang #long post

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365days365movies · 3 years

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March 17, 2021: Darby O’Gill and the Little People (1959) (Part One)

Éirinn go Brách! Ireland forever!

Who doesn’t love St. Patrick’s Day? Other than snakes, I guess. Although, for the record, that’s never made any sense. There have NEVER been snakes in Ireland, like, at any point in the geological record. And yeah, I know, “that’s because St. Patrick chased them all away”. Yeah, OK, whatever, hand me a green beer (or a Shamrock Shake; either works for me, gonna be honest).

This is the day where everybody in the USA is an honorary Irish person. And this is coming from a Black dude with distant Scottish ancestry, don’t ask about that last part THAT’S WHERE THE DARK HISTORY IS

...Slavery. ANYHOOOOOOOOOO

Every major city in the USA has a St. Paddy’s Day celebration. Chicago colors its river green, NYC has a massive parade, Boston gets FUCKING DESTROYED every March 17. It’s an American tradition. And you may be wondering why I’m talking about the USA, instead of talking about Ireland. Well, uh...I’m not Irish. And I don’t know enough about their SPD rituals to comment accurately, so I’ll erring on the side of caution, to be honest with you.

Plus, given today’s movie, I actually think it’s somewhat fitting that I’m talking about the American perspective of Irish folklore and traditions. So, with that said...leprechauns.

In Irish folklore, the leipreachán is...barely a thing in early mythology. Yeah, the first appearance of the leprechaun was in a medieval story called Echtra Fergus mac Léti, where a man named Fergus is nearly dragged into the water by three leprechauns, who are water spirits, and tricks them into giving him three wishes. So, uh...WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED?

Well, whatever it was, the leprechaun eventually transformed into the green-wearing, gold-hoarding, shoe-fixing, prankster sprite that we know it as. In Irish folklore, it’s one of many MANY different spirits and supernatural beings, but it’s one of the only ones that made it over to the USA. And BOY DID IT. Other than Lucky from Lucky Charms, you’ve also got Warwick Davis’ horror movie version.

There’s also the mascot for the Boston Celtics and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, not to mention the less-than-great borderline racist association with Irish people by assholes. Honestly, it’s not even borderline. But despite that, it’s still an internationally well-known part of Irish folklore. And part of that renown lies in today’s film, Darby O’Gill and the Little People.

I really should watch more live-action Disney movies one of these years, but this was always going to be the first. A friend of mine always talks about this movie, alongside the film The Happiest Milionaire. You know who you are. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE. ALLIGATORS.

But OK, let’s get into it! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

Recap (1/2)

We begin in Rathcullen, a small town in Ireland. A young woman named Katie O’Gill (Janet Munro) is visited by an old woman, the widow Sheelah Sugrue (Estelle Winwood), who impresses upon her the need to get married, as she’s a young woman, and that’s all you can do as a young woman in this time period, other than cleaning house and raising children, of course.

Katie’s a catch, and the talk of the boys of the town, but hasn’t chosen anyone in particular to be wooed by. As they’re having this conversation, the household is visited by Lord Fitzpatrick (Walter Fitzgerald), who’s come to look for her father, the eponymous Darby O’Gill (Albert Sharpe). She goes to get him, as he’s at the inn telling stories. Fitzpatrick walks around the estate, which is his. Darby and Katie simply mind it. When Fitzpatrick comes in, he speaks with widow Sugrue, who IMMEDIATELY BAD TALKS AND BETRAYS THE O’GILLS, in order to promote her own son! FUCK OFF MS. SUGRUE YOU’RE A BAD FRIEND

Her son, Pony Sugrue (Kieron Moore) is a strapping young man, a known brawer, and...well, kind of a dick. In the pub, Darby’s telling stories of a leprechaun that he met once, and Pony mocks him for it. The bartender tells him off, and tells Darby to continue his story. And the story turns into a flashback soon enough.

On a dark night, on a mist-covered mountain, Darby is speaking with the king of the leprechauns, Brian O’Connor (Jimmy O’Dea), having trapped him there with naught but his gaze. He forces Brian to give him three wishes, and he’ll let him go. The wishes are first for his health, then for a large crop of potatoes, and finally, of course, a pot of gold.

However, King Brian asks for his fourth wish, and claims to be a generous man. He asks for three additional pots of gold for three friends. However, this was a trick, as making a fourth wish undoes the rest of them all together. This ends the story, as King Brian does a merry jig and all that. One of the friends that Darby wished for says that he’d never accept the gold, as it comes from the devil himself. Darby says that he’d donate it to the church in his stead.

But that’s a little awkward, considering the presence of Father Murphy (Denis O’Dea), who’s actually there to get some help in carrying a new bell for the parish. Pony offers his services, but only for cash. Kind of a dick, that Pony. Murphy changes tactics, and kinda manipuates Darby into doing it. But just then, Katie comes in to tell Darby of Fitzpatrick’s visit, and hauls him away from the pub. On the Fitzpatrick estate, the Lord gives a tour to the replacement for Darby, one Michael McBride (Sean Conn...noooo...it can’t be.)

HOLY SHIT IT’S SEAN CONNERY! He was in a Disney movie? Holy shit! And this is before James Bond! So, before playing an English spy, he played an Irishman...and he’s Scottish. Dude, did Connery ever actually play a Scotsman in his career, what the hell?

OK, so Darby and Katie are basically getting kicked out, with Michael set to replace them. After some negotiation of retirement terms, Darby agrees, but doesn’t tell Katie right away. She was born in the house that they’re now being forced to move out of, in about two weeks time. In that time, Michael will stay with them to smooth the transition fully. That night, after dinner, Michael pleads with Darby to tell Katie, but he’s still putting it off for now. Darby goes to his horse, Cleopatra, and heads up a mountain, back to where King Brian was first seen. Cleopatra runs away, though, and Darby goes up the mountain alone. When he catches up to Cleopatra, she’s already at the summit, next to a well glowing gold. And then, uh...she starts to glow.

Cleopatra rears up, and Darby falls to the bottom of the well, which is where he’s found by the eponymous “Little People”, who take him to King Brian himself. There’s a dance going on in front of a large golden throne, with all of the little people in attendance, and King Brian playing a giant bagpipe on the throne itself.

Darby is welcomed in by the king, and allowed to survey the various treasures collected by the little people. The throne, fun fact, once belonged to the throne of King Fergus, from the original myth that originated the leprechaun! Very cool! However, that’s tempered by the new information that he can never leave. This was apparently a favor by King Brian, for spreading the stories of the leprechauns throughout the town, and bringing them fame. This was all meant to prevent Katie from finding out about Darby losing his job.

Seeing that Darby’s upset, King Brian offers him a chance to play a Stradivarius violin, which Darby reluctantly accepts. He plays “The Fox Chase”, a lively tune that’s genuinely quite fun and pleasant to listen to. The little people agree, and dance along with the music as Darby plays. The whole sequence is actually quite impressive and fun. Then, Darby shouts “Gone away”, prompting the lot of them to go on a fox chase on their own tiny horses, in a VERY impressive shot! Seriously, it’s very cool, considering that this is from 1959!

The little folk, tricked by Darby’s music, leave the lair of Knockasheega on the mountain, leaving Darby alone. He attempts to steal some of their gold, then takes off out of the mountain, escaping the lair. But holes in his pockets cause all the gold to fall out, leaving him with nothing. He finds Cleopatra waiting outside for him, then the two head home once and for all.

Fully expecting Brian to find him again, he prepares for his arrival. Sure enough, King Brian shows up, angry that Darby seems to have spurned his good favor. But Darby, ever the suave talker himself, once again tricks King Brian into drinking an alcohol called poitín, which is also called Mountain Dew. Which is amazing.

As Darby and King Brian Do the Dew, Darby gets King Brian to participate in a singing and rhyming game, called the Wishing Song. And honestly...I’m having a really good fucking time with this movie. It’s folksy, and very heartwarming in tone for whatever reason. I’m just having a real good time with it, y’know?

So, Darby gets Brian good and sozzled, distracting him entirely until the morning. See, in the daylight, leprechauns lose their powers entirely. Darby, decisively with the upper hand as well, uses his cat Ginger to trap Brian. Trapped once again, Brian agrees to grant Darby three more wishes. Having anticipated this, Darby uses his first to make King Brian stay with him while he decides on his wishes. And, to fully ensure that the little king goes nowhere, Darby produces a sack, which he puts the leprechaun in, before shoving him into a chest in the barn.

Great place to pause, so we can start the second half! See you there!

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chimaerakitten · 3 years

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(via https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2eF2BW8QhNO2UesloUNkuk?si=SfOWQO6CTQy28MPE0ndjMA)

so, now that I am officially free of both finals and my work on the TQT title sequence animation, I thought it would be a good time to turn to my other bit project for this fandom, Chi’s crazy-long chronological playlist. I started this. One week after ROTT came out. ONE WEEK. I thought I’d get it done and written up in two or three days. It is now. December the 15th. Two months. TWO MONTHS, THIS HAS BEEN SITTING IN MY DRAFTS

Bellow the cut: A writeup explaining the position of each song + a little bit more commentary on it from me (spoilers. everything is spoilers all the way through ROTT below the cut):

This is a mix of some pretty typical fanplaylist fare (there is. A lot of Bastille on here) some Queen’s Thief must-haves (can you really have a Queen of Attolia playlist without Achilles Come Down?) and my own really weird music taste (Filk like Tin Soldier and Courage Knows No Bounds)

Some of the ones I’m most proud of are Monster by Starset for the Mede camp scenes in ROTT (I mean, it starts with “Under the knife I surrendered” It’s kinda perfect) Laughter Lines for Relius and Teleus (I have it on good authority that that caused a lot of heart pain for other fans) and Soft to be Strong for Irene and Relius.

without further ado, the song list:

“Eddis”—Warriors

“Thief!”—Second Child, Restless Child

The Thief

Whatever it takes—“I can steal anything”

Tin Soldier—“Nobody would mistake you for anything but a tool, Gen.”

Centuries—“His name would be carved in stone on a stele outside the basilica, and mine would be written in the dust.”

Everybody Wants To Rule the World—“He doesn’t want the queen…He just wants the pass through the mountains so that he can invade Attolia.”

Patron Saint o’ Thieves—Eugenides and the Sky God’s Thunderbolts (I will be honest. This one was chosen based on title and Vibes, tm, not lyrics)

The Only Exception—“But if there hadn’t been one that I loved, I wouldn’t have landed myself in the king’s prison.”

Thief—Before braving the temple of the Aracthus.

Come Wayward Souls—Inside the temple.

History Has Its Eyes On You—The answered prayer for silence.

The Queen and the Soldier—“You are more beautiful, Your majesty... But she is more kind.”

I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)—Walking to Eddis.

Stand By Me—“Oh, It’s you, Eugenides.”

Family—Helen, Eugenides, and the Minister of War.

“Destruction”—Dread Sovereign

The Queen of Attolia

Run Boy Run—The chase through the palace.

Icarus—Eugenides, caught.

When the Chips are Down—“I still think tradition might hold the best solution to my problems with you.”

Achilles Come Down—Eugenides, after returning to Eddis.

Heroes—The Secret War and the expectation that Eugenides will die soon.

Burn It Down—Burning Sounis’s navy.

Sit Still Look Pretty—“It was her fiancé who gave her the name shadow princess.”

Heroes and Thieves— “She pulled the bedclothes up as far as they would go and suppressed a perverse wish to have her old nurse come to chase away the darkness, perverse because she didn’t know if she wanted the shadows to be empty or not.”

Thousand Eyes—The plan to take Ephrata.

We Remain—“There’s an easier way for a man to become king,”

Black Water—“She reached up to push the wet hair out of her face, wondering when she had sunk so low that she had begun torturing boys.”

Simple Song—"I watched you walking between the rows of cabbages and then dancing under the orange trees. I was above you, in one of the trees.”

She’s Always a Woman—"Eugenides had accepted gladly and read carefully, trying to see whether Attolia could be the monster in human guise she was accused of being, or only a woman who ruled without the support of her barons.”

Queen of Peace—“Just asleep,” Eddis reassured her.”

I’m Not Calling You A Liar—“I sometimes believe his lies are the truth, but I have never mistaken his truth for a lie.”

Losing My Religion—“You made a mistake,” Attolia agreed. “You trusted your gods. That was your mistake.”

Pompeii—The vision of the volcano.

All I’ve Ever Known—“Love I am not familiar with.”

Love Love Love—"Who am I, that you should love me?

A Healing In This Night—“And she believed him.”

The King of Attolia

Bow to the Crown— “He dropped to his knees before his queen and lowered his head almost to the floor.”

Shut up and Dance—"Her queen danced like a flame in the wind”

Carry Your Throne— It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife.”

It’s Alright—"If it was embarrassing to wake like a child screaming from a nightmare, how much more embarrassing to be the reason your husband woke screaming.”

Believer—“like a god revealed” and the fall of the house of Erondites.

I CHOOSE YOU— “He was very likable—Eddis would have married him.”

Hunger— “I did not say that I am afraid. He is, though, I think. Afraid of his own desire for power.”

Soft to Be Strong—"I have learned that there is a flaw in your philosophy. If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.”

Gold—Eugenides on the crenellations.

True & Destined Prince—“He is an Annux, a king of kings.”

“Knife Dance”—Human

A Conspiracy of Kings

Things We Lost In The Fire—The raid on the villa.

Constellations—Sophos and Moira in the dream library.

Welcome Home, Son—“I didn’t want a choice; I wanted to stay right where I was and build walls and share poetry with an avid audience and enjoy a swim with friends, but I didn’t want it to be my choice.”

Words as Weapons— “Eugenides looked me in the eye as if I were a complete stranger and said, “The simplest way to end a war is to admit you have lost it.”

Share Your Address— “You made a proposal in your previous letter. Perhaps it was only hypothetical?” “It was not.”

I Love You—“When I was working in the fields, I knew how unfounded my hopes were,” he said. “I was a poor excuse for an heir of Sounis when I made the proposal and then became even less than that.”

Iron—“I will go to Melenze. And hope to delay the Medes long enough to find some other solution to their imperial expansion. Of course, that assumes the king and queen of Attolia intend to honor the laws of hospitality and allow me to travel safely to the border.”

Young Volcanoes—“Just what makes you think you can get away with that?” he asked the young man standing over him with a butter-won’t-melt-in-my-mouth expression incongruous on his scarred face.”

The Fates—Sophos’s naïve speech before the first vote.

Handmade Heaven—Shooting Hanaktos and Akretenesh, lifting a hand to the sky for a lightning bolt that will not come.

I Bet My Life—"There is no reason I can see that I would not be honored to join Eddis to you.”

Flaws—“Eddis stared at him for a long time, knowing that forgiving someone because you have to is not forgiving him at all.”

For The Dancing And The Dreaming—“Are you certain that you want to be my wife?” “Absolutely,” said Eddis, quietly. “Eternally certain.”

Blood Brothers—"He had been saved by the men Eugenides sent, though he did not yet know the ferocity with which the king of Attolia had stripped those men from other posts, the capital he had expended, the secrets that had been revealed in order to send help to Sounis.”

Thick as Thieves

I’ll Believe In Anything—"If there had been any alternative, I would have taken it, but I could see none, and there was no time for hesitation.”

You’ve Got A Friend In Me—“Head wounds bleed, but we can stitch it up, I’ve done it before, don’t be afraid. Kamet, I wouldn’t tell you this if it weren’t true. I swear to you, I am not going to leave your dead body beside the road to Perf. I didn’t come all the way to this godsforsaken cesspit so that I could go home and tell my king I failed him.”

Desert Song—Costis and Kamet crossing the empire, eating caggi.

Empire—"It would be possible, I supposed, for an outsider to see disruption and think the empire might collapse, but it was too all encompassing, too well sewn together to come apart. As each smaller nation was absorbed, it was integrated into the whole, enjoying all the benefits of being in the empire.”

Fell In Love With A Girl—Kamet’s story of Marin the dancing girl.

Foreigner’s God—Kamet’s encounter with Ennikar while Costis is in the well.

The Hell If I Go Home—Kamet trying to leave in Sukir.

Stray Italian Greyhound—“If you had told me in Sukir, I would have let you go.” / “Costis,” I said, using his name for the first time since he had told it to me, on board the riverboat at the start of our journey. “Costis, I’m sorry.”

Poet—"I began this narrative in the palace of Attolia but have only recently neared its completion. I will eventually send it to Relius, when I am sure it can be delivered without interception, and I hope he will be satisfied with my account, as I would be honored to have it added to his library.”

All This And Heaven Too—“Immakuk and Ennikar,” he said. “Where?” I snapped my head around to scan the dock, and he nudged me with his elbow. “Idiot. Us,” he said.”

Return of the Thief

How Far We’ve Come—Exordium.

The Great Escape—Pheris finding a place for himself.

The Heart Is a Muscle—“Someone loves me very much, even with all my faults”

I Will Wait—“His heart is unlikely to be in his work.”

Laughter Lines—Relius and Teleus saying goodbye.

Stole You Away—“Attolia says she leaves with you”

Poison & Wine—“I think they have to show their worst selves sometimes”

United at War—“Sounis will not run…nor Eddis.”

This is War—Arrival at Leonyla.

No Light, No Light—“All wars make men monsters, all wars and all men.”

Survivor’s Song—The Etisian winds came early.

Daniel in the Den—The ambush and the Mede Camp.

Monster—“Nahuseresh tells me I am not king. We’ll see if he really prefers the Thief.”

Natural—“Once, when I said he had saved me, you said I had saved him. From what?”

Tomorrow I Leave For Battle—Before the Naupent.

March of Cambreadth—The Naupent.

Courage Knows No Bounds—A pyre that burned for three days.

Bad Blood—The pardon of Sejanus.

Call the Names—The naming of Hector and Eugenia.

Here’s To Us—Dancing on the Roof.

I lived—Pheris, and the gods were pleased.

“Alyta’s Missing Earring”—Falling and Empire

final note: I did my best to have songs have at least one meaning in the pace they were put, plus more meaning when considering the series as a whole—for example, “Tin Soldier” appears early on in the context of the king of Sounis and the Magus using Gen as a tool, but if you loop back around to it after Return of the Thief, Gen being “weapon more than child” gains a whole new meaning. "She’s always a woman” is an Irene song in the context of QOA, but the more we learn about Helen, the more it applies to her, etc. etc. Not every song is like that, but I wanted to give the playlist at least a bit of re-listen value, in the spirit of the books’ reread value.

#TQT #QT #ROTT #return of the thief #the queen's thief #the thief #the queen of attolia #the king of attolia #a conspiracy of kings #thick as thieves #Spotify playlist

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delicatelyherdreams · 4 years

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Pragma(tic) 6: He Never Listens

Pairing: Persephone!Bucky Barnes x Hades!Reader

Summary: In a world where the old gods never truly died, you must learn to navigate your way through the ups and downs of immortality. And if living forever wasn’t hard enough, an ancient evil is now threatening to break free after centuries of silence. And as if that still wasn’t hard enough for you, now a pesky and infuriatingly handsome god is trying to wedge his way into your life. Gods, work, love, and conflict—what more could a goddess need? [Hades & Persephone AU]

Word Count: 5244

Warnings: Language

Pragma(tic) Masterlist

Previous 5: She Deals With a Pest

“Where’s your head been lately, Buck?”

“Hmm? I don’t know what you mean.”

“I mean,” Steve said turning his torso to face his best friend, “you’ve been distracted these past few weeks, and I want to know why.”

Bucky only shrugged, his eyes glazing over as he stared down at the mortal city before them. “I dunno, man. I guess I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?” Steve was persistent, prodding, desperate to know what was troubling him. “Come on, man, you can tell me anything.”

This was true, but Bucky wasn’t sure he could tell him this: that he was still sneaking into the Underworld when their backs were turned or when he had a spare moment. He wasn’t sure that he could tell Steve that he was enchanted by the only goddess he was forbidden to talk with.

It’d been about two months since his and Hades’ first meeting, and he’d been down there a total of four times since. The first time, she caught him at the border and sent him back after a scolding. The second, he made it to beautiful Elysium, spooked a couple spirits, and had the time of his life before she dragged him out, less annoyed and more amused than the first. But these last two times, even though she told him that he wasn’t allowed to be down there and sent him back, she talked to him like he was an acquaintance. She answered his questions (“Where do you live?” “On the mountain.” “Is it lonely?” “Sometimes, but that’s why I have a dog and friends.” “Am I your friend?” “No.” “Are we ever going to be friends?” “I cannot say.”) and even gave him a smile. That was a personal accomplishment for him.

He felt like he was getting to her, breaking down the walls little by little. Gods, he knew he still had a long way to go, but he couldn’t help but feel proud that he’d gotten as far as he did. The last time he was down there, she didn’t even kick him out that harshly; she just walked him out as if walking guests out from a party and actually said “Goodbye, James” when she left. If that wasn’t progress, Bucky didn’t know what was.

Bucky pursed his lips, debating on how to tell his friend what was going on without really telling him what was going on. “I guess it’s just…” He trailed off, his brain running with ideas and words, none of which were good enough to conceal the truth.

“Yes? It’s just what?”

He nodded his head to the side, before finally saying, “There’s this girl, and I can’t get her out of my head. She’s so different from other people I’ve met before, and it’s wonderful. But I’m not sure how I feel about her or how she feels about me, y’know?” He sighed and lifted his head up to the sky to stare at the clouds. If he focused hard enough, he could almost make out her face in the patterns, as insane as it was.

“I mean, kinda?” Steve shrugged his shoulders. “I’ve never really had that before. What’s her name?”

“Hade— Harriet.”

Steve snorted, his chest jolting with the sudden movement. “Hade-Harriet? What kind of name is that.”

Bucky could feel the color rising up his neck as it tried to creep on his cheeks. He turned his head away. “Her name is Harriet.” *Harriet.* Really? Was that the best he could come up with? Welp, it was going to have to work for now. “She’s really cool, but she’s also stubborn and strict. She’s really insistent on boundaries.”

“Uh-huh, and where did you meet her?”

*Dammit, Steve. Stop asking questions.*

“I—uh—I met her in the Mortal World. You and Sam were napping and I wanted to go shopping, so I went down to the mainland to see what stores there were. And we just kinda ran into each other, you know.”

Bucky was impressed with how easily he had fabricated the story, he just hoped that Steve bought it.

Steve didn’t, but he didn’t get a chance to call Bucky on his bullshit.

The wind picked up, swirling all around the two men. The grass spun around them, blowing violently, bringing the smell of plants along with it. The wind funneled, creating a narrow tube. The wind grew hazy, thick with grain and greens, as it moved to a spot in front of them.

Steve straightened up, his shoulders rolling back to appear more formal.

Bucky did the same, for he knew what this wind meant: the arrival of his mother.

When the wind cleared, a woman with dark hair to match Bucky’s and startling green eyes stood before them. She was dressed in a deep green suit, gold ornaments woven into her hair. She beamed down at the two, her eyes sparkling when she laid eyes on her son. “Hello, James,” she greeted, her voice as strong as her finest plants and her smile as warm as the sun that fed them.

“Mother!” Bucky rose to his full height, a good five inches taller than his mother, and took fast strides over to her to engulf her in a hug.

“Oh, my baby boy,” she said as she hugged him tightly. “It’s been too long! How are things? How are you doing? Staying out of trouble I assume?”

“Oh yes, Mrs. B,” Steve chimed. “Sam and I have been doing a good job at keeping James here straight.”

She smiled. “Good. Speaking of which, where is Sam?”

“Oh, he’s down in the city grabbing us some cheeseburgers. He lost rock paper scissors and got sacrificed to go on the food run.”

At this, Winnifred frowned. “You know I don’t like you boys going down there. Why don’t you go up to Olympus for lunch instead? There’s this cafe that makes the best ambrosia ever! You simply must try it.”

Bucky gave her a polite smile. “Alright, Mother. We’ll go there next time for lunch.” He cleared his throat, starting to change the subject. “So, why have you come?”

“Oh, you know. I had a bit of a break at the office and decided to come visit my son, make sure he’s doing well and— Wait, what’s that smell?”

*Fuck.*

“Wh-What smell?” Bucky asked, trying so hard to keep his voice steady and even. He knew damn well what smell, but he wasn’t going to point that out.

His mother scrunched her nose in disgust. “It smells like death. What the—” She turned her eyes towards Bucky, seemingly fixating on him and glowering.

Bucky felt the color drain from his cheeks. He was done for. She knew. She knew it was him and—

“What the hell is happening here?” She marched towards him, passing him with an air of agitation. She stopped at a tree several yards behind the boys and stared at it with a glare. “James, this tree is dying, and you didn’t save it?” She reached out and pressed her palm flat against its trunk. Instantly the dark bark began to lighten with life as she rejuvenated it. “Honestly, James. You’re supposed to be a god of spring. The least you can do is keep alive what little area I gave you.” She shot a teasing smile at him over her shoulder.

Bucky almost laughed with relief, but instead, he adopted a more serious demeanor. “I’m sorry, Mother. I’ll do better next time.”

“You’d better if you want to become an even better god!” She pulled away from the tree before walking back to the boys. “Well, I’m sorry to have to leave so soon, but I only came for a short visit. Work is busy as ever in the spring and I need to keep tabs on all the harvests.” She smiled at Steve. “You tell Sam ‘hello’ for me and keep an eye on my boy, you hear?”

Steve nodded politely. “Yes, ma’am. We’ll keep him out of trouble.”

“Good. Then…” She turned to Bucky and held her arms out. “Give your mother one last hug.”

Bucky chuckled but complied. “Mother, you don’t have to treat me like a kid anymore. I’m more than a thousand years old.”

“I know, but you’ll always be my baby boy.” She kissed his cheek before pulling away from him. “I’ll see you soon, my child. Until the next time.” And just like that, she was gone; vanished into a cloud of grain and wheat.

As soon as she was gone, Bucky let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding in. He was always tense around his mother, even more so now that he had something to hide. He just hoped that she would never find out his dirty little secret.

———

It was another few days before Bucky was able to sneak away from Steve and Sam again. It was in the dead of the night, when they were sleeping, that Bucky crept away, staying as silent as possible. He walked away from the clearing that the boys had chosen to sleep in, and summoned a pair of dark jeans and a blue shirt to clothe him. The garments materialized on his body as they did for every god, taking the place of his pajamas. Using the cover of night, he slipped away.

A perk of being a god, even a minor, fledgling one like him, was the teleportation. With a destination on his mind, Bucky could travel anywhere on Heaven and Earth that he wanted. And it was through this, that Bucky appeared on Cape Matapan, a small landmass at the end of Greece’s Mani Peninsula. The mortals had said that the elaborate network of caves there concealed an entrance to Hades. They were right, although it was a difficult journey. But Bucky had been using these caves to get into the Underworld ever since Hades sealed off the Dikteon Cave and tightened security at the Acheron. She wasn’t quite aware of this entrance yet and Bucky wanted to keep it like that. After all, he was starting to run out of ways to sneak in under her nose.

Bucky took a couple of steps into the cave before pausing and leaning down. A flashlight was nestled against the wall of the cave, right where he’d left it the last time. His fingers wrapped around the metal cylinder of the flashlight and he flicked it on. The beam pierced the darkness of the cave, illuminating the tunnels ahead, and he began the short journey down.

Slopes and declines in the path took him deeper and deeper into the earth; and as he descended, he could feel the life seeping out of the air—a telltale sign that he was nearing his destination.

He walked for twenty or so minutes before he hit the end of the tunnel network. The cavern opened up slightly, still darkened with a black that swallowed up any and all light around.

Bucky grinned. He’d made it down, and now all he had to do was take a step in. He flicked off the flashlight, plunging the cave into darkness and set it down on the ground before walking right into the mass of black before him. It was cold as always, stealing any sign of warmth and life from his bones, and it made him shudder, but he pushed on. Eventually he was tossed out onto the other side, right at the edge of a flower meadow. The cave behind him sealed, taking on the facade of being a simple wall, but Bucky knew what it was. He stumbled a bit as he emerged, but he caught his footing pretty quickly. He wasn’t going to fall like he had the first time, not when there were so many spirits around to bear witness to it.

He straightened up and looked over the area.

Shades milled about the field—the Asphodel Meadows, he thought it was called—all minding their own business as they floated aimlessly. Very few paid him any attention, but that didn’t bother him. The less attention he drew, the better. Beyond the Meadows, he saw the gates of Elysium rising high and the mountain right next to it. The black mansion at its peak was daunting as ever, and yet that was his destination. Bucky wondered how close he’d make it this time before Hades found him and sent him home.

Determined to at least make it to the base of her mountain, Bucky started walking. The shades around him parted, making a narrow path in his wake and allowing him easier means to reach his destination. Of course, he could’ve just walked through them, but that would’ve been rude and his mother had raised him to be a gentleman.

The mountain grew larger as he neared, towering over him and becoming more and more intimidating with every step. He could begin to make out the details of Hades’ mansion now and even see figures moving behind the frosted glass of the windows. She was home, and she had company.

He hesitated. If Hades had guests over, as surprising as that would be, maybe he shouldn’t impose. He could always come back another time or—

“Back again, I see.”

He squeaked and whirled around, lifting his hands to defend himself in case of an attack. But none ever came.

Instead, Hades just crossed her arms and smirked, her red-coated lips quirked up with amusement. “Did I startle you, little prince?”

Bucky scoffed, his eyes rolling to the back of his head. “No. You just caught me off guard.”

“So I startled you?”

“Well… Maybe.” He shook his head and looked her over.

The other times he’d weaseled his way in and she’d come to greet him, she’d always looked professional, prim, and proper. She would always be adorned with a black business blazer, pressed pants, and an elegant pair of flats. Her eyes would always be shrouded with a smokey eye and her lips would always glow as red as her eyes. Her hair would always be styled, not a single hair out of place. But this time there was no makeup on her face that was apparent to him, strands of loose hair flew every-which-way in a fashion that was unruly but still attractive, and she was dressed in a more casual attire of black jeans that hugged her legs, a plain grey shirt that hung loosely from her shoulders, and black sneakers.

If Bucky had an opinion, he would’ve said that she looked as attractive as ever, but he didn’t have an opinion. He lifted his chin with a smile. “How did you get down here so fast?”

“I sensed you coming. Using the shadows, I came to your side.” She gestured down to the shadows of the flowers that fell on the ground. She was standing in one like she’d just risen from it.

“But I just saw you and someone else in the window and I thought that you had company.”

“Oh, I do,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. “But it’s just Peggy. She was on her way out anyway; she has her own paperwork to get to.”

“Peggy? Goddess of magic, crossroads, ghosts—”

“And other things,” Hades confirmed. “The mortals call her Hecate, but her name is Peggy.” Hades turned her head away from him and looked up at the mansion on the mountain. “She’s up there with my dog. I sometimes think that she likes him more than she likes me.” She chuckled.

“I didn’t know you had a dog.” Bucky smiled softly at her, keeping his head down so he could see her easier and she could see his face.

She scrunched her nose. “Really? You seriously did not know that I have a dog? Cerberus is in nearly every myth about me, and he helps guard the entrance to the Underworld to make sure the souls don’t get out.”

Bucky had no idea. He never read the myths, he only knew some names of the other gods. With a sheepish laugh, he rubbed the back of his neck and shifted his weight from side to side. “N-No I didn’t. I—”

He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence because, at that moment, Hades brought two fingers up to her mouth and whistled. The sound rang loud and clear through the still air and a crash followed it almost immediately.

Rapid movement from the mansion atop the mountain drew his eye, and he saw a black mass bounding down the path of the mountain. It was moving at a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for a normal dog, drawing dangerously close with every second. Bucky was tempted to run away—he’d never seen anything like this before—but Hades, with her calm demeanor as she watched the figure approaching with only an amused smile betraying her emotion, coaxed him to stay. He stood his ground, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the black mass.

As it neared, its details became clear. He saw the animal’s shaggy black fur shining in the dim light of the Underworld and its glowing red eyes staring at him and Hades. Its tongue was hanging out of its mouth, its lips spread wide as if it was grinning. When it came within three yards of the pair, it let out a loud yelp before leaping into the air right at Hades. Bucky was certain it was going to knock her down, but she opened her arms and caught him as easily as if it were a child.

She laughed, the sound music to Bucky’s ears, as the wolf-like creature attacked her face with its tongue. “Cerberus!” she cried, her voice as light and airy as Bucky had ever heard it. “Get down! I’ve taught you better than this.”

It was then that Bucky realized that this was her dog. His lips split back into a smile. “Well isn’t he a handsome thing.”

“You think this is great, you should see him at his full height.” She grinned down at her dog, cupping his face in her hands. “He’s huge, and all three of his heads come out. It’s sad though, I only have two hands and I can’t pet them all.”

Bucky snorted, but said nothing, opting to observe instead. He was fascinated with the scene in front of him. He’d never seen Hades so relaxed; she was always ushering him out as fast as she could, and it was amazing for him to see her like this. It made his heart race in his chest and his smile widen to an uncomfortable size. It made his head light and his stomach flip. It made him happy.

Hades pulled away from Cerberus and turned to look at Bucky. “I figured you two ought to be acquainted since he’ll be helping me kick you out from now on, or doing it himself if I’m too busy to deal with you.” She glanced at him through her eyelashes.

Bucky feigned being hurt and clutched his chest with his hand. “I’m not even going to have the pleasure of being escorted out by the Queen of the Underworld?”

“Not when she’s too busy dealing with queenly things to take care of your ass.” She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Now, come on. You know the drill.” She jerked her head in the direction of the Acheron.

Bucky groaned. “Oh, come on! I just got here!”

“And now you’re just leaving.” She rubbed Cerberus’ head one more time before reaching forward and grabbing Bucky’s wrist. “I’ve got shit to deal with right now. Filing away souls, welcoming new Elysium residents, going over appeals for Elysium admittance; my job is never done.”

Bucky walked with her, staring at the hair on the back of her head and tracing the patterns of the strands. “Yeah? What else do you do?”

She shrugged, but answered, “A variety of things: manage the other gods down here, maintain border security, deal with difficult souls that want to cause disturbances, walk my dog, sometimes go around Elysium and mark up renovations that need to happen. You name it, I probably deal with it in one way or another. That’s what happens when you rule a realm.”

Bucky nodded, his eyes glinting with interest. “It seems like you really care about people down here.”

“Oh, I do,” Hades agreed. “They’re my subjects, mine to protect and guard. I love them like my family.” She smiled fondly, her lips twitching up as her eyes crinkled at the corners. “There’s a bunch of good people down here, but there are also some bad…” Her smile dissolved and her eyes flickered towards the far wall of the Underworld where the Phlegethon flowed. “But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is how you’ve managed to keep sneaking down here. Would you care to clue me in?”

He smirked. “You know, I would but then you’d just go and block it off and I’d never be able to return.”

“You’re damn right. You’re causing major security concerns whenever you get in without me knowing until you’re already down here.” She was deadly serious now, and Bucky could feel it radiating off her in waves. “If you can get in, then that means other things can too. And I don’t know if you’ve been made aware or not, but we’ve got some big-shot prisoners down here that enemies of the gods would just love to set free. If they were to find out that the Underworld has a security breach, then who knows what kind of chaos they could unleash.” She glanced at him, just barely turning her head in his direction. “I need to know, James. How are you getting in?”

Bucky nibbled at his lip and turned his head up. He was thinking.

On one hand, he could see where Hades was coming from, and logically he knew he should tell her where his entrance was, but on the other he was afraid she was going to seal him out forever. He’d grown attached to the Underworld, finding it interesting, unique, and beautiful. He wanted to know more about it, explore it, and see what made Hades love it so. He wasn’t ready to give it up, but he knew he had to share.

Bucky crossed his arms and pressed his lips together, reluctance rolling off him in waves, before admitting, “Cape Matapan. The myths said that if you go down deep enough into the caves, then you’ll reach the Underworld and, well, they’re right. I’ve used them the past couple of times.”

And at that, she smiled at him. Not one of the half-smiles she’d been giving him, but a full-blown smile that lit up her entire face.

It made Bucky’s heart flutter with exhilaration, and he couldn’t help but think that he should do things to make her smile more. She was breathtaking; drop-dead gorgeous.

She continued to smile at him as she said, “Thank you, James. I really appreciate your honesty.”

He smiled back and nodded. “You’re welcome. I’m sorry I’ve been a pain in the ass, but there’s just something about being down here that I can’t quite put my finger on.”

She chuckled. “I know the feeling. It’s very peaceful and calm down here. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

From there, they started walking in silence, drawing nearer and nearer towards the Acheron. At some point in time, they began to walk next to the Cocytus, the river that fed into the Acheron. The water wailed beside them, the pitiful cries of souls long past that had become trapped in the water’s rush filling the air. The sounds made shivers run down Bucky’s spine.

But it wasn’t just the noise that made Bucky uneasy, although Hades seemed unaffected, it was the figure standing about a dozen yards away from him and Hades.

The man lurking along the river bank was obviously a naiad. He sported the same blue tint to his skin that all water nymphs did, the water beside him only highlighting the features. His dark hair was coiffed and his jawline was marked with a short stubble that came from not shaving in a few days. His heavyset, brown eyes cut through the air as they stared at him and Hades, filling the air with suffocating intensity. His arms were crossed as his eyes trailed Hades. He watched her, studied her, with his unrelenting and almost predatory gaze.

Bucky wasn’t sure why, but looking at that man watch Hades like she was his made Bucky’s blood boil. For the first time in his life, Bucky wanted to pick a fight with a man—this man. He sneered. “Who’s that?”

“Hmm?” Hades tore her gaze away from the road ahead and followed his line of sight towards the man on the river bank. She stiffened, her lips forming a hard line as she stared at him. “No one,” she murmured, but Bucky wasn’t entirely certain that was the truth.

He could feel his body gravitating towards hers protectively, his shoulders rolling back and his chest puffing out to make him seem more like a threat. He did all in his power to radiate “back off’ vibes, but he wasn’t sure how successful he actually was.

Successful or not, the naiad stayed away, opting to simply watch them as they passed.

They followed the river the rest of the way until it fed into the Acheron before stopping.

Hades stood at the river’s edge, the water just barely missing her toes where they sat. She looked up at Bucky. “Well, I guess this is your stop.”

Bucky didn’t want it to be, but he said, “Yeah, I guess it is.” He looked down with a frown.

As if sensing his dismay, Hades sighed and dug into her pocket. “I cannot believe I am doing this,” she muttered, pulling out a small leather pouch. Bucky watched her with curiosity as she fiddled with the straps and held it out to him. “Here.”

Bucky took the pouch and pulled it open. Inside there lay about two dozen brown seeds, none of which Bucky recognized. His brows furrowed. “What are these?”

“They’re Asphodel seeds,” she answered, shifting her weight. “They’re what I use to get to the Underworld. You plant one, and a hole will open up for about thirty seconds. Jump in, and you’ll pop out here with only a flower in your stead. You’ll be deposited back into the Asphodel Meadows, but you’ll still be down here.”

Bucky stared at her, dumbfounded. “Wait, you mean you’re just giving me a key to the Underworld?”

“Yes I am, but don’t make me change my mind.” She rolled her eyes. “This is simply because I don’t want you hurting yourself trying to find a way in. And just because I gave you a way in doesn’t mean you can come down every day. You only have so many seeds and each is good for a one-time-one-way trip. There are no do-overs nor repeats, you hear?”

“I hear.” He smiled softly down at her. “Thank you, Hades.”

“(y/n).”

He blinked. “Excuse me?”

“My name. It’s (y/n). You keep calling me ‘Hades.’ No doubt you got that from the myths too, but that’s just the name the mortals gave me. (y/n) is my true name.” She shuffled her feet anxiously, but Bucky couldn’t have been happier.

He didn’t know why, and perhaps she didn’t either, but she was opening up to him. It made him happy, and he figured that if she was willing to share something, he should too. “Then my name is Bucky. Only my mother calls me ‘James.’ To everyone else I’m Bucky.”

Her nose crinkled. “Bucky? Where the Hades did they get that from?”

“My middle name: Buchanan. I know it’s a little weird, but it’s the most familiar name to me. James just feels so formal and uptight; I’d much rather be Bucky.”

“Bucky,” she repeated, testing out the syllables on her tongue. “Alright, Bucky it is.” She straightened up and smiled at him, holding out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Bucky. My name is (y/n), goddess of the dead and Queen of the Underworld.”

Bucky took her hand, a matching smile adorning his face. Her hand was cold as death, but he didn’t care. The warm feeling the contact brought to his chest was worth it. “It’s my pleasure, (y/n). I’m Bucky, god of spring. I hope we can get along and be friends.”

“Yes… Friends… I think I could get used to that.” She nodded and squeezed his hand. “Then, until next time.”

“Until then.” Letting go of her hand, he pulled away and mounted the ferry that had come to take him home. His eyes never once left her, not even when the boat pushed off and into the river. He only lost sight of her when he crossed over into the Mortal World and a wall of mist and fog separated them. He sighed as she vanished, turning to the ferryman—Phil Coulson, he thought was his name.

Phil looked down at him sympathetically. “You’re never going to stop coming down, are you?”

“No, I don’t think I am.” Bucky smiled softly up at him. “I guess you’ll be seeing me a bit more often now.”

“Oh joy. Yet another god I have to deal with.” Phil rolled his eyes. “I just hope you’re less of a pain in my ass than the others.”

Bucky chuckled. “I will do my best to be better than them.”

“Then we’ll get along just fine.” Phil smiled as they came to the mortal side of the Acheron and stopped at the bank. It was dawn now, the sun was just barely rising above the horizon.

Bucky frowned in confusion. “Morning already? It was night when I left and I know I wasn’t down there for that long. How is already morning?”

“Time seems to flow faster works in the Underworld,” Phil said as he tied the ferry to the land. “They say that death feels like nothing.” He pulled the ferry to a stop in the Mortal World and turned to Bucky. “You take care of yourself, godling.”

“You too, Phil.” Bucky stepped off the ferry and appeared again just outside the field where Steve and Sam should’ve been sleeping. He had to be quiet. This early in the morning, his friends were easily aroused and he didn’t want them to know he’d left.

Bucky had teleported right behind a tree where he had a full view of the field. Steve and Sam should’ve been sleeping in the middle of the meadow, but there was one body missing. Bucky frowned and crouched down. Where was Steve? Did he get up early? Oh shit, did he notice that Bucky was missing? Bucky held his breath as his eyes scanned the field, searching for his friend desperately.

“Looking for somebody?”

Bucky nearly screamed. He turned around, probably white with fear.

Steve had his hands on his hips and was glowering down at his best friend, his eyes intense and slightly pissed. “Where were you?”

“I… Uh…” Bucky had to lie, and lie now. “I went down the mountain to the village.”

“No, you didn’t. I checked there. I checked the whole island.” Steve’s glare only intensified. “Now, where were you?”

Next 7: Her Thoughts Conflict

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky #bucky x you #bucky x reader #pragma(tic)#hades and persephone #hades & persephone #hades & persephone au #persephone!bucky x hades!reader #greek gods #greek au #greek mythology au #bucky barnes greek au

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jq37 · 4 years

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The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 15 The Two Balls

A Hard Knock Life

Welcome back to A Crown of Candy as we march ever closer to the finale which is good because I can only take so much more chocolate coated drama. The party has just killed the SPF and, as Rina and her crew start to exit the temple, she enters a flashback that’s intense enough that they used a CW so, for that reason, I’m going to put it under the cut.

It’s the year 1196 and it’s almost High Frosting’s Eve (read: Bulb Christmas). A five-year-old Rina is being kept at the Abbey of the Shimmering Cream in the Dairy Seas but she’s not being kept well. As she looks out over the sea, waiting for the day her mom will sail back in and realize she made a mistake in abandoning her as she is wont to do, a nun shows up to bring her to the Mother Superior who’s sent for her.

On the way there, she catches a glimpse of Lazuli in a mirror who comforts her and says that she’s not bad or wrong for being able to do the things she can do and that, “The world is dark and dangerous but there are forces other than wickedness in this world.” Lazuli starts to say that she’s been trying to help but--and she’s cut off as Rina walks into the next room and loses sight of the mirror.

The Mother Superior is waiting for Rina, switch in hand, and says that she’s heard kids talking about some crazy magic stuff Rina can do. Rina lies and says the kids are making it up and the Mother Superior switches her across the face saying that lying is a sin. She straps Rina to a chair and asks if she sees eyes in the mirror. Rina (who is still being played by Emily even though she is five) says, “Doesn’t everyone?” The Mother Superior doesn’t appreciate the line as much as I do because she smacks her again. She says that all she wishes for Rina is obedience and silence and asks what the woman in the mirror says to her. Rina, knowing that whatever she says is gonna get her smacked, says that the woman says that there’s nothing wrong with her and she doesn’t have to hide the way she is. In response, the Mother Superior takes out a holy symbol of the Bulb and starts heating it up in the fire.

The box the symbol came out of has enough of a reflective surface inside that Lazuli is able to tell Rina that there are people in her corner and she’s suffering now but it won’t be forever but she’s again cut off by the Mother Superior who says that this self acceptance nonsense sounds like Hungry One talk. Rina says she’s not scared of anything physical the Mother Superior can do to her but, unfortunately, she’s not here to do anything to her body. She’s here for her soul. She presses the now heated holy symbol into Rina’s chest, causing her blinding pain and cutting her off from Lazuli who desperately tries to keep the connection open.

When she comes back to herself, devastated and tearful, the Mother Superior pledges to burn the Hungry One out of her as many times as it takes and send her to her room without sans morning breakfast privileges. Before she can go however, the Mother Superior stops her and asks why she’s always staring across the sea. Does she really think her dad is Prince Amethar? Not only is that obviously false but, even if it was true, he clearly doesn’t want her. Not even her mom wanted her. Rina (sounding like she’s trying to convince herself) says that her mom did want her. She was just scared and wanted to protect her. The Mother Superior says that her mom was trying to protect the world from her because she’s dangerous and her father isn’t Amether, he’s nothing. Rina shoots back that if her father is no one, then how come she can speak to the winds and command the waves? And why is she so scared of her? The Mother Superior doesn’t have an answer for that. She sends Rina to her room.

In the present day, Rina descends the mountain, dragon around her neck, followers by her side, and crown on her head. She will never be hurt like that again.

Ruby watches them go (Theo and Cumulus going with her and talking strategy) and then goes to find her dad who is still on the ledge. She asks Amethar how peace happens? How do you keep living once you’ve been through something like this? He answers that he’s the wrong person to ask. He’s just been going through the motions since the Ravening War ended. But they reaffirm that they love each other and hug before realizing they can’t see Liam anymore. And, speaking of Liam…

Gastronomy and Cosmology

Liam feels himself falling through endless fire and he can smell cinnamon and it hurts terribly but almost in a good way because, as we can recognize by the way Brennan describes it, he is essentially experiencing the sensation of being eaten and he knows that he tastes good.

As we heard last week, Liam felt a hand grab him but it’s actually less of a hand, more of a paw--a little chocolate rabbit’s paw. Lapin! He and Lapin are in this weird kinda semi disintegrated part of the Ice Cream Temple that’s continuing to break apart. Lapin is also disintegrating but not fully. It’s like the pieces that are coming off of him flaking off and cycling back continually, like Thanos is trying to snap him over and over. Additionally, the middle part of him is translucent and there are three foil-wrapped, chocolate egg-wishes in his chest.

Anyway, we learn that Lapin is essentially there to pack up because the party killing the SPF means he and all the other residents of Candy Heaven have been evicted (which, yeah, checks out--you destroy a load bearing boss, her heaven implodes) and have to go to the Hungry One. Liam asks if that’s a bad thing and Lapin says not necessarily but it does mean they won’t be able to communicate with them anymore. But, on a happier note, Preston is there! He’s apparently not stopped following around Lapin since he was told to.

Liam tells Lapin that they’re super screwed and asks what they should do. Lapin in response takes Liam up to a viewing balcony so he can better see the state of the weird extraplanar space they’re in. The illusion-castle is in the middle of the two titular balls--one red, swirling and consuming, the other bright and shining. The Hungry One and the Bulb. And Lapin gets to fully explain his pre-death realization. The Hungry One and the Bulb have no agency. They’re simple light and dark. Creation and destruction. Two sides of the same coin. Cosmic constants. They’re not really gods and neither are beings like the SPF--(spirits like her are more like living spells). Liam confirms that there’s no way to get back the people they’ve lost and asks if there’s any point in killing more people. Should he just be a seed guy again?

Lapin says there’s nothing wrong with being a seed guy and the three eggs in his chest meld with the three peppermint heart seeds Preston coughs up and float in front of him--one is glowing red, one is glowing gold, and the third is shimmering like Lapin’s robes. They represent the power to destroy, create, and change. Lapin offers him one and Liam--unsurprisingly to anyone who’s watched Ally play D&D for any length of time--picks the change one instantly. Lapin says it’s good to see Liam again and he wakes up in the dragon’s nest, Ruby and Amethar above him. He tells them everything he learned and shows them the egg/wish/seed. None of them can tell exactly how it works or what it does so Liam stashes it for safekeeping.

The gang checks out the section of the temple that had the illusion and conjuration magic. The illusion magic has faded and all that’s left is the conjuration so it seems like whatever they see will be true and what they see is scenes of the past in ice crystals on the walls (before they’re whisked away by Lapin from the other side). Everyone rolls to see what they see--and Ruby rolls a Nat 20. Liam sees memories of dragons past, huge and terrifying. He also sees Lapin in his youth as a street urchin, breaking into a druid monastery, stealing a spell meant to summon the SPF and force her to give you three wishes, and having it Fullmetal Alchemist backfire on him so that he instead had to serve her and give her three wishes. Ruby wants to see who’s loyal and who’s not. She sees that there are people in Rina’s camp, Jawbreaker’s crew, and back home who aren’t on the level but no named characters. Cara’s all good. Joren is and the four sisters were all good. Rina and her closest confidants are all sincere in what they’ve been saying. Amethar sees memories of him and his four sisters. Then (on Ruby’s passed on Nat 20) he sees a memory from when he was about 16 of his sisters having an argument with their mom who they did *not* get along with about the war which hasn’t fully broken out yet. King Jadain is in the middle trying to keep the peace but really trying to just escape the conflict. He says he has to use the bathroom and peaces out to sit on the steps where Amethar happens to be.

Amethar asks if he’s alright and Jadain tries to play it off like he wasn’t shaking and near tears. He says he wishes he was as strong willed and decisive as his wife/daughters. Amethar asks for assurance that he’s going to fight but Jadain says that their motto is In Sweetness There is Strength and fighting wouldn’t be very sweet. He asks Amethar if he’d ever want the crown because he could have it if he did. Amethar says he doesn’t. He’s a war guy like Joren. Jadain says that there may be a time for war guys soon. He then says that he never wanted to be king. It’s too much responsibility and it’s not fair. Young Amethar says that, regardless, he’s king. He has to be king. Words that echo in his head in the present.

Parties and Planning

Rina and crew gather enough weapons to outfit maybe 100 guys and then Rina blows up the entrance to the Temple so the Sanctus Putris (or whoever else) can’t get in but they can come back later to get the rest of the loot.

They go back to Manylicks which has been retaken and is now flying House Rocks and House Jawbreaker flags. One of Liam’s dick older brothers makes the mistake of trying to mess with the newly minted war guy and gets fully shot on sight.

There’s a lot of partying for them and, at the end of the week, it’s Liam’s 18th birthday. His dad gives him Chillguard--a breastplate that raises his AC to 16. Joren says that since they’re out of the Concord, he doesn’t have to be a ward anymore and he can come back home but Liam says he doesn’t really want to. He says that he’s asexual, he’s gonna find himself a romance partner someone to settle down with, go back to being a seed guy, and move out because Castle Manylicks kinda sucks for him. His dad says he’s super valid and they hug (and also talk about polyamory because when Brennan gets into it, he gets *into it*).

War updates! There are still crusaders in the South but they’ve been driven out of the Mountains. The Imperial force backed out--Ceresian forces along with them--because Primsy wrote a letter saying, “Uh, hey, remember that Concord thing we’re all a part of? That’s still on and you’re breaking it. There’s another heir.” The crusade is still on though and Cruller is still letting it happen.

Rina has her coronation which envoys from both the Dairy Islands and Meatlands attend. It’s a fully pagan ceremony but there’s just enough of a veneer or Bulbian propriety that they can stamp their approval on it and call it legit. Post ceremony there’s more partying which at a certain point devolves into a Bulb Bible Bonfire which Cara is super not about because she is an actual, practicing Bulbian.

Primsy, who arrived with the Dairy peeps, swears to Rina and then goes to see Liam who she has a little bit of a flirtatious conversation with. She’s already been married once so she’ll probably end up in a political marriage with a minor noble like a count (what a coincidence, Liam happens to be a count!) and she’s not interested in being slammed down big style. They go to hold hands and take a walk.

Ruby and Amethar get Jack to give them Jet tattoos over their hearts.

A lot of espionage happens. Rina uses two artifacts from the temple to help here--a crystal milkshake pool and flock of white chocolate ravens--while Liam (who got a Nat 20 +12) is leading a team of rangers to ambush messengers and intercept messages. Cumulus and his order are also getting a lot done now that their magic is coming back online.

In the Southern Great Stone Candy Mountains, the above group ends up in a burning town where everyone except Bulbians have been killed by crusaders. Jon Bon pulls a bleeding priest out of the church and demands that he produce a letter and he does--it’s from the Pontifex. As Rina is about to read it, Cinnamon clocks the Bulbian holy symbol he’s wearing and snarls. Rina grabs the symbol and Creates Bonfire on it. As she does that, the spot above his heart on his chest starts to glow just as Cinnamon’s eyes do. Rina takes a moment and then says, “Go for it baby.” Cinnamon leaps off of her neck and starts ripping into this guy and all of her men start killing the other priests. The villagers start to run and the marauders are about to chase them but Rina orders they spare them and her men obey. Cinnamon finishes up the priest by eating his heart and Rina swears, he looks just a little bigger. I hear Feed Me Seymour playing faintly in the distance and I don’t like it.

Rina casts Cone of Cold with Winterscoop to put out the fires and looks at the villagers--the villagers who must be having a roller coaster of a week because they are Bulbian but got conquered by Bulbians and then saw a bunch of other Bulbians get absolutely viciously slaughtered. She says that many of them probably went to the Bulb for salvation, but hopefully today, they’ll see who really saved them.

Cinnamon looks at all the dead priests and looks to Rina for permission. Emily, who also clearly hears the Little Shop of Horror music playing, takes a moment and then Rina allows him to feed and feed and feed.

Oh, and the letter! It’s from the Pontifex to Kerradin and it says that the meeting with all their enemies will be in about 2 weeks.

Gooey heard news that there are Bulbian crusaders hiding in Port Syrup waiting for the church to save them. Rina sends Gooey to go take care of it and, with some hesitation (and with the help of some dragon-puppy dog eyes), also sends Cinnamon who is now the size of a horse (mmm, don’t love that).

All this info gathered, there is a war council. The attitude seems to be that Primsy’s letter is helping for now but they really need an emperor/empress on the throne or else people will be coming for Candia again. The group talks about going to Castle Candy as a small assassination team (with a small contingent of soldiers) and sneaking in the way Theo snuck out with Cara. They can’t teleport there though because the crusaders destroyed all the standing stones close-by. But they can hitch a ride with Annabelle if it’s just a few people. Rina sends her ravens to look at Castle Candy and sees that there are lot of guys surrounding it but they’re un-unified crusaders so as long as they move really fast, retaking the castle is doable.

They also plan to send some troops to Castle Candy from the North so it seems like that’s the real invasion force while they sneak in from the Cola River (on Annabelle’s ships). Primsy says that she can write to Cruller to say that she’ll finally recognize him as legit so that when three Dairy Island ships arrive, it won’t be suspicious.

They go to Port Syrup to meet with Annabelle and see that the town has been wrecked. The Bulbian churches are totally destroyed. People are scared. Everything smells like ash and war. Cinnamon, now the size of a house (!!!), finds Rina to beg for pets like a dog.

Amethar, while wandering the city, finds the corpse of Sir Morris Brie who they left in charge of Port Syrup and, as a Bulbian, was caught up in the sacking of the city. Amethar sadly sits with his dead friend’s body, fused into his armor.

Rina goes to Theo and tells him that she loves Cinnamon so much because he’s the only one who’s ever loved her with the unconditional family kind of love but she knows that, for that reason, she can’t be trusted to be rational about him so he needs to tell her if she’s going to far. Theo says that if they’re going to use Cinnamon, they need to be careful and not just send him off. He also says she needs to discipline him which makes her remember all the ways she was disciplined as a child.

Ruby goes to find Annabelle to try and get some life advice because things are so crazy. Annabelle assures her that things are really bad--she’s not just overreacting--and tells her that when she was stripped of her titles and land, it was a choice she made for freedom over responsibility. She doesn’t know if it was the right choice but it’s what she had to do to be free. Even so, she recognizes that she did turn her back on responsibility. Then she says she has to talk to Amethar.

Annabelle finds Amethar and tells him they found Catherine Ghee’s gravestone. She died in 1196 on the 12th of Harvestdusk. She got really sick after she sent Rina to the Abbey and was really scared of the Rocks family coming after her (or maybe became really religious). Amethar thanks her and goes to tell Rina. Rina accepts the news and asks who sent all the people to threaten her. When Amethar reacts with confusion, Rina explains that when she was a kid, her mom was scared all the time because Candian messengers threatened her. Amethar says that he only sent people to find her which Rina confirms with a Detect Thoughts. He loved her and just wanted to see her again which is news to Rina. Amethar says he’s sorry about the life she’s had and he’s sorry he screwed this up too and Rina says that it means a lot to her that he even tried to find Ghee. Rina also asks if she detected any love for her in Amethar thoughts and is told that there’s a very small part of Amethar that wants to love her.

Amethar goes back to his quarters and tells Cara the news (and I have to imagine she’s like, join the club buddy). She asks when she died and he says twenty years. Her eyes go wild. When exactly. What’s the exact date? 12th of Harvestdusk, 1196. That’s five days BEFORE he married Cara. Which means he’s NOT an oathbreaker. Which means their wedding was LEGIT. Which means the Pontifex had NO GROUNDS to kick him out of the Concord. He is the RIGHTFUL KING OF CANDIA.

(”Bastard no more!” Siobhan crows.)

And that’s it for the week!

Things I’m Concerned About

Mmm, ok so Cinnamon. It’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where this doesn’t end in disaster for someone. Like, as the eating and growing was starting, I felt this deep rooted sense of dread and I couldn’t remember exactly what was pinging until the next day and it was, as I’ve referenced twice previously in this recap, Little Shop of Horrors. This is clearly a full Audrey 2 situation except Cinnamon is a lot more ambulatory than a plant. He at least seems like he still recognizes Rina as his mother, which is good but I *really* don’t like where this seems to be going. And listen. If Cinnamon has to go down, you *know* who the person best positioned to do it is. Rina is the most major magic user, she has ice magic which he’s vulnerable to, and he trusts her enough to let his guard down around her. And, most importantly, it’s exactly the kind of mean choice Brennan, “All the Bad Guys” Lee Mulligan would love to foist upon a PC in a season like this. Bad!

And, connected to this, I don’t love how the marauders are handling the whole reverse crusade. Like, not that there’s a perfect way to do this--if someone were trying to genocide me and I had a dragon, I would for sure be deploying the dragon. And Rina did tell them to not kill the people who just happened to be Bulbian in the village but weren’t participating in the crusades so that’s at least some level of care. But what happens when she’s not there to rein them in? Well, we know what happens. Sir Morris Brie. Which is so messed up. You’re a good guy. You stay behind to help with the war effort and protect the town, and then a couple of weeks later you get torched alive by your own team in your armor because it has the wrong symbol on it. It’s messed up. Like, I don’t have the answers on how to wage an ethical war--which sounds like a full oxymoron. I just don’t love what’s happening.

Also, when Brennan said the guy’s chest was glowing before Rina had Cinnamon eat him, I thought it might be that he was unwillingly branded as a child like Rina, but lol guess we’ll never know.

And, addendum, Cara is a devout Bulbian--but obviously a relatively chill one because she’s down with Sweetening Path stuff too because of Lazuli. If she gets caught in the crossfire...like if you’re Ruby and your life just went to hell and your sister is dead and you have a new sister and you’re trying to accept her but you can’t and then her pet kills your mom who you never even really got to make up with? You’re not my queen *or* my sister at that point and it’s instant PvP. I killed a god, what makes you think I won’t fight you? So anyway, hope that doesn’t happen. lol.

So, we now know that the grounds under which Amethar was kicked from the Concord are false which means he is king still and the invasion is unlawful--even without Rina’s existence. But like, a lot of this season has been about political reality, right? So how much utility does this revelation serve? Everyone’s already rallied behind Rina and she has a contingent of very loyal and skilled soldiers who I don’t think would be happy to hear this news (and may think to try and make the problem go away in a stabby way). So if they go out with this info, it calls into question all the work they’ve already built up, forces them to get this new game plan to all their allies, potentially pisses off Rina’s people (and possibly Rina herself depending on how much she’s willing to go with them as allies and without being the lynchpin), and doesn’t give them much more than they’re already getting with Rina on the throne since their goals are mostly aligned as far as we know. And, anyway, Amethar was named emperor which will stand whether or not he’s king. They just need to get his hand on the Book of Leaves and that should be good to go. Rina gets the Candian throne, Amethar gets to be (or has to be depending on your view) emperor. Of course, clearing his name might be important to him and it probably bolsters his position in other ways but I’m just thinking about the big picture politics of the matter.

Does Ruby keep her Shadow Sorc levels now that Jet is gone? How does that work?

Five More Things

Lol, love how the big twist of CoC is that there are actually no bastards. Only legit children in the eyes of the Bulb.

Rina as a 5 year old was like that Matilda kind of 5. She was dropping some *intense* lines. Also, imagine having to have your scene right after that one. Yeesh. I recapped that flashback separately from the rest of the episode because it was so much and it was only 14 minutes. Everything else I did in basically one shot!

What did Jadain mean about Amethar getting the crown if he wanted it? What was that about? Brennan gave Lou the Jadain flashback on Siobhan’s Nat 20 so I wonder if that’s a relevant piece of info. Also, the voice for him caught me so off guard. I was like, huh. OK, yeah, checks out.

Zac, low key king of comedy, in response to Emily/Rina explaining the concept of movie popcorn salad: Are we joining the Ceresians?

Lapin! Oh man, I was so shocked and overjoyed for Lapin to get another scene. I missed that bunny. And to have him kinda allowed out and joking out with Liam (“Are you in pain?”/“All the time.”) was so good. His, “I’m not mad at you,” was so funny and also genuinely emotional? And also, I’m so happy Liam got some closure for Preston. What a banger of a scene. Big props to Ally and esp Zac who also had to give the once per season, “Here is how the universe works,” talk to Ally’s character.

One More Thing!

Oh man you gotta check out this AMAZING Crown of Candy animatic by @kindlespark. What a killer use of Glitter and Gold. And so comprehensive of the season so far, even recent stuff. So much obvious talent and hard work on display here!

#a crown of candy #a crown of candy spoilers #dimension 20 #dimension 20 spoilers #the royal report

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faelune-home · 4 years

Text

FFXIV Write 2020 #12: Tooth and Nail

(A/N: There’s a part of me that’s not actually too happy with the presentation of this fic. I struggled with trying to phrase certain things or even just to move the scene along (The scene itself I’m fine with I’m quite happy with my topic. Though I’m amused at myself that another ‘simple idea’ got away from me and turned into feels lol). Maybe whenever I go to post this to Ao3 next month, I can edit it and fix it up with different eyes another day.

Speaking of feels, part of the problem during writing was I actually got weirdly emotional actually writing this. :’D But then as much as I say I am not my WoL, my feelings are very much the same as hers as a player, I have kinda projected that part of myself onto her in a way rip

Set during late Shadowbringers, storming Mt Gulg.

Word count: 1547

@ffxiv-writers)

The climb was intense, worsened by the assault of the sin eaters that managed to slip through the fae folks’ ranks. By the time the Scions had even made it to the top of the mountain - pearly pillars and lavish gardens awaiting them - they were already spent. Their own Warrior most of all.

“No-one here would judge you if you took the time to rest. We can push forward for you and let you save your strength for Vauthry,” Ryne suggested, wearing through her lip with worry. Despite her heavy panting, doubled over onto her knees, Fufu shook her head and gave the young girl a pained smile.

“I appreciate the thought, but it's fine. I can handle this,” she said, straightening up and giving Alphinaud a grateful nod, the boy having been tending to a nasty scratch on her arm.

“I would echo Ryne’s sentiments,” Y’shtola piped up, a heavy frown on her face. Even as the other miqo’te girl opened her mouth to protest, the scholar continued, “I am not trying to suggest you aren’t capable, we all here know that you could handle a fight like this at any other time. But I'm not going to pretend I’m not concerned about your current state. If you’re already struggling like this after four Lightwardens, what would taking in a fifth do to you?” Ears flattened against her head, Fufu could only grimace, unsure how to respond.

A loud hollar of “Incoming!” made the party start, ready to either dart for safety or jump into a fight; Thancred and Alisaie ran toward the waiting group, having chosen to scout ahead and deal with any lingering sin eaters in their upcoming path, yet now a horde followed them back to their companions. As the two ducked for cover, Y’shtola and Urianger swiftly took their places.

The throng of beasts were quickly lost in the blazing smoke and ash, most destroyed by the two Scions, and what few survived fled back into the mountaintop palace.

“Well, I’ll say that the way is mostly cleared now,” Thancred panted, collapsed against the wall, though he wore a crooked smile as though he’d just returned from a simpler errand. “What’d we miss?”

“Though not one to question her fortitude, it appears the weight of the Light within bears heavy on our friend’s shoulders,” Urianger responded, his expression blank as he averted his eyes.

“There’s no weight here,” Fufu grumbled, exasperation evident in her huff, “I can keep going.”

“Can you?” Fufu winced, casting a glance toward Alisaie, flinching again at the girl’s harsh expression. Despite the look in the miqo’te eyes seeming to say ‘Not you too’, the red mage brushed aside her brother’s fretting fingers and walked up to the Warrior of Darkness, saying, “You are an incredible fighter but this particular trek has shown your limits so far. Twelve above, we had to catch you when you nearly fell off near the start, and we’d barely fought anything then.”

“We were in the middle of fighting something then, weren’t we?” the woman pouted. Then with a sigh, she added, “I hear you all, and I know that you’re all worried. And I get the logic of asking me to save my strength for Vauthry. He’s not gonna be an easy fight and it's already hard enough with every sin eater under the skies hounding us here.

“But I have to keep going. I couldn’t bear the thought of everyone rushing in to clear a path for me without putting in some of the work myself. I’m gonna give this all of my strength and I’m gonna see this done.” Looking over all her gathered friends with a smile, she nodded.

“I want to see this done so the people of Norvrandt can finally know some peace. I know the sin eaters won’t disappear completely once he’s dead, even with however many we’ve had to deal with just getting up here, but without a leader I’d like to hope they’ll be easier to fight for the soldiers or hunters across the lands. But also…” She trailed off, a guilty look in her eye.

“What?” Ryne prompted. Fufu gulped, her lip quivering.

“It’s a bit of a selfish idea, even if it’s paired with something that needs to happen anyway,” she mumbled, looking to the ground. “I want to see this finished, and then we can work on a way to get everyone home.” Even as the stunned looks spread throughout the group, she continued, “I haven’t been here for years like everyone else. I haven’t had to adjust to the same degree as you all. But I can see the love and care you have for the people here.

“I wanted to help not just because it was the right thing to do, to prevent something if it was in my power, but also because I knew you would want to see people you’ve all grown to care for kept safe and assured a future. But now I want the same,” she finished, her voice quivering and a stray tear dribbling down her cheek. “Vauthry’s the end and I want to see this through every step.”

There was almost no immediate response, bar the tentative reassuring hands of the twins on the woman’s shoulders, as she frantically rubbed at her face and tried to fight back the rest of her tears.

“You’re right that it is a necessary act that we return home, given the state of our bodies here,” Y’shtola finally spoke up, voice even, “but to call it selfish that you desire our own safety seems cruel to yourself and your own feelings.”

She smiled, tinged with melancholy, “I appreciate your candidness however in acknowledging that we have integrated into groups and cultures that we have no doubt grown close to. Of course I have thought of home and my family many times these past few years, but I’d be a fool if I didn’t admit to wondering if there were ever a way to remain here. To stay with ones I would cherish with equal measure.”

“But you can’t, can you?” Ryne mumbled. Thancred gave her head a gentle pat, yet said nothing.

“Not as far as I have researched, unfortunately,” the seeker miqo’te admitted.

“Any such research done on the Source would be too late for our dearest companions, given the vast stretches of time that would pass here,” Urianger added, at some point in the conversation having put distance between himself and the group, staring out over Kholusia with his back to them. Ryne sniffed, and the Warrior of Darkness pulled her into a hug.

“If this is to be the way of things,” Alphinaud stated, a serious furrow to his brow, “then the least we can do for our friends here would be to leave them with the gift of the night and no more Lightwardens to harass them. As you said it, we would promise them the future.” Everyone nodded, the determined looks mirrored on all their faces.

Then a loud echoing filled the air, the Scions flinching at the force as the mountain under their feet quivered.

“HAVE THE VILLAINS CEASED THEIR ADVANCE? DO THEY NOW REALISE THE FUTILITY OF THEIR CAMPAIGN? HAVE I BEEN PROVEN RIGHTEOUS?!”

Thancred stumbled to his feet, weapon in hand as he grunted, “I think I speak for all here when I say that I’d very much like to finally shut him up. Let’s get on with this then.”

Everyone got to their feet, ready to move on finally, but not before they paused and looked to their ailing friend, concern still evident in the air.Thancred turned to her and said, “I shall be leading the van as always, but it's your own decision if you're up front with me or if you decide to hang back until the way is clear. No one here will force you one way or another.”

“I appreciate it,” Fufu said, “but I’ll be going.” The man shrugged, looking neither bothered nor encouraged by her response. As he shifted to the front of the group with Y’shtola and Urianger, and Ryne trailing behind, Alisaie marched over to Fufu, her arms folded stiffly and her lips pressed thin, and stated, “I want it said now that the first sign of you struggling or wavering, you will stop and rest. There’ll be no question about it.”

Fufu spied the way the elezen girl’s hands gripped at her elbows, the knuckles white with the pressure, and the watery sheen in her blue eyes. Giving her a reassuring smile, Fufu ruffled the girl’s hair and said, “I can agree to that. If it puts your mind at ease.”

“It’s got nothing to do with that,” Alisaie huffed, head ducked down before racing ahead with a quickness. Stifling a chuckle at the girl’s obvious concern, Fufu gave herself a shake, ignoring the uneasy ache buried deep in her gut, dismissing it as the light within her. This was the final trial. After this, the Exarch could get them all home. Even if he didn’t know how, he’d have the time to find out with no more sin eaters to threaten the people. She could do it.

They could do it, with all their strength together.

#ffxivwrite2020 #ffxivwrite #scions of the seventh dawn #mt gulg #shadowbringers #my writing #final fantasy xiv #ffxiv #keeper of the moon miqo'te #my wol #fufu faelune #y'shtola rhul #urianger augurelt #ryne #thancred waters #alisaie leveilleur #alphinaud leveilleur

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dontshootmespence · 4 years

Text

An Artist In His Own Mind

Summary: Every artist is a genius in his own mind.

Words: 2,900

Warnings: Talk of murder.

A/N: My next entry for @cmbingo 2020! This fulfills my unsub square.

“Painting is self-discovery. Every good artist paints what he is.” – Jackson Pollock

He needed silence to work.

Finally, the pleas that rang through the air subsided, leaving him with peace and quiet to think. Moving quickly was essential - before the bodies became too stiff to work with. They were the perfect specimens for his first piece.

After propping her up onto the chair with her palms upward, he wiped the blood off her neck: a clean canvas. White cloth draped around her neck and body, though it took longer than he expected to get the material to sit just right. Thankfully, he at least partly situated the boy into the position he needed. If he hadn’t there would’ve been much more damage getting him situated into the woman’s arms. It left him more time to clean the boy off and ensure a perfect finished work of art.

They lived alone and had little contact with others in the neighborhood. No one would come looking for a while. Due to the boy’s slightly contorted position it took a while to get his clothes off, but once they’d been removed, he draped the excess cloth hanging from the woman’s body over his lap.

Stepping back, he admired his work. Like any good artist, he could see areas he’d like to improve, but unfortunately he didn’t have all the time in the world. There was just one final touch. He grabbed a screwdriver from the woman’s basement and pried open the can of paint – SW 7588, Show Stopper. With every jostle of the screwdriver against the lid of the paint can, he grew more and more angry, impatience boiling inside him, the desire to perfect his piece growing exponentially.

Stirring the paint ensured it was smooth and ready for the canvas. The crimson stared back at him. Carefully, he lifted the can above his work, steadily pouring the medium out until it was gone.

With a satisfied sigh, he stepped back and pulled out the Polaroid, capturing his first completed work.

---

Morgan walked into the bullpen with sand still scratching at the corners of his eyes. Every heartbeat said coffee. Apparently, Spencer already beat him there. “Late night, kid?” He laughed. He was pouring so much sugar into his coffee, he would swear a little mountain peak was going to breakthrough the top of the steaming liquid.

Grumbling, Spencer nodded. “So late.”

“Alright, Pretty Boy.”

Spencer smirked, glancing toward Morgan quickly before looking away. God, he wanted to go home.

“Woah, woah,” he said, stepping in front of the nearly comatose doctor. “That kinda late night?”

Spencer began walking back toward his desk, whispering, “I’ll never tell.”

“You haven’t dated anyone since Y/N,” Morgan stated, catching up to his evasive friend. “I always thought it was a mistake breaking up with her. You back together?”

“I’ll never tell,” he repeated on a laugh.

Before they could return to their desks and Morgan could pester Spencer just a little bit more, Hotch stepped out of his office and began marching toward the round table room. “Guys, we’ve got a case.”

“It didn’t come through me?” JJ mentioned.

Hotch shook his head. “No, it came directly to me. A friend from New York got out of the city and began working in Cazenovia upstate. He’s got a weird one.”

“How weird?” Rossi asked.

“Even we’ve never seen anything like it.”

Emily sighed heavily. “When does it end?”

It doesn’t, she thought.

---

“Where’s Garcia?” Hotch asked.

Emily motioned toward the elevator. “She’s just on her way up. I’ll catch her up once we’re all briefed.”

Nodding, Hotch clicked the button on the remote. “In Cazenovia, there have been three people murdered via a single stab wound to the neck.”

“And they’re connected?” Morgan queried. “How do we know?”

When Hotch clicked the remote, their mouths collectively dropped, eyes alight with a confusion that was hard to come by given their line of work.

“What the hell?” Emily leaned forward in her chair trying to make some sense of the pictures in front of them. “They’ve been posed.”

“And have paint splattered on them.”

“Even though the victims aren’t connected in any way that the local PD can find, they were all killed with a knife. The unique signature is why we were called in.” Hotch passed copies of the files out to each member of the team. “With a signature unique as this and these kills only a week apart, there’s no doubt this unsub is going to strike again soon. We’ll go over victimology on the plane. Wheels up in 30.”

---

Despite the sun shining, the jet always felt solemn, like it knew it was a harbinger of bad things to come. “Alright, so what do we know about the victims?” Hotch asked Garcia, her bright and shining face the only light they’d see for at least the next few days.

“The first victims were a mother and son, Linda and Brian Tucker, 40 and 15 years old, found a week ago like this.” She brought up the pictures from the crime scene and flinched. No matter how many crime scenes she saw, she’d never get used to it. “The second victim, found yesterday, was 33-year old Matthew Feldman.”

He was posed in a chair and redressed in a green pea coat and long black pants that were slightly too baggy for his slight frame. His face was bandaged, a white covering wrapped around his ears and tied on the top of his head. And he was doused in orange paint. Garcia’s fingers glided across the keyboard like a seagull over the waves. “I’m checking everything they could’ve possibly had in common. Churches, schools, work places, dry cleaners, nothing. These three aren’t connected. At least as far as I can see.”

“Alright, let’s move away from victimology for the time being,” Hotch said. “What do the crime scene photos tell us about the killer?”

Emily noted the cleanliness of the bodies apart from the paint. “With stab wounds to the neck, they should be drenched in blood, but they aren’t. The area around them is, but they aren’t, like they were wiped off.”

“So they’re clean,” Rossi replied, “But the paint is messy. It could’ve been painted on for more control, but it seems like it was poured.”

Spencer stared at the screen, eyes scanning over the poses on display. “The bodies are intricately posed and cleaned. They’re what matter to him. The bodies are the compulsion, the paint is the signature.”

“What are you thinking, Reid?” Morgan asked.

“They’re works of art,” he said. “See the mother and son? She’s sitting with the boy in her lap, her hands palm up. What does that remind you of?”

An art lover himself, Rossi silently chastised himself for not realizing what the crime scene resembled sooner. “The Pieta. The sculpture of Mary cradling Jesus after his crucifixion…and the man…it’s Van Gogh’s self-portrait after returning from the hospital after having cut off his ear.”

“So this guy thinks himself an artist and is picking victims at random,” Morgan grumbled. “Lovely. We need to get to Cazenovia yesterday.”

---

After checking in with Sheriff Meyer, who’d called Hotch in first place, Spencer and Rossi headed to the latest crime scene, leaving JJ, Hotch, Emily and Morgan to liaise with the authorities and try and nail down a profile. “Alright, an artist like this has to be connected to the world in some way,” Morgan insisted. “Maybe he’s an art student, a local artist, something.”

Emily shook her head. “It’s gotta be more than that. If he was successful in any way, wouldn’t the ‘art’ in question be completely perfect? Pristine? The paint is messy. Why?”

“Maybe a rejected artist then,” he replied. “Someone who got denied viewership in a gallery or turned away from a prestigious art school. Color could be part of why he was turned down, so when it comes to the paint he’s disorganized.”

Before anyone could alert Garcia, the sheriff walked in, forlorn. “We’ve got another one.”

---

“What’s this one supposed to be?” Emily asked.

Spencer crouched near the man’s body, his torso wrapped in a similar pea coat to the last victim and a captain’s hat, yellowed with age – all topped with yellow paint. “Portrait of Dr. Gachet. Another Van Gogh piece. It seems a pattern is forming. Both pieces are very melancholic. Could be a reflection of our unsub.”

Morgan reached his gloved hand into the man’s pocket. “46 year old Andrew Warner. Lemme call Garcia.”

“You’ve reached the all-knowing and all-seeing Oracle of Quantico, how may I assist thee?”

“What can you give me on an Andrew Warner?”

“Andrew Warner, 1109 Nighthawk Lane, Syracuse, NY. He’s the operator of a local art gallery in Auburn called Light’s Meaning…sounds a little pretentious if you ask me.”

“Thanks, baby girl,” Morgan said softly. “I’ll call you if I need anything.”

“I’m waiting on it, sugar.”

“Seems like our unsub is starting to get a little closer to his true targets. How much you wanna bet our guy was rejected by Andrew Warner?”

“Less than a day in between kills,” Emily interjected. “He’s devolving fast. We need to give the profile.”

---

As the officers piled into the station’s bullpen, the team gathered before them. JJ took a step forward and asked for everyone’s attention. “Listen closely. This unsub is devolving fast and this profile is going to be the best way to catch him.”

“Alright, we’re looking for a white male between the ages of 20 and 30 whose been rejected from art school or a showing at a gallery,” Emily projected toward the murmuring crowd. No matter how many times they gave a profile to an innumerable amount of officers and detectives, there were always a few skeptics.

Leaning against the back wall, Spencer spoke. “He’s an injustice collector of sorts and feels that he’s been wronged. For right now, his victims are random, but they’re surrogates for the people who rejected him.”

“He’s devolving fast,” Hotch said. “Even though the crime scenes are still organized, the bodies are still being cleaned and the paint is still his signature, he’s killing more quickly with less and less time between kills.”

Morgan insisted. “That’s why we need all of you involved in the search for our unsub. The quicker we can pin down who he is, where he was rejected from and who wronged him, the more people we’ll be able to save. We need to get ahead of this guy.”

“And one more thing,” Emily added. “Given the likelihood that this is a student who’s been rejected, and the time of year, October. It’s likely the unsub was rejected months ago and there’s a secondary stressor that kick-started the killing spree. However, we can’t rule out that this is someone rejected from a gallery. Just something to keep in mind.”

---

He could feel the breeze brush by him as he hurriedly ran downstairs, barreling through anything that might be in his way. The FBI was in town and he still had work to do, but he’d have to move his schedule forward.

On the table sat a newspaper clipping: “Administrator Gavin P. Hall promoted to President at Tisch.”

---

Garcia had this innate ability to shine in the face of darkness. Something the rest of the team envied her for. She slid across the floor of her office, the wheels of her chair carrying her gracefully though she somehow managed to bump into her computer desk. “Okay, my pretties, I have been doing a lot of digging and I mean a lot. My hands are dirty and it’s caked under my fingernails kind of dirty. Now, I know the locals have been going door to door searching for anyone that fits the profile and has been rejected from a gallery, so I decided to look into people in the greater New York area that have been rejected from art school and boy do I have a list for you.”

“Send it over, baby girl.”

She feigned a gasp. “Mon ami, you don’t think that happened 30 seconds ago?”

“Garcia, can you narrow this list down?” Spencer asked. “We think there’s another more recent stressor that sparked the killing spree.”

“I’m gonna need something specific to narrow it down by,” she said sadly. “I mean I am an all powerful super genius hacker chick, but I can’t pull answers out of thin air.”

Rossi tapped his fingers against the desk. “Okay, okay, the third and fourth victims were both depicted like Van Gogh’s works, right? Why wasn’t the first one? The mother and son?”

“Okay, so the mother and son has to mean something,” Hotch admitted.

Spencer pushed back from the table. “With an unsub so purposeful, the bodies, the way they’re cleaned and positioned, the paints. It all means something, so a mother and a son. Garcia, have any of the suspects lost their mother recently.”

With a few quick swipes of the keys, Garcia had a list of five names. “Only one of them has lost their mother in the last week and a half though?” She said. “Trenton Price, and his address is now on your phones. Also, out of the five finalists, he’s the only one to be rejected from Tisch – one of the premiere art schools in the country.”

They all pushed back from the table, intent clear. “Alright, Reid, you, me and Emily will head to Price’s address. Rossi, you, Morgan and JJ head to Tisch, interview anyone that was involved in Price’s rejection.”

---

It would take hours for Spencer, Emily and Hotch to catch up with them, but at least they could give them a heads up. “Morgan, it’s Reid. We went to the address and he wasn’t there, but his cellphone went on and Garcia triangulated the call-“

“Lemme guess, he’s at Tisch.”

“Yup. Be careful.”

“Thanks for the heads up, kid.”

Rossi stepped on the gas, sirens blaring. “We’ll be there in five.”

“You sure about that?” JJ grimaced, hand grasping the handle above the window like her life depended on it. “We’re in the middle of New York City.”

“And I grew up on Long Island, I got this.”

In less than five minutes, Rossi screeched the car to a halt and they ran in, guns at the ready. Students ran down the hallways and down the stairs toward any exit they could find. “Where? Where are they?” JJ yelled.

“In the president’s office! Second floor!” She screamed, the clacking of her heels dissipating within the seconds.

They ran up the stairs, hearts racing while students ran passed, whispers of the ensuing sanity floating by their ears. “Trenton Price,” Morgan screamed, “Put your weapon down!”

“No! They have to pay! I’ve worked all my life for this and they just shut me down! Like the pretentious bastards they are!”

In his grasp, Gavin Hall squirmed but the knife inched closer and closer to his throat. “Please, don’t hurt me.”

Rossi stepped in front of Morgan and JJ, taking the lead though none of them had vests on. They never expected him to be so desperate so soon. “Trenton, don’t do anything you’re gonna regret,” he pleaded. “If you kill Hall here, you’ll take away his ability to make things right. Give you the opportunities you deserve.”

JJ snaked around the back of Rossi and trained her gun on Price, hoping for a chance to get a shot off.

“Yea, right! What d’you think I’m stupid?”

Nodding slightly, Rossi encouraged the terrified Hall to ‘make amends.’ Rossi prompted him. “Your mother was your biggest fan, wasn’t she? Encouraged your artistic abilities?”

“Yes, she always knew I’d be an artist, and now I am,” he breathed, a tear falling down the side of his cheek. “But then they rejected me. Told me I was an amateur! That my choice of medium was basic and pedantic. Do you know how many skilled artists specialized in charcoal? Robert Longo, William Kentridge, Dan Pyle, Joel Daniel Phillips! And these assholes tell me I’m arcane and talentless?”

“You’re not,” Hall said, putting together the pieces of Price’s mental state. “I was wrong about you. About your work.

“Liar!” He lifted his arm above his head. A crack resounded throughout the room and he fell to the floor, groaning.

JJ ran up to him and kicked the knife away, holstering her gun before turning him over and cuffing him. “You okay?” She asked Hall.

“Y-yes,” he breathed. “I’m okay. I-“

“You got this?” Morgan asked.

She nodded. “Yea, I’m good, get him to the medic.”

Price screamed at the top of his lungs through the hallways, telling anyone and everyone that he was going to be the next great artist. “Please,” JJ replied. “You’re throwing a temper tantrum because you didn’t get what you wanted.”

---

“So, kid,” Morgan said with a smile. “You gotta tell me about the other night. What happened with Y/N?”

Emily’s eyes lit up and she practically jumped into the seat next to him. “Wait, you two back together?”

He shook his head but he wasn’t convincing in the slightest. “As soon as we get back, I am going home and going to bed.”

“With Y/N?”

“I’m not telling,” he smirked.

#cmbingo #cmbingo2020 #cmbingo20 #criminal minds #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds fanfic #spencer reid #derek morgan #david rossi #aaron hotchner #jennifer jareau #emily prentiss #penelope garcia #dontshootmespence #an artist in his own mind

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dragonrajafanfiction · 4 years

Text

Dragon Dancer IV: Hiwatari Matsuri

The Shrine was about an hour and a half away in the mountains surrounding the Western side of Tokyo. We rode in a bulletproof Buick with deep black tinted windows in a caravan that included two other cars.

Aoi Gen sat beside me, Spider Fang and Tongzi in her lap, the baby’s carseat between us. Every so often, she would look at Ru’Yi who was captivated by the swinging toys above her head, watching her occasionally flap her little arms to make them move more.

“I am sorry I threatened her life.” Aoi said, her voice quiet. “It won’t happen again.”

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “Whether or not he believes me doesn’t change the truth of the matter. He is a foreigner. He has no right to call himself by the name Gen, and he needs to forfeit the assets he stole from my family. There’s nothing to be nervous or uncertain about.”

“I mean... Hydra doesn’t believe you... The woman I talked to called you a ‘crazy lady.’“

She smiled, holding up a manila envelope. “I’ve brought proof.”

She opened it, pulling out a photograph and handing it to me.

“This is the last photo of the Gen Clan before the massacre. The woman standing on the far left is my mother, pregnant with me. You can probably see the resemblance. She flew off to the States and this photo was mailed to her. I was born in the States and raised there with her American husband. After he died, she came back but was too scared to contact. Hydra I was about sixteen at the time.”

“So... your last name isn’t Gen...” I said.

“No. Officially it’s Arnett. However...” She pulled out another piece of paper and handed it to me. A birth certificate from California. Sure enough, Aoi Arnett’s mother’s last name was Hana Minamoto.

I looked up at her. “And you showed them this?” I handed them back to her.

“Of course.”

“And what did they say?”

“That they were fake.” She returned the papers to the envelope.

I twined my fingers eyes resting on my daughters face. “That’s really tough. Well...” I looked up at her. “I believe you.”

We arrived at the shrine as the sun was setting. We stayed in the car while Aoi’s men stood by the doors. Black guns rested at their hips. I started to scan upwards and spotted moving shadows on the roofs of buildings.

“Hydra are everywhere. Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked.

“I have to do this. They won’t fire on me so long as you’re here.”

Once it was evident that the tension in the area wasn’t rising, the men opened our doors to let us out. I lifted Ru’Yi from her carseat where she’d fallen fast asleep from the motion of the drive.

Hydra agents in suits led me to one of the outside buildings on the complex. My eyes brightened when I spotted Crow. He gave Aoi a glare but gave me a smile. “This way.”

I glanced over my shoulder as Aoi was led away to wait elsewhere. “You’re not going to hurt her are you?” I whispered to Crow.

“That would be up to her...” He murmured back. We entered through the door into a room full of paintings of dragons and samurai engaging them in battle. On one wall, a white eight headed beast loomed over me from floor to ceiling.

“Wait here.”

Crow turned on his heel and marched out. I sighed, shifting Ru’Yi from one shoulder to the other. I didn’t like this place. I felt like the paintings on the wall were going to crawl out and eat me. In fact, it reminded me a lot of the feeling I got in the basement of Minamoto Heavy Industries.

I approached the painting of the serpent and sniffed it. Sure enough, it had that fishy smell of the paint used on the large murals in that building. This was no ordinary shrine, but a shrine owned by Hydra, likely for generations.

The door opened behind me and I turned. There, silhouetted by the last gleams of daylight, was Chisei Gen. I hadn’t seen him in over a year!

He was still tall as I remembered him, tanned from his time on the beach in France. He was dressed in the traditional robes of the priests and a ceremonial necklace. Behind him, the sound of a loud horn announced that the firewalking ceremony was soon to begin.

“Carli. Are you alright?” He seemed shocked to see me there.

“I’m okay!” I said, relieved. “Did Crow tell you I would be here?”

He shook his head and looked behind him, annoyed. “No...”

I rolled my eyes. “Have you ever wondered if there were any one else of the Gen Clan remaining? It existed before you arrived, what happened to all of them?”

“They were massacred in a gang war... Carli what is this about?” He shut the door behind him.

“There’s a woman claiming to be one of the Gen Clan. Her name is Aoi. She presented me with a photo of her family taken within Hydra headquarters as well as a her birth certificate with her mothers maiden name Minamoto as proof. She’s asking to speak with you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Really... this again.”

“What do you mean, this again?”

“Do you think this the first time someone has approached me with this sort of thing?”

“Eh?” I was genuinely surprised. “I...”

“It happens to all prestigious families. These hereditary claims.” He shook his head, amused. “It’s good to see you though, Carli. Is that your baby?” He tilted his head to look at Ru’Yi.

My eyes shifted. “Yes... but...” I couldn’t believe he was blowing her off so easily. “I mean surely you should talk to her right?”

He gave an incredulous laugh. “No. I have people for that.” He approached. “Can I hold her?”

“Sure...” My heart was slamming in my chest as I handed Ru’Yi to him. “But... but Chisei. I kinda... Told her you would meet with her.”

“What?!” His head swiveled.

“It’s a situation where I felt a lot of sympathy for her! Right now, I’m desperately searching for my own family and no one believes me!”

“Did something happen to Mingfei?” He glanced behind him at the sound of another horn. “Make it quick, the ceremony is about to begin.”

“The night Ru’Yi was born I came under attack by a powerful Soul Skill. Before that attack I was married to a man named Chu Zihang. And afterward, everything changed. The house I was living in changed form and everyone told me that I was married to Lu Mingfei and that Ru’Yi is his daughter!”

“Everything I remember? People tell me it never happened! And that I’m delusional or crazy! But I’m not crazy!”

Chisei stared at me, wide eyed, silent, Ru’Yi dozing in his arms.

I felt like I was digging myself deeper and deeper but I just couldn’t stop, searching for any sort of sign that he was understand me. “I ran away from the academy, because they accused Mingfei of treason and wanted implicate me. Aoi Gen found me and I said if they could hide me for a while, I would bring her to you, to state her case.”

Chisei had begun to shake his head, in full disbelief, but that gradually turned to anger as he spoke. “You’re on the run from the academy for treason and you would drag me into it? Carli... what are you thinking?” His voice lowered to a hissing whisper. “They will come down on us like a hammer!” He leaned forward, passing Ru’Yi to me, his eyes intent.

I swallowed hard. “I thought you would listen.”

“I did listen and I’m hearing insanity and foolishness.” He glared at me and I shrank away. “I gave you Spider Fang and Tongzi at your wedding. To Mingfei Lu. Are you telling me I didn’t do that?”

I gave a little sigh. “The person you gave the swords to... his name was Chu Zihang. That’s what I remember.” My shoulders fell. My eyes started to burn. I hiccuped, tears falling.

Chisei turned away, regret softening his features. “I can’t help you. I’ll have my men take care of Aoi. Get out of here. And don’t contact me again.”

He left and shut the door behind him.

“Johann... now what?” Tears flowed once more as I stood in the dark, alone in that dim room. In my effort to find a friend, I’d lost one.

I had to find Aoi. They weren’t going to believe her. She wasn’t talking to Chisei.

I stepped out of the small room into the dark. The mountains were loud with the sound of singing crickets, frogs and awakening cicadas. No one was watching me. Chisei was long gone.

A rolling drum beat was followed by the sound of low horns and chanting. The ancient sounds raised goosebumps on my arms.

A crowd of chanting priests shaking ceremonial rattles were following a man with a horn and a torch in his hand. I fell in line behind them.

They suddenly stopped. I looked around. An older man was holding up what looked like a scroll and shouting out its contents in front of a gigantic bonfire. A man came with a flat paddle and stared to pull the bonfire apart, smashing the charred logs flat.

I ducked away from loud chanting crowd. On the roof of the temple proper, I spied human figures moving against the dark blue sky. I pressed myself between two buildings as the drums began a steady beat and the first of the priests began their walk down an aisle of fire over smoldering embers.

I spotted an opening in the crowd near a stone fence near the trees, but as soon as I moved toward it, someone came from the woods dressed in black, eyes fixed on me.

I backed away, running into someone who shouted in annoyance.

The chants were interrupted by gasps and shouting.

Between the two rows of fire stood Chisei and facing him was Aoi.

The two stood on top of the embers, heedless of the incredible heat. Aoi smiled, serene, as she turned the hilt of the sword Spider Fang so that it glimmered in the light of the crackling fire.

She wasn’t going to win this fight. She was going to die. I rushed forward only to be grabbed from behind around my neck.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The hard metal of a pistol was placed against my head.

“Taiga!”

“You’re not leaving until this is settled. One way or another.”

#Chisei Gen #Dragon Raja #Fanfiction #Writing

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fire-the-headcanons · 4 years

Text

She paused on a poster of a woman in regal armor, frozen halfway through a powerful swing of a gravity Dust-enhanced warhammer beneath the words Queen of the Hunt. A long, starry cape swirled behind her, hood half-fallen from her head. "I've always wanted a cloak."

"Then why not get one?"

"I thought people might laugh…" Heat ran over her face. Nice going, idiot, he wears one on a daily basis. "B-but then I saw your cape, and I kinda wanted to again…"

"You're a Huntress. You decide what's cool," Qrow said, gesturing at the woman but freezing mid-wave. Squinting, he inspected the poster more closely. "Summer… is that Professor Mesánychta?"

Follow the Beacon Summer—Mission Critical

[Link to Masterpost]

Summer slammed her hands down on the counter, grinning. "What'cha got?"

The old man sighed, same as the last dozen times she’d come in. "I'm tellin' ya, kid, if any Reaper books go up for sale it'll be at an auction. The bundle you found here was a fluke, it's not gonna happen again."

"Not with that attitude, it won't!"

"I think I'm having a nightmare," Raven muttered, staring at the brightly colored walls.

Tai snorted. "Yeah, each one tries to stand out so you'll pick it."

"Well, that's a bust," Summer said to Qrow as she stepped back from the counter to let the next person up. Behind him, Tai and Raven drifted toward the weapon replica displays. "Come on, the posters here are always cool. So which Reaper comics to you have?"

Qrow scratched his neck. "I had Beowolf Migration part two and Death Stalks part four."

"Wait. Had?"

"One of the other hands trashed my collection."

"What?! That's terrible!"

"It's not so bad." He brushed the handle of the gunblade, folded down and clipped to his back and half-glancing at his sister. "I mean, I'm at Beacon, learning to become a Huntsman. I'm kind of… living it now."

"That's… a really nice way of looking at it… But that guy's still a jerk, " she muttered, slowly flipping through the vintage poster display. Wasn’t life hard enough without going around making it worse for other people? And Qrow wasn’t the type to defend himself. Dan’s teasing had proved that—it had taken her and Tai yelling at him together to get him to stop. Meanwhile Qrow never said a word in his own defense.

"What about you, though?" he asked eagerly. "I only ever got to read the two. They weren’t exactly common out there, since they're printed in Vale."

"Well… I found a few arcs’ worth here two years ago," she gestured at the counter. "But they’re out of print, so the ones that do pop up for sale tend to be really, really expensive. And they haven't been released digitally yet, so I, uh..." She dropped her voice, leaning in a bit. "I pirated scans."

"...What does that mean?"

Oh. Right. They were still getting used to email. "I'll explain later. But I have them all, and you can read them."

A shadow fell over Qrow's face, and she almost stepped back in surprise. What had she said?

"Oh. Thanks, but… you don't have to lend me your stuff," he mumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets and avoiding her eye.

Oh, Brothers, it was happening again. How was she supposed to know what to say if she didn't know what was wrong? And how did Tai always seem to figure it out, anyway?

Ozpin should have made him leader.

"Well, it's…" she faltered. "I can just give you copies. On your scroll."

"Really?" he looked up again, scowl vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.

"Yeah, but… Do you think we could read some together? Tai's not really that into comics—Zaff was the one I'd talk about them with and he's at Atlas now—"

"That'd be awesome," he grinned. "Nobody at home liked them at all."

Summer smiled back. Tai was great and would happily listen to her ramble about theories, but that didn't mean he understood any of them. "I don't have too many paper comics anymore," she continued, rifling through the vintage poster display. "I subscribed to all the new ones online, so I wouldn't have to worry about lugging a bunch of books between home and Signal. And, well, I've always wanted to be a Huntress, so I knew I'd be traveling around."

She paused on a poster of a woman in regal armor, frozen halfway through a powerful swing of a gravity Dust-enhanced warhammer beneath the words Queen of the Hunt . A long, starry cape swirled behind her, hood half-fallen from her head. "I've always wanted a cloak."

"Then why not get one?"

"I thought people might laugh…" Heat ran over her face. Nice going, idiot, he wears one on a daily basis. "B-but then I saw your cape, and I kinda wanted to again…"

"You're a Huntress. You decide what's cool," Qrow said, gesturing at the woman but freezing mid-wave. Squinting, he inspected the poster more closely. "Summer… is that Professor Mesánychta?"

She stared back at the poster. The cape—maybe this was why it had stood out, and she hadn't realized—was the same starry pattern as the professor's typical suit. Their headbands weren't identical, but both had a lunar theme. And she fought with a bow, not a polearm warhammer—

But no, that was Spring Tide, the engravings were all the same. The quiver formed the hammer head, and the bow was the handle. It must use gravity Dust to make it heavy enough to do damage. The woman was thirty years younger, but unmistakably—

"Oh, gods." Her hands flew to her mouth. "You're right!"

* * *

The sun burned the horizon orange and red as their shuttle docked at Beacon's cliff, and they followed a large group out onto the little airfield. A lot of other students were also returning to school for dinner.

"Mission success!" Summer shouted, spinning the poster's cardboard tube over her head like Gungnir. A nearby recruiter in red and white jumped, halfway through his speech to a group of semi-attentive upperclassmen.

Tai and Qrow glanced at each other. "…And what mission is that, exactly?" Tai asked.

"I learned something about each of you." She pointed at Raven, grinning triumphantly. "You like boats, and you actually know a lot about sailing!"

Raven's hand tightened on her bag as she blinked in surprise, but Summer knew she wouldn't like the spotlight if it stayed on her too long. She pointed at Qrow next. "And you want to become a Huntsman because you like helping people!"

He smiled, embarrassed. "Right again."

"Plus, Raven smiled like, three times today. So: mission Team Bonding accomplished!"

"What are you doing back up here?!"

Summer cut off and the four of them turned to watch Professor Carmine storm from the forge, blowtorch in hand. The recruiter took a nervous step backward, spluttering as the little Forgemaster marched right up to him.

"Professor Ozpin has strictly forbidden any Merlot-Blanc personnel from recruiting on the school grounds," Carmine snapped as the students started to drift away. "So, mister, what makes you the exception to the rule?"

"Look, ma'am, I'm sorry, I'm just doing what they pay me to do—"

"What's Merlot-Blanc Industries?" Qrow asked as they began to drift toward the cafeteria as well. Behind them, the recruiter continued to stammer and back away nervously.

"Huh. I think they’re the companies that's building the development out past the mountains? They must be trying to find Huntsmen to guard the construction. Dunno why Ozpin wouldn't want them at Beacon's docks."

"Maybe someone caused trouble?" Tai guessed. "Though, speaking of trouble, I guess we have something to blackmail Professor Mesánychta with next time she tries to give us detention."

Summer stared down at the poster tube in her hands. He was right—maybe, just maybe, they had leverage.

She wasn't going to waste it.

Next Chapter: Raven—Liquid Courage

#rwby #rwby fanfiction #strq #team strq #summer rose #qrow branwen #raven branwen #taiyang xiao long #zelenia mes��nychta #carmine eitri #ozpin #follow the beacon #mine

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zendaycoolman · 4 years

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romantic getaway ( zoah )

sumary: after asking her to be her girlfriend, zendaya and noah ( @ncahcentinechq ) take a weekend out in a mountain / beach setting. this is a collectiong of small paras from that trip. triggers: fluffy, smuttish, angst, cursing, relationship starting at its best dudes when: somewhat a month ago.

DAY 01, the bathtub scene

ZENDAYA: "i'm sorry that i slept the most of the way here", zendaya said, after the both of them settled down the things they brought - suitcases, food, utensils and other supplies. she was hopping that he would erase from his mind the image of her snoring lightly clinging to the script for the second episode of euphoria. "i promise i won't keep you awake at night", with that powernap she knew she wouldn't be sleeping that much at night and was aware that noah loved his sleep. outside, it was close to nightfall, but they were both a bit sweaty from the heat and the effort they put on putting the rented cabin-house in order. reaching for a towel to clean her face, z offered another one to her boyfriend. "how about we break out the tub?", she asked, pointing the hotub outside of the glass walls. in the end she didn't wait long for an answer and took off her shirt, revealing her lacy brown bra as she walked towards the door.

NOAH: "You have the cutest little snor I've ever hear" Noah replied with a smile as they both got to settle everything they bought for their long weekend away from reality. It was a much anticipated weekend for Noah, and something he was really in need of, to have her just to himself. "Now that's a promise I want to see being broken" he was an early riser when it comes to the day to day life, and that wouldn't apply to their getaway, the last thing he is worried is with keeping up a schedule. They would eat when they are hungry, and sleep when tired. Uncomplicated. Everything was perfect about the place she choose for them. He was in love with every little details, and his mind was already running wild on how much they could do. At her offer, his brow was quick to raise, as he watched her taking off her shirt. "That plan sounds and looks amazing" Noah declared, taking off his own shirt and going after the brunette, biting down on his lower lip taking a good look at his girlfriend before catching up to her and grabbing her by the waist, pulling her back against his naked torso, planting a kiss on her naked shoulder.

ZENDAYA: kicking off her shorts as she walked, z wasn't surprised when noah pulled her close. she was hopping for it, that this would be how everything is this weekend worked: just them, connected, not thinking about work or anything else but them. zendaya wasn't the most romantic person she knew, but she did had a few things planned. "can i tell you a secret?", she asked, supporting her weight on him when putting her foot inside the warm watter. "i almost didn't booked this place over this tub. whenever i see it i just remember of peter and lara jean making out - then i realized", she was fully inside the water now so she pulled him close too. "that i have noah. which is way better", she wasn't sure about sharing that detail with him, but figured it was a way to show him that she was thinking about him. "but we can't do the make out part tho. we are enemies now, i'm sorry", she shrugged, pulling away from him, splashing some water in his direction.

NOAH: "You can tell me anything" Noah declaree wholeheartedly, feeling a peace of mind that he haven't been able to experience in a long time, now that he thinks about it. He aided her getting into the tub and didnt took long to join her "Oh god no" Noah complained, looking up and a sign of defeat. "I am way better then Kavinsky, and Lara Jean got nothing on you" he then declared, wanting to hold her close, as she pulled away from him, and instant pout formed in his features. "Whyyyyy?" he complained in this baby voice he knows he had a tendency to pull for some reason in the most random occasions. "Let me love you woman" Noah added playfully in tone, but meaning every word, as he splashed her back.

ZENDAYA: "you're noey, way better than peter", nodding in agreement, she got close enough to touch his chest. "DC", she then touched herself on the chest "Marvel", that was probably enough of an explanation for him. "congrats on the role babe", getting closer to him, she put both of her hands on his neck, feeling her body getting used to temperature completly. "actually congrats on everything you have been doing. working, getting new roles, but also for everything happening with favored nations, for being caring, for being patient and most importantly - for rooting for the warriors", and with that, she kissed him for a few seconds. "i guess i'm saying that i'm falling for you noah. i just wanted you to know that", her fingers pressed his skin, trying to show him one more time that she was there.

NOAH: "Thank you, I mean, he's a good guy and all, but I needed to hear that " he grinned at her. "Oh wow" Noah exclaimed, only now getting the enemies reference, as he welcomed her into his arms. "Please, that's literally nothing compared, my girlfriend is a freaking Emmy nominee and I couldn't be more proud." when he first saw the news he started shouting and clapping in the middle of the meeting, getting everyone looking at him as if he went mental, but he couldn't care less. She deserved all the hype she was getting, and he couldn't be more happy for her. At this point it was so damn easy to get lost in the taste of her lips, and how perfectly they were fitting together. "I've fallen for you a long time ago, actually, I'm pretty sure I've fallen for you back in that basketball court, and I can't believe I got this lucky" he declared back, gazing deep into her dark eyes, his fingers brushing small locks of her hair away from her face.

ZENDAYA: "can you believe it noah? I FUCKING DID IT!", the last part was a bit shouted and right now she was happy they were both in the middle of the woods, so no one but noah would actually hear it. zendaya nodded at him, agreeing. "if you think about it, it's kinda weird that from all places, that's where i take you? that basketball court is my sanctuary. i guess i was just waiting for you to come along", all these thoughts were running in her head for a while now and she was glad that there was space where she could say it without being silly. "just don't go anywhere any soon ok?", and after that she leaned for a kiss, a proper one, sucking his lips into hers, trying to make more obvious that she wanted to have him close.

NOAH: "I can believe it because you are that damn talented. You fucking did it!" Noah exclaimed, sharing the same excitement for her achievement, he was really proud of her. "It was meant to be." the brightest smile was now plastered in his face "I will be forever grateful that you allowed me into that court" he added, planting another kiss into the girls month. "I won't, you don't go anywhere either" he pleaded back, before getting lost into her kiss, eager for her taste under his tongue, officially entering paradise.

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DAY 01, serial dater, serial worrier

ZEN: "hey babe?", zendaya asked after almost thirty minutes of silence. they were in the backyard, laying down in front of a fire, surrounded by pillows and duvets. it was the end of the day one, after a big dinner and if they kept quiet they would probably sleep there. it was clear that zendaya had something else in mind, tho. "i have a necessary question", she started, reaching for his right hand. the girl was laying on his chest and was kind of glad that she wasn't seeing his face right now. "alex ren. you broke up with her in april right?", the question was sharp, but her voice was soft, having the sound of the campfire in front of them rattling in the background.6 de agosto de 2020

NOAH: "Hum?" Noah hummed as a reply, as he would find himself thinking in anything in particular, enjoying the peaceful evening the both were sharing by the fire. His hands were easily distracted by her hair, he didnt seemed to have enough of it. "A necessary question, alright" Noah gave a little nod. The question caught him off guard, at least at this particular time being. He was ready to have to discuss his past relationship, it was only normal if they were both starting one themselves. "The news of the break up can out late March, we have been drifting apart since the beginning of the year though. We came to terms with it by February." as he was speaking he was putting the timeline together in his mind. Gazing down at Zendaya he brushed her hair behind her ear for the trillion time that day. "What else do you wanna know?" he asked, willing to tell her whatever she might wanted to know.

ZEN: part of her wasn't expecting a honest answer or actually a answer at all. noah wasn't a ordinary boy, drowned in the dynamics that are expected of a male in society, but she was still surprised. raising her hand, she covered the moonlight on her face, trying to figured out what's the next question would be. "that's a few months before we met", she started. "which makes me wonder - am i the rebound? someone to help you get over her? that's okay if it's the case, i just wanna know", zendaya shrugged a little, still facing the sky while laying on his chest. none of them were capable to see each other faces right now and maybe it was for the best. "i'm not mad really, i just wanna know".

NOAH: As Noah realized where she was going with the conversation, despite being a valid doubt, it still hurted him a little. Love is a weird thing, and Noah as this way of living where he jumps right in at every circunstance that life presents him with. His past relations with Alex Ren is one of those circunstances, but as time goes by, there wasn't a real connection, not as lovers nor as companions. It took then a while to figure out that they are better off as friends other then pushing into something that wasn't meant to be. Zendaya on the other hand, he has noticed, is more of the type to think things through, and mesure her steps carefully, so he knew she had to ask him this things. "I see... the shortest way to reply you is that I was over her even before you and I met for that basketball game. So you are by no means a rebound. By the end of 2019 we both started to realize that the whole thing was a mistake. So the break-up was sort of a natural thing and drama free between the both of us until we made it official since we made it public and all." Noah did his best to explain, since he really wanted to make her understand his true intentions and where he is coming from. Specially when he has this gut feeling that... she's the one. Adjusting a little bit his body so he would he more into a seating position rather then laying, he then reached down to place an upside down kiss on her forehead since she ended up still laying on his lap. "There's no one quite like you, and dont you ever think that this that we have going on is anything less valued just because we recently got out of other relationship, something's we cant explain, you just feel." he whispered, gazing at her eyes even with their faces being in different directions and he planted a kiss on her nose. At this point Noah was pretty sure to be in Love with the girl. But the last thing he wanted was to drop the Love bomb right when they are discussing an ex relationship.

ZEN there wasn't many people zendaya talked about feelings. dylan knew what was happening but she tried to downplay as much as possible, so he wouldn't know how lost she was into the questions she had in storage for noah. and lin did told her that she should just straigh up ask anything she wanted to clear, so for him it was more about the relationship itself and not the feelings behind. "right", stopping touching his hand, she scratched the space between her eyes, as if she was processing his words. she was taken by surprise again, now with the forehead kiss. "still, she wasn't the only one. according to the internet and your instagram actually, that's something that has hapenned before. dating someone for a year, then a few months single, then another year dating...", she wasn't ashamed to put out there that she was researching about his past relationships before even asking to him. in her mind she was about to step into a really big commitment, so she needed to know more about it. "i'm not judging. you do you and it's refreshing to know that you go for it. and on my book, it's kinda good - the idea of having an expiration date", in her head, zendaya was being understanding, trying to bind her idea of a relationship to fit noah's ways. and that, to her, was the ultimate proof that she was into him. "there's a lot of people like me", she smiled to show that this was a joke, but his next words made her fell into deep silence, looking at his face after the kiss. she had to take a breath to focus again. her heart wanted to let this conversation go and get back into comfortable silence by the fire, but her brain was too organized to do that. he made her want to be more confident on them and less of a brainer, but what if this was a mistake? "not that feeling anything will actually do us any good", she finally said out loud, her words sounded a bit bitter.7 de agosto de 2020

NOAH: Putting things like that Zendaya didn't really knew how that was something that actually bothered Noah, in all his moments of introspection he wonders what is wrong with him for not being able to keep a long term relationship, and connect at all levels he is so eager to reach, till this day he is still to find out. He stopped the small touches for a moment, picking the right way to reply to her. "The history is there, and I can't run away from the fact that it does look like a patern. Is not something that I'm particularly proud of. I actually wonder-" he stopped himself for a moment, trying to find the right way to put it. "I dont know... maybe I'm the issue you know?" he ended up adding with a sigh. At her next words his heart sank, and a frown took him. "Expiration date?! What the-" he refrained from cursing, but that one caught him out of guard and it made him upset that she found the idea of having an expiration date was a good thing. He slightly shook his head, "That's not how I look into things. And it hurts me when you put it like that... why would an expiration date be a good thing?" as their conversation went on, an unsettling feeling started taking over Noah. He was already way too deep into feelings for her to be saying stuff like that. "What does that even mean?! I'm not following. For you what is even the point of all this then?" as he question he gestured a circle around the two of them as he said 'all of this'.

ZEN: blinking her eyes pretty fast, she took a minute to appreaciate the fact that noah was being honest and putting himself as a possible part of the problem. people often dodged their responsabilities, specially men towards relationships. she could work with someone that was capable to admit mistakes. before z could articulate any further, the mood picked up and now noah was voicing that his feelings were hurt. scrathing her eyebrow, zendaya sat down, knowing that he should able to properly see her eyes for this part. "it wasn't my intention to hurt you, but you have to understand that i have to prepare myself for this", taking a breath, zendaya felt corned now, having to explain how her mind works. it was a constant feeling towards any significant others, having to adjust herself to them. "unlike you noah, i don't put my heart on the line when i feel there's a possibility. you're my second actual relationship, and i had a hiatus of seven years between. i don't do stuff that there's a possibility to end, i'm always in for the win, for the long run, if it's up to me i am not going anywhere", it was clear she was growing unhappy about this situation. this was why she didn't date, cause no one had to understand how she sees the world. "so when i see that you broke up all these relationships it scares the hell of me. make me feel not important, makes me feel like just another one on the list. or worst - that this is not real", taking a breath and looking down, she noticed that she was sitting in lotus position by his side this whole time. "and at the same time i like you way to much to walk away so yes, i have to find having a expiration date a good thing"., suddenly this felt like a weird pivot moment. make it or break it momentum. "it means that not even love can garantee that this will work. ren gave a interview saying that you were the love of her life. two months later you guys ended it.", she shrugged, sure that this was the worst outcome ever.9 de agosto de 2020

NOAH: "Prepare for what exactly Zendaya?" Noah asked, gesturing with is hands. This was important, he knew it was, speaking about the fears that come with giving yourself into someone else, someone new, but it was still hard and complicated to voice his mind and trying not to be too harsh, they had very different ways to see life, and that he knew. " I'm sorry Z, but relationships don't come with instructions, and not one is like the other, ever. You can't bring my past experiences or your past experiences into our relationship, we need to build our own, learn from our past obviously, but not let it define our future." he added, before growing silent again to listen to what she had to say. He was starting to get so confused by her words, but still trying to do his best to understand where she was coming from. He didn't knew she was that long before letting herself into a relationship. So he noticed some big scars there. " I don't know any other way to do this then to put my heart on the line." he declared, in between her speaking. " Who said I broke up all this relationships? And if all this broke ups mean anything is that neither of them were the right one for me, then maybe you are. Fucking god, how I wish that you are! How you can you be afraid that this might not be real? Have I ever didn't seemed present and open to give myself to you? Because that's all I've been trying to do." Noah was trying to make sense in his words, but wasn't too sure if he was being sucessful. " Z, how many times did you expressed your true feelings in a interview? Are you really bringing something my ex said in a interview?" at his point Noah couldn't help a stern expression on his face. " Listen, I can't promisse you that we will forever be together, no matter I wanted to be able to hold such promise. We never know what life throws our way. I do know is that my feelings for you are real, and can't imagine my life with you anymore"

ZEN: tilting her head to hear him out, zendaya was dangling between amazed and concerned by his replies. they were so different, that was clear from the start and she was hopping it meant that they would complete each other, not colide. she also knew that this was on her too, so if she wanted it to work, she had some work on herself to do too. z felt like noah had understood her and now it was her turn to do so."ok. you're right. no expiration date, no promisses, no fears. just us being us.", zendaya finally said, nodding her head. this felt like the second part of the agreement that they did last week when he asked her to be her girlfriend. now this was a real relationship. "if it matters, i want you to be the right one too", getting closer, she slowly crumbled into his chest, asking to be hugged. "just don't let me go".

NOAH: Noah let out a breath he didn't really knew he was holding as she agreed to give them a fair shot really. "It matters a whole lot" Noah whispered, welcoming her back into his embrace, wanting nothing more then to keep her close to him forever. Thankfull to have long arms that were able to properly hug her into him, and still wishing to have some more so he could hold her even more tight. "I won't" he stated, placing a long kiss on the top of her head. "But babe?"

ZEN: "yeah?", she asked, her voice low, as is she was too scared to keep talking and by that make another mistake, or take a turn that would drag into that discussion again. she just wanted to be there, quiet and loved.

NOAH: "Forgive me but I really need to pee..." he finally said, chuckling, kissing her once in the month before standing up. "Start thinking on what you want me to make for dinner, I'm gona be right back" he added, slowly getting up to go to the bathroom.

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DAY 02, the first time

ZEN: "so, i was doing some reading", the woman was standing next to top the stairs that led to the only bedroom at the house. noah had just left the shower after they spent the afternoon sunbathing outside. "...on how to garantee that the first time with someone new is perfect", taking a step on his direction he could see now that she had a satin robe on. "they say: lingerie, protection, don't worry about appearance...", as she spoke, she undid the robe, showing her lacy black underwear. "...and don't put pressure on orgasming", she stopped midway on his direction, smiling. "so i have it all covered. IF you wanna do somethinng", she was nervous, it showed, but also there was a hint of possessiveness that he knew by now.

NOAH: With only a towel losely around his waist and casually brushing his hair off with another, Noah raised an eyebrow at the sight that was Zenday before him in her silky robe. He didnt interrupted her line of thought, just dropping the towel he had on his hand, having a feeling he would prefer to have them both free. "What else?" he questioned, even knowing that she would keep going. He did his best not to let his jaw hit the floor when she undid her robe showing off to him her perfect figure in a black lingerie, bitting down on his lower lip, Noah kept closing the distance between the two eager to reach her. "That sounds easy enough... IF YOU wanna do something" two could play this game, and for sure Noah would want to have fun with it, as he stopped right in front of her, brushing her shoulder ever so slightly with the back of two fingers, licking his lips, as he gazed into her eyes, their noses brushing together from their closeness.

ZEN: it was clear that she had thought about this several times. from the conversations where she looked at his lips instead of focusing on the content, or the making out sessions that stopped repeatedly, this moment was highly anticipated. "i came prepared. i ALSO have a poem", raising an eyebrow at him, she was challenging him with his very own weapons. he asked her to be his girlfriend with a poem. she would ask him for this with that too. zendaya then threw the robe on the floor, taking his hands into hers. "let me live or live in me. let me go home or make me your home ...", she whispered at first, giving his small kisses through the process. "get inside me, more than you get in clubs", she placed both of his hands on her ass, teasing him with a smirk after. "break my bed, not my heart ... make me wet, not wip", slowly, she pulls his towel away, dropping it on the floor. "because paradise it's reached when we're on our knees ... but not on a prayer", finally, she pushed him to bed and now she was the one licking her lips, watching the image of her completly naked boyfriend on the light of dusk. "fuck, you're so fucking beutiful", she broke character touching his knees with hers before slowly joining him on bed, climbing on top of his body as her lips went for the most desperate kiss they ever had.

NOAH: "I can see that you did" Noah smiled at her, but was surprised when she said she had a poem, using his own moves against him, he was noticing. He let himself being led by his girlfriend, and as she start on the poem, Noah was done, completely surrending himself to her, every word sending small shivers down his spine, every kiss lightning something inside of him, with his hands placed over her ass Noah didn't think twice before feeling her in his hands, holding her close to him, and even before she pulled his towel from his body he was already naked before her, his lust clear in his eyes, mixed with so much admiration for how she started this moment for the both of them. Letting himself fall in the bed, Noah let out a small chuckle, amazed how she took charge of everything, and was pretty much doing everything he wished he did. But then it wouldn't have been this perfect. "Come here already, and let me make you wet, and never, ever, wip" he reached for her hand and pulled her in, their lips smashing together eager for each other, like never before.

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DAY 03, the basics

ZEN: the past few days they feel qucikly into a routine. waking up, eating brunch, then either going to the beach or he convinced her to walk around the woods. at the afternoon they would eat together, watch something, play some game, just enjoying each other until at some point they ended having sex wherever they were at the house. this was the last day and they would be leaving after lunch, so she decided to let noah in bed and make him breakfast. once zendaya managed to get the tray while going upstairs, she smiled at him. "hey noey, morning", she said, putting the breakfast next to him in bed, before giving him a small kiss. "you can eat while i start organinzing shit. you probably tired from last night. sorry not sorry", she shrugged, remembering that they went two rounds more than normal in the past day.

NOAH: Noah was an early riser, but not today apparently. Probably because he knew it was their last day in heaven, and he really wasn't that hyper about getting back to reality. "Morning babe" he mumbled, brushing his eyes with his hands trying to keep them open, before yanning whilst opening his arms wide open. "Not so fast!" Noah held her back as she was getting ready to go on with her plan on packing. "what if you are what I really want for breakfast?" he teased, just wanting to hold her there a little bit longer next to her. "have you eaten already?" he wondered still hugging her down into the bed, he was really just trapping her there, with his arms holding her upper body and one leg over her own legs, as he made her lay there. "I don't wanna go" he declared, and you could listen the pout he was wearing in his voice.

ZEN: to hear him talking like that, hoarse voice in the morning, calling for her, all of that was something the zendaya was starting to wish it was all her mornings from now on. but of course, noah wasn't just going to say, he was going to demonstrate, and all she managed to do before he took her was to get the glass of juice out of bed, so it wouldn't spill. "is that a promise?" she teased back. "not really, focused on doing something for you and forgot" she answered honestly, blowing some of her hair out of her face as she adjusted herself in position. "i don't wanna go either...", that was the kind of thing she would never allow herself to say before, to stimulate a fantasy that would never come true. but this trip proved to her that she could live in a made up world as long noah was holding her. "baaaaabe", now able to see the neck up close, her voice cracked. releasing one hand from the boy's embrace, she touched his skin, now with purple and red tones. "im so so so sorry", she bit her lower lip, already thinking about the shade of foundation she would use to cover it. "i'll get something to cover that for the trip, don't worry", she assured him, tilting her head to check the extent of the hickey on his neck.

NOAH: it was painful the mere thought of having to actually let her go and get on with the day, so greedy Noah decided to just kept holding her for just a little longer, as his mind started to really wake up. a chuckle vibrated through him at her teasing reply. "It can be" he whispered against her ear. "let's have breakfast together then, and be lazy for just a couple more hours, and then we both will get everything packed and ready to go" he sugested, wanting to take everything he could out of these amazing days with her away from reality. "What?" he wondered confused, not sure what she was talking about, as she touched his neck he understood, and memories from last night rushed back into his mind, putting a silly grin to his face. "Why would I want to cover it?" he raised an eyebrow at her, before closing the distance between the two into a kiss, so she would stop over analize the love bite she left on his skin.

ZEN: taking a note to hold that promise against him later, she nodded her head in agreement, trying to move. "babes, in order to eat breakfast you have to let me go", she smiled, giving him another kiss on his chin. "so people won't give you a hard time about it", she said simply, looking at him. suddenly, another grin took over her features. "you know what's my favorite part of your body?", her fingers touched his cheeks. "your scar. i love it. even tho it's covered right now", zendaya caressed his unshaved face, finding him more attractive in this look. "speaking of it, we should cover our basics", at this point, she gave up trying to move and just settled under him, kissing his jaw on the process. "favorite movie, type of music, book, color, food, color, tv show.... tell me yours i tell you mine".

NOAH: "Forgot about that small detail" Noah jokingly pouted, before eventually letting her go for eating purposes, smiling as she kissed his chin, quickly closing the distance between them again smashing his lips on hers. "Yeah, I've grown found of it myself" He said, unvoluntarly reaching with his hand to his chin at the same time she carressed him. "Is the unshaved look girlfriend approved or not?" He wondered raising a brow at her. Grabbing the glass of juice to take a good sip at it, Noah nodded at the idea. "We really should. Feels like we skipped a couple of steps there" he chuckled, at the same time he was already thinking about the questions she already throw in there. "Let's see... Favorite movie is too hard, my favorite rom com is Failure to Launch tho, just music, the type of music depends a lot on your mood, I've been listening a lot to Kina, if you don't know of him you should definitely check that out, book, again, there's a lot, like a lot a lot, but I'm gonna say Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. All the food. I can't pick. I don't have a favorite color, TV show, Friends." As he replied he was counting it with his fingers, grinning at the end. "You're up now"

ZEN: "i like it cause it's something that should let you traumatized but it didn't", she smiled, reaching for the chopped fruit, having some watermelon inside her mouth as she was kissed. "girlfriend aproved. makes me tickle. don't let it too big tho, i like your face", as she spoke some of the watermelon juice dripped from her lips, quickly cleaning it with the back of her hand. "babe, everyone knows you love kina. you hum it everytime", she laughed, zendaya herself had listen to it in her alone times because of him. "ok - movie is harry potter, i'm into oldie stuff like ray charles. aside of that anything R&B, book... i read a lot about business and biographies. i loved nelson's one. burritos, pizza and ice cream. i know imma die because of it. favorite color is pink, tv show would be handsmade tale", she tried to speak all of that in one breath as if it was a contest, laughing. "ok, next round - give me all the family names", she rose her hand too. "also, one thing that makes you happy, one thing that makes you mad, one thing that makes you sad and one thing that makes you horny", wiggling her eyebrows, she smiled and offered to feed him some grapes.

NOAH: "Oh poor dog got more traumatized then I did" he commented, stuffing some fruit into his month after tasting the watermellon from her month. "I'll see so it won't get too big" he said in tone of promise. "Oh, well it's really good" he chuckled. "Okay, I'm taking notes here. Harry Potter and Ice Cream in emergency situations. Got it. Mandela you mean?" he questioned to be sure concerning the book. "I'm the son of Kellee and Gregory, divorced by the way. And the younger brother of Taylor" he quickly replied. "You have quite the big family, which I find it so excited, but I'm afraid if you start naming them all I will forget a bunch. I just ask you to forgive me for it in advance" he pleaded with a small chuckle. "Meditation, is one thing that makes me happy. Mad? Fake people. Sad, well I get sad over the silliest things, like a song. Not having my girlfriend in arms reach for over a month! stuff like that. There's this black woman recently in my life, she pretty much holds that power, it's not really a thing that will get me going, if you know what I mean" as he said his last words he raised and lowered his eyebrows a couple of times. "What does makes you happy Zendaya Coleman. And everything else."

ZEN: "yeah, but we can't watch it together. dylan would kill me", she pointed that out with a face, nodding to the sides. "but if you show up with ice cream at my door i'll do pretty much anything you ask. and yes, mandela! his life is so inspiring", as he spoke she made a effort not to reach for a notebook to note it down, figuring that it would kill the moment. when he mentioned being sad for not seeing her for a month, she pulled his face and gave him a lil peck. she was specially proud that he acknowledged that she was a black woman in his answer. "my parents, also divorced are claire stoermer and kazembe coleman. kazaa for friends. don't worry, no one can actually remember all my siblings names, but it's katianna, annabella, austin, kaylee and julien", starting to smash a piece of bread, she nodded at him. "ice cream makes me happy, mad would be not being able to succeed in something that i invested time... i get sad over christmas songs for some reason and neck kisses gets me going. if you want to tone me down, touching my earlobe makes me sleepy", shrugging, she smiled. they were nearly done with breakfast, so she looked up at him. "ok, final question: what is your goal in life?", her voice was calm, looking at his eyes as she made the question.

NOAH: "Dylan would kill you? Why am I feeling jealous over harry potter right now?" noah frowned slightly, chuckling. "Ice cream, the key to your heart. Noted. I haven't read it yet, maybe you could lend me the book someday. But for what I know he had an incredible life experience." Noah commented, reaching for a couple of more fruit pieces, and orange juice. As she started to go on and reply to her own questions, Noah just listen, and rejoiced on the fact that she was sharing all this litle things with him, it might seem small, but it holds a great meaning when you are starting to get to know someone. With a small chuckling as she shared the earlobe fact, noah grinned at her. "That's something I will keep in mind" he smiled. "Oh, that's a loaded one." he had to take a moment to think about it. "I think the answer would be... just to be, really. You know? To be present in every thing you do. To be a good friend, to be a good son, a good brother. A good partner. At every step of the way, I just want to give my all in what I do, and have faith that will bring me happiness, and fullfillment. I don't have this specific thing. Of course I want to be sucessful profissionaly, but it's really not everything for me." This was the mess that was Noah's head right there, raw and without making much sense, but it was him, and he was willing to show her just that: him. "What's yours?"

ZEN: "don't even start babe, that's one you won't win", she replied with a mockery smile. as noah spoke back, zendaya quickly picked up the tray and it's belonging so clear the bed. she then sat on her legs, watching her boyfriend talk about his goal. at end, she had a huge smile on her face. "to be happy. i mean, i have loads of professional goals and shit, but i just want to brave enoug to be happy. give up when needed, walk away from people, all the hard decisions you have to make in order to make me and my loved ones happy", shrugging a bit, she was glad that they did this, sharing small things made her feel closer to him. "thanks for sharing noey. it's important to me", zendaya smiled at him again, but soon, snapped out of her silly face "okay, now, i do have a short term goal", benting her body to his direcion and gave him a long peck on the lips, then dragged her lips on his jaw line. "making my boyfriend cum", sharing a smirk, z pushed the sheets out of the bed with her feet to have more acess to him. the energy shifted, and he could see she was in a mission herself.

............................................................ [ 𝕋ℍ𝔼 𝔼ℕ𝔻 ]

#( noah c. )#( otp: if i could i'd get you the moon : noah centineo )#( paras. )#( para: romantic getaway. )#THIS TOOK US 16 DAYS TO WRITE lol

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dredshirtroberts · 4 years

Text

I’m gonna ramble because i took a shower and feel less like i’m dissociating. I mean I still am but it is less.

Things have been. Not Good. recently.

So, with the whole coming out to my family thing there have been...hiccups. It was anticipated and frankly I think I’m lucky it’s going as well as it is, in that they’re not angry with me.

Doesn’t make it hurt less when they ignore my gender but you know, it’s tricky since i’m not like...good at appearing male in the way they would recognize. We’ll...deconstruct wordchoices in a minute.

It’s fine, I realized things were going to be tricky, it’s still incredibly new to all of us, and frankly, again, it could be worse.

A family friend passed away last weekend. He was very old, had some very bad health problems and he had only been given a few months to live at best back in March. They did a vow renewal the other week, he and his wife, and he died peacefully in his sleep from only complications due to his illness and not from other contributing factors.

He and his wife were pretty much a second set of parents for me and my sister while we were growing up, and my parents were the same for their girls. We were all roughly the same age-ish, and we went to the same church, mom worked for them for a while, the wife helped me go through the classes I needed to in order to get confirmed in the Episcopal church at 14ish or whenever it was. We had standing days during the year we’d all get together and hang out, sometimes up at their property on The Mountain.

They’re also very much like my parents and extremely right-wing and with all the accompanying baggage that goes along with that.

still sucks. Like...it hurts a lot that he’s gone because he was one of those figures in my life I just kinda assumed would always be there.

The visitation was last night - the funeral was tonight. I only went to the visitation and had no plans on going to the funeral which I am glad I decided to do because I...am not good to be around people.

After the visitation, we celebrated my sister’s birthday because why must the world stop? Also it totally sucks that this is all happening the weekend of her birthday and like, she should get to celebrate a little.

That i had to have my birthday over the internet when the whole pandemic was less of a big deal hurts only a little. I didn’t get fancy food, or fun drinks, or socialization with my family longer than a couple hours - the week my radio got stolen out of my fucking car from the parking lot of the apartment building.

I did do some fun things don’t get me wrong but it’s like...they said when the quarantine time was over we’d do something for my birthday properly and sure quarantine shouldn’t be over and frankly nothing should be open but they haven’t cared *since* my birthday. So that sucks.

I had to deal with getting misgendered all night. It’s not technically deadnaming me if I haven’t told them to call me another name and frankly I don’t think that’ll go over well anyway so I’m just...putting it off really.

we get back to mom and dad’s and my aunt and her husband come over and I’ve also come out to them, and the first thing my aunt does when she sees my hair is give me a backhanded compliment about how it’s a “bold look”.

She didn’t say anything nicer than that about it.

She didn’t say anything else about it at all.

Fine, whatever, okay, it’s hair, I like it, other people have said it looks good but like... “Bold look”...I know she doesn’t like it. I know most of my family doesn’t like it because I should be a beautiful pretty little girl for them, with long hair and makeup and trying to be a proper grownup woman and if I look too much like a boy I’ll never find a husband who will turn me back around from my weird late-in-the-game tomboy phase or whatever the fuck they think.

My sister then proceeded to tell me that she and my parents don’t agree with my gender. Not that they don’t support me! They support me so much! But their opinion is different from mine on it, but also that shouldn’t hurt me even though holy fuck it absolutely does. I tried to clarify - I thought i understood what she was trying to say, and when I clarified she was like “no, that’s not what I mean I mean that we love *you* and who *you* are but we have a different opinion on this stuff” and I’m like...

So you don’t think I should exist? And you don’t get why that hurts?

Her response was “That’s not fair” not “you’re wrong” but “That’s not fair” which means I got it right on the head of the nail and she’s mad that I’m upset about it.

I eventually decided this wasn’t something I wanted to do, told her I get it, she’s allowed to have her “opinions” about whether or not my gender identity is fucking real, changed the subject and proceeded to just get...really drunk.

Thankfully any emotions I might have felt about it were perceived as being about the death of our friend but like...

I knew this weekend wasn’t about me and my shit and that was fine, it’s fine. I can be an incredibly self-centered person sometimes and I’m trying very hard not to take shit personally but it was like...hit after hit after hit and i’d been feeling really good about myself and how i was able to present and it was like...none of it mattered. The more I put into trying to look more like a guy the more my family ignored it and more forcefully misgendered me to the point where I don’t actually know how much was them just not caring about it/paying attention and how much was deliberate.

So...it sucked. sucked a lot.

Woke up this morning with a bad hangover, drove home, napped for four hours, ate some food, and proceeded to dissociate for the next ... i guess seven? hours? idk.

And like...nothing I work on in my free time means anything. I was trying to share some of my hobby accomplishments but it’s like...sometimes they get brushed off in such a way that I feel like I’m supposed to have grown out of it all and they’re just waiting for me to be an adult now and stop having fun.

so...this weekend sucked. a lot. it still sucks. i have some very good friends in my life right now and they’ve been very helpful at keeping the bad things at bay for the past week or so but like...i don’t talk about this shit. I’ve told 2 people this was going on this weekend and I didn’t bring it up more outside of that. I haven’t gone into detail about how it went. But I need to process it and it’s easier when it’s not sitting in my head.

I’m still dissociating. It’s gotten worse as I’ve written this which is a fun thing to realize is happening as you’re writing. I won’t remember I’ve written this in all likelihood since that’s how this tends to go.

I’m going back to reading for a bit. I might try sleeping at some point. But the fic I’m reading just got to the happy ending part and so I might as well try to force some seratonin in that way. All else fails, I’ll scroll through my tried-and-true favorites and see if that makes it better.

or I’ll just. idk...

I cried yesterday for the first time in a few weeks - like properly with tears n shit and i couldn’t even let myself have it because I had to be, like, not crying or a mess because there were people around and it wasn’t...i would be bringing things down and making shit about me when it’s not about me and it just fucking hurts inside you guys. I just hurt and I didn’t realize it would keep hurting like that.

fuck it i might cry now, idk yet. might help. should probably get some water before it happens. don’t wanna be caught dehydrated and needing water after a crying jag. doesn’t help much.

#this is...not a happy post #please know that going into it #it is not necessary this be read #i'm processing some shit from this weekend and it's...a lot harder than i thought it would be #this isn't even a fraction of what's happening in my head #but dissociation is stealing a lot of it from me #and i'm probably gonna go cry now.

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pywackett-barchetta · 4 years

Text

No Signal

[An anonymous commission for a Touhou size story. It’s been forever and a day since I’ve done one of these, but I figured I’d take up the opportunity! tldr; Reimu flattens a cell tower because sure.]

_____________

"I mean… I guess it is kind of an eyesore." The ordinary magician shrugged, leaning back and snapping the edge off of another rice cracker between her teeth as she stared off from the shrine.

"Well, yeah… but more importantly, it's suspicious!" The Hakurei shrine maiden leapt to her feet, sweeping an arm out and pointing her gohei defiantly toward the massive metallic structure in the distance. It stood taller than even Gensokyo's most gargantuan oni (at least on most days), its tallest dolls (admittedly, a much higher bar than one would think, thanks to the concerted efforts of one particular dollmaker), and whatever that contraption the Moriya Shrine cooked up that one time was. The floorboards creaked as she frustratedly strode past the miniature bug cage 'house' set out on the floor, its diminutive denizen flinging the door open and startling back at the comparatively colossal FWUMP of a titanic tabi sock thundering down in front of her home.

"Hey, watch it! I thought we agreed my house was going back up on the table!" The purple-haired kobito shouted up, a surprisingly loud little force, but ignored with a shrug nonetheless as the 'massive' miko poured some more tea.

"So, what's got you all keyed up about it?" Marisa casually chimed in. "Yeah, it's a big weird tower, and around here, those tend to summon ancient evils or lightning or be some sort of other incident thing, so I get it. But this is a, uh… 'cell tower', right? Not gonna lie, I kinda checked out a few minutes into Sanae's explanation, but it's sorta like the yin-yang orb for you, right?"

Reimu let a moment pass in contemplation as she sat back at the shrine's edge in the sunlight, taking a sip of her tea. "Yeah, she was saying something about macrocells and picocells and Gees, but… It's a big obvious tower! That's pretty much always bad, especially when they're involved!"

"Lemme guess, even if they're serious, because it's the Moriya Shrine getting all the credit, it's bad for business~?" The magician snickered.

"I didn't say that! It's just… you see it's an incident waiting to happen, too, right? They're always making everything that much more of a pain!"

"Why don't you just go stomp on it, then? Isn't that a big clumsy giant's answer to everything?" The voice of the little princess pipes up from the floor again, and her face pales as the two 'titans' go silent and turn to look down to her from high above her tiny two-inch-tall frame. "...what? You heard me! You almost flattened me again this morning!"

Marisa chuckled to herself as she watched the gears turning in Reimu's mind. Of course.

'Of course!', thought Reimu. "...hey, that mallet's all charged, right?"

"Yep! Just finished up today, so finally I can grow big again for a while!"

"...can you grow me big instead?"

She startled back at this. "W-what!? Why would I do that!?" THWOOM, THWOOM, the miko's palms slam down on either side of her, enormous eyes staring down, like a wild animal cornering their prey… but with a glimmer of excitement. No, not just a glimmer; she seemed absolutely thrilled, with childlike glee.

"You've done it before, right? Just make me big again! I'll put your house wherever you want or whatever, just… make me a giant!"

Already thoroughly towered over, the massive magician didn't help matters for Shinmyoumaru by leaning in with a chuckle. "I don't think you've got much choice here."

_____________

"Growwwwwwwww big!"

"..."

"Pff."

"Make me bigger!"

"Um, tha-"

"Don't tell her yet."

"Make me giant!"

"Are we really just gonna watch her-"

"Oh, absolutely."

_______________

Some time later, when the Hakurei shrine maiden remembered the mallet was only usable by the kobito themselves and had begrudgingly, blushingly handed it back to its usual owner, she stood outside the shrine.

"Alright… this time for sure."

"Are you seriously ready…?"

"Yeah, I'm ready! Let's go, already!"

"Okay! I'd rather it be me, but… groowwwwwww big!"

The Miracle Mallet began to glow a glorious vibrant gold, its wielder locking her gaze on the woman she focused its power upon. Soon, the shrine maiden began to radiate those dazzling colors as well, and lifting herself off the ground in flight, stretched her arms out to embrace this. (Purely for dramatic effect, of course, but it's not like anyone could judge.) And sure enough, her body began to slowly expand…

A symphony ensued, for those near enough to hear it. Tough, resilient tabi socks slowly stretching to fit gradually growing feet, her toes and soon her heels back to touching the ground despite her high vantage point. The creaking and trembling of the earth beneath her feet to take on someone of supernaturally supreme size… The stretching of skin and fabric keeping up with her as the view below dwindled down and down and down…

THOOM. THOOM.

The shrine shook and rattled as the newfound giant stamped her colossal soles down on each side of it, her shadow blotting out the grounds below as the others stared up in awe from below. Shinmyoumaru gulped. Marisa simply let out a whistle of surprise, a dramatic undersell for, as she now noted from the soft white horizon before her, a best friend growing so huge that one toe eclipsed her entire body.

"This is even cooler than last time!" Her enormous voice roared throughout Gensokyo, those just below her hastily covering their ears as she looked around this world in awe. Sure, she usually saw it from this height, but not with her feet on the ground. "Back to business, though. I'll go stomp on that thing and go from there, I guess." She waved her hand in a casual goodbye as she thundered off towards the horizon, leaving her houseguests to simply watch as she did so.

"Have fun!"

"...what have I done."

__________

THOOM, THOOM. THOOM, THOOM.

Gensokyo shook and rumbled at every leviathan footfall of the massive miko; vast expanses of trees and flowers and wide open paths were unceremoniously pounded into deep, tabi-shaped craters. Villages trembled and shook, tengu flitting between the trees to try to cover what this strange seismic event may be before the Hakurei shrine maiden was inevitably called in to put a stop to it… Well, not this time. Fairies and youkai hurtled out of her path in astonishment and awe; as if she wasn't enough of a force of nature normally, being 200 meters tall made things a whole lot more obvious!

She'd saved these lands countless times, so for a bit, she didn't mind the sensation of it all going crunch under her heels, or the sounds of the ground cracking with each THWOOM of her soles down against Gensokyo's surface. Even the Underworld was shaking a little…

As she peers down, she notices a little green speck floating in her path; even from that high up, it's barely at her waist. "Out of my way."

"I already explained it to you! It's just transmitting RF signals!" The goddess-slash-shrine-maiden piped up, from the path of the lumbering behemoth. It didn't even slow her.

"Should've said that before you put it up. Still an unauthorized building, still knocking it down." In all honesty, she just really wanted to stomp on it at this point, but this'd be a suitable, if flimsy, excuse.

"But I did-!" Her protests are cut short as the giant bears down on her, continuing to walk straight in an unstoppable march, Sanae's view slowly filling with nothing but the mega miko's midriff. She turns to flee, flying as fast as she can, but those immense strides catch up almost instantly, being bowled into by the behemoth's belly, stuck up against it like a bug to a windshield (if far more unharmed). She watched on begrudgingly as the rampaging Reimu thundered towards the tower… it looked positively tiny in comparison.

Even as the humongous Hakurei stopped to stand before it, chuckling as it didn't even come up to her waist, Sanae found herself still stuck to the soft stomach of the giant woman, a strange sensation of comfort from the warm body heat of her…business rival? Fellow incident-solver? Something like that.

Reimu lifted her massive, giant foot, leaning it and much of her colossal weight against the cell tower.

Ggrrnnnnnnn….

Under that unfathomable mass, it begins to buckle and shear apart, the metal letting out a deafening shriek as the mighty mountain's socks softly smother it. Supports snap and spark, the massive monument collapsing in portions, a giddy chuckle escaping her as she wiggled her toes.

She raises her foot up high once more, over that crumpled heap…

THOOMMMMmmmmm….

...and smashes it down, flattening all that hard work in under a minute. With a twist of her foot, she grinds the last of it down to nothing, smirking despite herself as she plucks Sanae up off of her.

"There. Anything else I should know about?"

"...no?"

"That's awfully unconvincing for someone in the palm of my hand, y'know."

"No, that was it… I thought we'd finally get, like, texting in Gensokyo, even if our own version… maybe someday."

"Well, next time, just have your gods ask nicely first, okay?"

"Okay…" She was too winded to put up much of a fight right now, as it was. This’d blow over eventually; surely her gods would understand that divine wrath is a bit stranger around here...

#touhou #reimu hakurei #why did I write this #this time because I was bribed and more importantly I liked the prompt #text #marisa kirisame #touhou fanfiction #shinmyoumaru sukuna #sanae kochiya

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fireflythecinnamonjollyrancher · 4 years

Text

it’s time for ~a year in review~

JANUARY

ya bitch went to paris and became like good, like REALLY good friends with my current roommates!!! we got to see some really beautiful sights, do some STRANGE things like watch a french indie movie and get fucked up at a french gay party club in the basement of our hostel. i apparently shaved my head again (per the use lets be real)

FEBRUARY

accidentally started my Com capstone like a total moron but took it like a mf champ. got to party at a friends place and watch all of “dont hug me im scared”. made a friend try a grap for the first time (he was a sophomore in college). studied a lot with kelli -- and by studying i mean we mostly bullied each other. WENT TO SEE WATSKY with a super dope friend (sad we fell out of touch but she’s living her best life and im happy for her). also like got to meet george watsky uhm WHAT wild. bullied my college in the snow and also manically shoveled the walk. was a bootlicker for the college and dressed in a taco suit

MARCH

WOOF i got pretty fucked up for capstones cast party and this is where the beginning of the end was for some of my friendships. however, other friendships were being built so im grateful for that. ran lights for a really awesome slam poet. FOUND THE KEY THAT WAS MISSING FROM THE THEATRE (turns out it was Sab whoops). spent a lot of time with someone who is no longer a friend -- her choice, certainly not mine. went home for spring break and took so many pictures of my cat. got selected as stage manager for comedy of errors which was a nightmare of a production but certainly not the worst.

APRIL

became a vegetarian!!!! joined/started the flat earth cult because of comedy. helped randi film her weird videos, which was so much fun! the bat came back to the theatre and Basil and I both saw them. comedy of errors opened and it was intense and i really hated every second. ranted about being in a scene for directing, which means i’d been in it for a second. that shit sucked bros oh my god????? he was never on time, he was so disorganized and didn’t understand his own character. organized a dinner for the cast because they had missed a campus dinner for the show. celebrated my best friends birthday!!!! “I can read!” was on the news with two others for comedy. also presented my capstone research for academic showcase day (i still can’t believe people listened to me rant about birth order)

MAY

more videos! this one was zak bagel bites with again my best friends. was elected president for APO and i couldn’t be more grateful. did a research proposal with a friend and i cannot BELIEVE we’re still friends after it because we really could have killed each other. physically fought the MONSTER that is jess (didn’t actually, really should have). helped two friends fall in love on accident/purpose. was elected as KPY president (damn) and forcibly elected as parliamentarian for LPH. ended my junior year. started work immediately after going home for my dad. mostly answered phones, worked 7:30-5 every day for the whole summer yikes. managed to pass junior year with a 4.0!!!

JUNE

learned a lil how to quote and did NOT enjoy it. went to PRIDE with my wife and bought my first ace flag. it was actually petrifying to buy and wear, but i have one now which is awesome. holy shit got my first tattoo!!! it has faded a bit now but still looked awesome. it was the beginning of an addiction. picked up an internship at my old theatre company and... deeply regretted it as it pushed my 12 hour days to almost 18 hours. literally fell in love with the music director.

JULY

a random woman complimented me??? so that was fun. watched after my old band directors kids (they were a nightmare i literally never want kids). got to hike and do all that fun stuff. went to the local county fair

AUGUST

my mom admitted to loving brooke more than me on her birthday (fair). got a card from my office team to celebrate my 21st a lil early. went back for SENIOR YEAR BOYS. got drunk at an old friends place. did marching band. moved in with two of my BEST FRIENDS IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. took improv with friends which was lit. we even did a whole performance. met a new friend! my other roommate brought in a new kitten (which became a whole thing holy shit). used school sanctioned ipads to dick around. shaved my head againnnn. was sober at a party (woof why). got the drunkest i have ever been and puked everywhere and passed out on the stairs. have not ever reached that level again. also cracked my phone. fully assumed position as president of two clubs. started rhetoric (yucky) and theatre and diversity (also ick but for different reasons)

SEPTEMBER

became NOT sober literally the next day nice. started the MASH group i think??? which is like the only thing im proud of. it was around here. had to pick up a friend whos car broke down. went to pride in a local town with friends!!! that was fun. turned 21!! couldn’t celebrate bc school and stage management, but my two roommates still made sure i had a good time. marching band boys! we did a LONG ASS parade with my cute lil section. did mixers for KPY and APO! had our first football game. held a band rehearsal in the dark because the lights didn’t work which was funny and SO weird. walked to the trains with some really awesome friends. broke into the cemetery and stole a traffic cone and put it on a statue on campus bc mania. went to a friends musical career takeoff and ran her merch table bc the person who was supposed to run it showed up almost an hour late. someone showed up at the lib while i was closing with a friend asking for a place to stay. i hope hes good now. tried omegle again for whatever reason. tried to go to a local diner and was DENIED bc they went from 24 hours to closing at 10pm so i had a mental breakdown in my car at 2am in a McDonalds parking lot. FINALLY got to celebrate my birthday and go to the bars!!! well bar singular. but had a really good time even if those people aren’t really my friends any more

OCTOBER

homecoming boysssss!!!! also ace pride. worked the WORST thing I have ever had to operate in the chapel but the people were nice about it so i was kinda okay. also got to be a part of the dopest percussion show and ran lights and sound for it. rhetoric ended thank christ and i never want to talk about anti-war messages in MASH ever again. finally learned that my best friend has a partner and was ECSTATIC. worked a haunted house which literally sucked so hard but we made bank on it so im okay with it. were robbed (i still have suspicions who did it but ill keep my mouth shut). dressed up as a newsie for halloween, and my roommates and i all took pictures which was awesome. started my internship and movement and stage

NOVEMBER

LAST FOOTBALL GAME got drunk too often probably lol. got an impulse tattoo with my roommates. went to a soccer game. went to the trains drunk and also olive garden. did trauma training so i got to act hysterical (act?). did some KPY bonding. had a hella long saturday with a concert and everything. shot my shot and MISSED. did greek thanksgiving. played DD for someones birthday bc expired license. got my NEW license. had a horrible time driving to and from thanksgiving break. got to hang with my WIFE

DECEMBER

made it home somehow?? did box office for the children’s show as well as publicity which was a lot of work tbh. went on a double date with my roommates and their partner. did the filming for the college christmas card. had an awesome party at our place and i regret nothing. celebrated the moving out of our 4th roommate. worked my last gig at the museum. managed to scrape by again with a 4.0. threw a great party at my place for like 5 days straight (jesus christ). did a horrible puzzle. tried an edible (suffered for it). hiked in the mountains a lil. caught up with high school friends by drinking which was AWESOME. saw Frozen 2. went out with my fam bam. had a great christmas. also threw a new years party (what??? that just got over) and felt like a pretty good hostess (i just provided alcohol lol but it worked) and got to catch up with some great great awesome friends and keep people safe and off the roads for new years.

all in all a damn good year. its crazy how quickly things change, but im grateful for the place that i am in. can’t wait to graduate this year and see what happens next!!!

#firefly talks #we're already planning a mash party boys #its gonna be a great last semester i cant wait

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