#THEY'RE GONNA PROTECT HIM

[eluminium]

has this been done yet

[luxaofhesperides]

Ghostlight!

"You came?" "You called."

Danny in trouble, Duke to the rescue! (Or it can be reversed!) Maybe they've been online friends or met in person once and bonded over both having all these unexpected powers. Slightly angst.

There was never a point when Danny thought he would need the panic button Duke gave him.

It was a sweet gesture, a way for Duke to show that he cared for Danny and wanted him to be safe. Never mind that Danny can take care of himself, heals quickly from most wounds, and has been the protector, not the protected, ever since the Accident. If it makes Duke feel better, than Danny was more than happy to keep it on him as a token of affection.

The cultists, however, caught him off guard. 

Danny would be embarrassed about being nabbed off the streets so easily if the people who took him weren’t cultists lead by the daughter of a GIW agent, one who disapproved of the scientific approach the GIW took towards ectoplasmic entities and had turned to mystic arts as a way to defy her father. Which, usually, Danny would be all for striking out against the strict expectations of parents and their unwillingness to listen to their kids in any serious manner, but not this time. Not when it ends with him slowly waking up after they chloroformed him, curled up in some magic circle, surrounded by black candles and blue flame, and something in the air that smells of blood blossoms.

There are voices speaking, but he can’t make out what they’re saying over the pounding in his head, his heartbeat stuttering in his chest with each gasping breath he takes. 

Whatever they’re doing, whatever’s got him bound in the circle, makes his blood feel like its been lit aflame, agony coursing through his veins. He tries to grit his teeth and bare it, but it doesn’t become any more manageable.

No, it gets worse the longer he’s awake.

Danny tries to move, tries to get to his feet, but all he can do is curl up tighter, a sob forcing its way out of his throat.

“I know you’ve got some connection to Phantom,” he hears someone say, both by his ear and so far away he can barely make out the words. Danny whines, trying to insist that they’re wrong, he’s got nothing to do with phantom, but the voice continues. “Come on, cooperate with us and this will end sooner for you. You can’t lie about this; you wouldn’t be feeling anything if there was no connection.” 

A hand brushes against his forehead, burning hot, and Danny turns his face towards the ground trying to move away from it. 

“I knew ghosts had to have some tie to the living world. And a living anchor would make the ghost stronger… If only dad would listen to me.” The voice sighs, and the words help him put the pieces together and realize this is the daughter of the GIW agent that came closest to finding him when he first ran to Gotham. 

It’s been close to a year since then. He thought they’d stopped looking. 

Really, he should have known better.

The hand leaves his forehead and he hears the leader bark out an order. Voices surround him, chanting, as they rise out of the dark. 

A red glow begins to fall on everything, enough that Danny can see it through his barely open eyes. A shudder runs through him, and he feels his transformation try to begin.

NO, he thinks desperately. He tries to force it down but it fights against him. It’s agony, pain on a molecular level, the feeling of dying over and over and over again.

NO, he thinks, STOP I DON’T WANT TO DIE SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME.

And then, unbidden, a single word rising in his mind. Duke.

Duke will help him if he knows Danny needs help. Duke has been kind and welcoming and helped Danny find his footing in Gotham, never judging and always quietly offering a hand in support. He’s the person Danny’s closest to in Gotham, someone dear to him, a light in the dark. 

He gave Danny a panic button.

Contrary to popular thought, Danny isn’t an idiot. He knows Duke is the Signal. A few too many incidents where Duke had disappeared and the Signal appeared to save him tipped him off. It didn’t help that Duke acted the same in and out of costume, and he always, always grabbed Danny first at the elbow, then slid his hand down to his wrist. 

Besides, who else gives panic buttons to their friends? Danny would have done the same to Sam and Tucker if they weren’t always attached at the hip. He’s a (former) teenage vigilante too, he knows how being involved in this kind of thing invites trouble into the rest of his life.

Duke can help him. He’s a hero. He’s saved Danny before.

He’s his friend. Danny trusts (wants to trust, so badly) that Duke will help him even when he’s not fully human, fully alive.

With trembling hands, he reaches into his jacket, to the panic button. It’s a simple necklace with an unassuming metal rectangle dangling off of it. It’s flat and thin, but the top gives way to a button that Danny clicks three times in quick succession. 

He waits a moment, trying to breathe through the pain, and clicks it three times again.

Please hurry, Duke, he thinks, hand falling limply to the ground. 

“Let’s try this, instead,” the leader says, and the chanting falls to a quiet murmur to give way to her voice as she begins reciting something.

It starts at his feet. They cramp up suddenly, then pain crackles up his bones like lightning, digging deep into him. It feels as if a thousand knives dig into his abdomen, cutting in deep and twisting.

Danny chokes on his breath, then screams, trying futilely to scramble away. All it does is make him writhe on the ground, back arching enough that he can feel the strain of it on his spine, but it doesn’t matter because he’s forcing down his transformation again, smothering Phantom as much as he can.

His breath mists out before him. His fingers go numb, frost spreading across the floor.

Tears slip down his face as Danny pants for breath.

It hurts. It hurts like nothing has ever hurt before, but he refuses to give in. If they find out he’s Phantom, they’ll only do worse. 

Please, he thinks again, deliriously.

As if hearing him, a window shatters above him and the cultists break off in screams. 

Forcing his eyes open, Danny squints through he tears and watches as the shadows around them rise up, roiling, and crash against the cultists. The force of it knocks them down, leaving them to claw desperately at their faces as the shadows cover their nose and mouths, cutting off their air. The leader is yelling, rage clear in her voice, shooting out magic spells at the Signal.

The Signal is usually a friendly figure. He’s safe, something whose meer presence makes people feel safe. His smile means everything’s alright and when it’s directed to Danny, he feels like nothing bad can ever happen to him again.

The Signal isn’t smiling now. 

He’s furious, expressionless and stone cold, bashing away the spells with shadows or light, advancing on the leader like an avenging angel come to deliver justice. 

He takes her out with hard hits, striking methodically. It’s not quick. She doesn’t get the kindness of being knocked out; no, he snaps a wrist, breaks her nose, slams her down on the ground and cuts off her air with a knee until her struggles die off and she’s left limp on the floor. 

When he rises, surrounded by shadows still moving restlessly, illuminated only by the flicker blue flames of the candles, he should look terrifying. 

All Danny feels is relief so sharp it worries him that his chest was cleaved in half without him noticing until now. He shivers against the floor, too weak to reach out to the Signal.

It’s a good thing he doesn’t have to. 

The Signal picks him up with careful hands, checking him over for injuries.

“Duke,” Danny murmurs, slurring a bit. The torture is definitely at fault for it, but the sudden absence of all that pain doesn’t help him sound any more coherent. “You came.”

“You called,” Duke says, “Of course I came. I’ve been looking for you for hours. You never showed up for our study date and I know you always try to reach out if you can’t make it. I’m just sorry I didn’t find you sooner.”

“S’okay, ‘m not mad. Was scared, but you made it better. The panic button…”

“It’s how I found you. I’m so glad you were wearing it today.”

Danny tries to smile, but the most he can manage is a twitch of his lips before his head tips forward to rest against Duke’s armored shoulder. “I always wear it.”

Duke’s grip on him tightens for a moment, then he begins walking, taking Danny away from the magic circles and the prone bodies of the cultists who had watched him be tortured and decided to keep going. Danny shudders again, his entire body aching. His transformation is still fighting to come out, but it’s not as strong anymore. 

“Let’s get out of here,” Duke says into his ear. “I’ll take you to the hospital.”

“No! No hospitals, please. I can’t let them know… they’ll find me…”

Duke shushes him soothingly, tucking him more securely against his chest. “Alright, Danny. No hospitals. But I am going to call Batman for a pick up to get you to one of the people we trust for medical care.”

“But Batman doesn’t work in the day.” Danny’s too exhausted to sound confused, but it must go through anyways. Duke laughs lowly, and the sound helps unwind the last of his nerves coiled up tight in fear. 

“Danny, it’s well into the night. You were gone for hours. Longest hours of my life.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, 

“Don’t be, it’s not your fault. Hang on, Batman’s nearly here.”

In any other circumstance, Danny would be excited to meet another hero. Especially Batman, one of the original heroes of the modern age. But all he wants is to go somewhere safe so he can curl up and cry, then sleep for three days before he pretends to be a normal human again. Ideally, he’d stay with Duke until he felt safe again, but he doesn’t want to take Duke away from the city that needs him.

His ears perk up a bit when he hears the smooth rumble of an engine stop in front of them. A door opens with a click without Duke needing to grab the handle, and then Danny is carefully being deposited in the back seat.

“Wait,” he says, trying to grab for Duke’s arm only to have his fingers fumble and grab nothing. Duke doesn’t move away, though, and instead grabs Danny’s seeking hand. “Stay? Please? I just—” his voice shudders, cracks, fractures apart. “I just want to feel safe.”

There’s a pause, a stillness in the air, before Duke says, “Okay. I’ll stay.” And then he’s sliding into the backseat, pulling Danny in to lean against him, curl into his embrace.

“Signal,” Batman’s low, gravelly voice says. There’s something in his tone that makes Danny tense up, prepared to take off, and his transformation pushes at his skin, ready to come out.

“He knows who I am, B,” Duke replies. “He’s trustworthy. Besides, just because he knows me doesn’t mean he knows you.”

“We will be discussing this later,” Batman says, dark promise in his voice. It’s just how he talks, Danny’s sure, too used to years of making himself the scariest thing in the dark. That doesn’t change the fact that Batman can be terrifying, and Danny can’t imagine he’ll take kindly to the fact that Danny knows Duke’s identity.

Fear slithers up his spine, and he can’t stop the transformation this time. The rings of white light flash over his body in a second, leaving Phantom in his place. 

Danny lets go of his legs first, glad to be free from their aching weight, and without a body made of flesh and bone, the hurt begins to fade away until it’s just an unpleasant memory. 

“What—” Duke starts to say just as Batman says, “Signal—”

They must have some sort of silent exchange. There’s only a heavy tension in the car and the barely audible rumble of the engine as they drive towards their destination, whatever it may be. Danny sinks into Duke some more, sighing in relief as a hand comes up to card through his wispy white hair. 

“Danny,” Duke says, “What’s this?”

“It’s why they hurt me,” he mumbles against Duke’s chest. “It’s why they keep hunting me down. I want them to leave me alone. I’m tired.”

Embarrassingly, his voice cracks on the last word and more tears fall down his cheeks. He hears Duke move, and then hands, bare and gloveless, wipe his tears away with a gentleness that makes his heart ache.

“They won’t be able to hurt you again. You’ll be safe from now on, Danny, I swear it.”

“S’okay if I get hurt,” he says, “It always happens. Promise to save me if this happens again?”

“I’ll do whatever I can to make sure it doesn’t happen again. But if it does, then I promise to always save you. I gave you that panic button, didn’t I? As long as you keep it, I’ll always find you.”

“You’re a good person, Duke,” Danny says, voice falling quieter as his exhaustion catches up to him. “I’m glad I met you.”

He thinks he feels a soft touch to the top of his head. A kiss, maybe, though it’s not likely. But he wants comfort, and he’s endured a lot a pain so he allows himself to hope and be delusional. With the warm that spreads through him from Duke’s soft kiss to his head, Danny gives in to the siren call of slumber.

“Get some sleep, Danny,” Duke says, voice hushed. “I’ll stay with you as long as you need.”

I know, he doesn’t say, too tired to open his mouth again, You’re always here. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

He falls asleep easily after that. There’s nothing in the world that can hurt him while he’s in Duke’s arms. He’s never been safer.

[wavebiders]

Cloud's girlfriends have unionized

[fatedroses]

Adventurer Zenos and G'raha cause I had to draw my silly guys. I just enjoy the idea of Zenos hanging out with fellow bookworms and being begrudgingly (though occasionally willingly) helpful.

[cerise-on-top]

Nikolai adopts trans people, whose parents abandoned/disowned them after coming out. He does this very frequently too, actually. While he may not actively seek said trans people out, he attracts them either way. Someone needs to care about them, and so he takes on the job of being their father. He'll support them through their transition and keep in contact with them, keeping them safe from their actual parents as well. He absolutely adores his trans sons, daughters and children and makes sure they know that. His "children" don't need to be actual children or teenagers, though, as he adopts adults as well.

[comfied-chriterature]

the narrative is rising up to doom mitsukou again I fear !!!!!!

[violetscacti-art]

HI I WOULD KILL FOR THEM ACTUALLY

[thegirlsarethriving]

just finished undertale. ok i see the vision. i now understand yall's Sans-to-Benrey obsession pipeline. and the Papyrus-to-Tommy Coolatta pipeline

[kanene-yaaay]

Sousou no Frieren- Tickle Headcanons

This anime has me in a chockehold and ain't letting me go so soon so I might as well share all the daydreams and thoughts living in my mind rent free since I watched it and decided that!!! Hey!!! I can add tickles to that!!!

Anyway, at first I was going to just write about Himmel and a few other selected characters from both adventures but GOSH suddenly all out of nowhere I start daydreaming about ALL OF THEM and so... This long post was born. kjhgfdfghjklkj not all of them are going to be very long and it can be OOC but I hope you still like to read it as much as I liked to write! <3

[~*~]

Himmel

(We are not going to talk about how much time I spent trying to choose just one gif) Our dear dead wife <3

He LOVES tickles and no one can convice me otherwise, I mean! Look at him! He definitely play that card at any moment he can

Cheering someone up? They say that laughter is the best medicine! Another boring day stuck in a cabin waiting for the snowstorm to go away? Nothing better than a tickle fight to make the time pass! Comforting a sad kid they just saved and are bringing to safety? Add a few wiggling fingers and watch that beautiful smile appear right way! Someone is literally just minding their own business doing nothing at all GET TICKLE ATTACKED!

He is a charming, playful, dramatic bastard and he knows it. He is using every and any opportunity to plentily tease the person, praising their laughter, pointing how lovely is their every reaction, gasping in false offense at any threat of revenge.

He will definitely laugh and snicker together with the person and sometimes let out honest comments that weren't supposed to be teasy but are like 'I didn't expect you to be so ticklish' or 'Wait, it tickles? Right here? That is so cute' and take the matters on his own hands to find at least one (1) new tickle spot when he tickles a friend because their surprised face right before descending in unstoppable giggling is way too priceless

Now, I need you to listen to this very very carefully: he can NOT take what he dishes out. at all.

So much squirming and trashing around. He can't control himself at all and won't even try to hold his laughter back, letting it ring loud and free, dying with any kind (literally, anything will do) of tease and pleading for his life as if he is being killed on the spot.

Somehow is totally blind to tickle traps. Sometimes just to mess with him Heiter would hold his cup up and ask for a toast and when Himmel complied he would latch on his ribs and rip my bro. he's dead on the floor. He never seems it coming even if they already done this a dozen time before.

Always crumbles with the tickles. A squeeze on his side and his legs transform in noodles immediately. That doesn't mean that he is a easy target though, if you decide to tickle him be prepared for some revenge

His main target and partner of tickle fights is Heiter, even though they manage to pull the rest of the party to their shenanigans sometimes too, even getting to listen to listen Eisen low, amused chuckles and Freiren tiny smile.

Talking about that. There is just one very specific occasion all his self preservations, squirms and defense disappear in the same second: when Frieren is involved.

Once, when both Heiter and Einsen decided to gang up on him, she decided to get into the fun with a few pokes and the VERY MOMENT Himmel realized that she was tickling him it was over.

He became a boneless mess of hysterical giggles on the floor not moving a single inch and taking all the tickling with no protests, completely lost in the fact that this was Frieren having fun, being silly and playful with them and his brain shortcurted and suddenly he became 1000000000000 more ticklish instantly.

Excuse me honor he is SMITTEN

If he is tickled for long enough or on a specially ticklish spot he lets out a loud, high pitched crackling that never fail to amuse his friends because he gets extremely red at that and tries to cover his face at any cost.

Besides that, he is not flustered at all about his liking to tickle and be tickled. It's a fun activity, a nice way to bond and it bring happiness to everyone! What is there to be embarrased about it?

Though other teases can destroy him rip

Is extremely and I say extremely gentle and caring when tickling Frieren. Soft scribbles, light scratching and steeping away not before too long has passed. Sometimes get lost in the happiness and joy of the moment but it's quick to come back to reality so that his tickling never lasts too long and he gets smiley about it for the rest of the day.

Gets grumpy about how he never manages to catch Einsen by surprise but immediately loses his pout when the warrior decides that he is not the one who started that war but he is the one who will finish it.

When he takes too long to decide a pose for their statue they start to attack him with plenty of pokes and squeezes until he finally makes up his mind.

Sometimes they just do that while he is posing to mess with him too. Especially because Himmel will try to pretend nothing is happening and attempt to keep his pose on the very beginning until he eventually breaks down in titters and protesting giggles.

It never lasts long. But he keeps trying

Has The Smirk.

Softest and most playful aftercare ever. With plenty of comfort and smiles.

Heiter

Our flawed priest <3

Do not have The Smirk but he has an entire aura about him that you can't really point what it is but suddenly there's ringing danger bells in your mind and on outside he looks normal, just taking a drink but then you blink and then BOOM he strikes

Can and will destroy someone with tickles with just one (1) hand because his other one is too busy carrying his cup

Gets stupidly silly when tickling someone. He will chuckle together with the person and use the goofiest nicknames, teases, tickle traps and everything else he can think of. It's the whole ordeal, really. He has no shame.

It's quite neutral but leaning to positive when it comes to tickling, but since Himmel is always dragging him into tickle fights he can't help but get a little bit of playful revenge. After a few years he started a couple of them by himself too.

Is horribly skilled with the nimblest and deadliest tickles ever.

Also. Changes from side to side of a tickle fight easy as water and will always help who offers him more drinks. So be careful when siding up with him to not get too close or comfortably into tickling range.

Somehow, incredibly lucky in finding tickle spots, be with random pokes to call the person's attention or some soft scribbling to hear some giggles and smile amused and content at them.

Also adept to cheer up or comforting tickles, creating a lot of fond memories with Fern in the nights she couldn't sleep and they both shared some good tea while watching the sky.

Will try to curl up in a ball when tickled and his only protest is to be careful with his glasses.

Not really very affected by teases. Says a lot of nonsense when is tickled tho

Frieren

HEEEEERRRRRRRR <3 <3 Our old lady

Has the tiniest, sweetest smile when tickling someone. it's adorable.

Do not engage in tickle fights but it's not against them. Usually would just stay in the background with Einsen while the other two got caught up in their giggly shenaningans

Her biggest moment was when she decided to show everyone this magic spell she learned some decades ago and then suddenly everyone is attacked by a bunch of wiggly, fluffy feathers that followed them no matter how much they squirmed or jumped.

Tickle spell tehee

They never got to know if she did that to mess with them or if she truly just wanted to show the spell.

Is more curious about tickling than anything. Thinks it's a nice way to make her friends laugh, but it's also very neutral about it, won't actively seek revenge or anything.

After years with both Himmel and Heiter, also lightly tickled Fern once or twice for the sake of cheering her up.

Ticklish ears ticklish ears ticklish ears ticklish ears-

The first time Himmel tickled her he immediately fell on the floor ded because it was too much cute.

(The way he looked at her that day is a fond memory for her, she doesn't quite know why, tho.)

Not really a squirmer and her laughter is mostly silence, full of small giggles and one or two hiccups. Like soft tickles the best, since it is not unbearable to feel and actively leaves her w a light, quite content feeling afterwards. She could take a tickle fight, tho.

Fern

<3 Somehow the most responsible adult in the party <3

Terrifying ler, can and will use your weakness against you.

Just as she does when fighting, thrives when her victim understimate her power and is quick and ruthless to bring them to their destruction.

Will tickle the person usually as a way to get them to do something (probably a chore they forgot) or admit something while having the most unimpressed face ever seen by humankind

She can be both incredibly merciless and very very kind, depends on her mood, the person and the context

Only like being tickled by someone she really trusts and not around another people so no one will her being silly like this.

Get very embarrassed just for thinking how childish tickling is, but treasures the soft moments with har friends and family, just like every other playful, fun, nice memory

When the person (let's be honest here, probably Spark) is too occupied laughing their heart out also let's out the tiniest, softest smile, pretty much like Frieren

Used tickles to cheer up Spark once and promised to do 10 times worse if he even THINKS about mentioning that to anyone

Snorts. SO much of them. If she is laughing they will automatically appear no matter how much she tried to hide them between her hands.

Her shoulders and head shake with giddy energy when is being tickled. It's everything <3

Einsen

*LOUD INTELLIGIBLE SCREAMING* AAAAAA

As I said on Himmel's part, not really one to start the tickle fight but a quick one to finish it.

Not really very ticklish and not very easy to be caught out of guard so rip his opponents, really

HOWEVER, he has one single incredibly and horribly ticklish spot right under his knee that he immediately DIES when it's tickled and it's an automatic win for the person, so the thing is of every fight is: will them be able to get him there before he gets them? That is the big question

Not really a teaser, prefers to tickle the person in silence while mapping the places that get the biggest reactions so he can focus there.

Could or could not have used this techinique with Spark to 'train his resistence' once (an excuse that his friends were very fond to use with him) but no one will ever know because if you ask him he will just stare at you and let out a single chuckle before going on about his day and Spark will Blush and Die before answering

Made mental bets and always knew the score by heart of Himmel x Heiter fights

Used to think it was a silly and pointless activity. But after their ten year adventure came to treasure and be fond of silly, pointless activities

Loud, booming laughter or no laughing at all. No in between.

Spark

DA BOI WHO DID NOT DESERVE THAT PAST AND NOW DESERVE ALL THE LAUGHTER EVER

Do not mind tickling at all!

It kind of reminds he of his brother, since when he was a kid he was the biggest tickle monster ever. Not only on those training tips he used to give even while being extremely busy, but he just loved to appear out of nowhere behind him, carry and put him on his shoulder and tickle him while walking back home, pretenidng he was carrying a bag of 'extremely wiggly vegetables!'

He also used pokes and prodding to help him with maintaining his form while wielding a sword. Even if extremely common, Spark still squeaked everytime he poked his armpit to remind him to not his arms so far away from his torso

Still, everytime he is tickled that boi just can't form ANY coherent sentence at all, no matter if he is full on belly laughter with just a few giggles, his mind immediately turn into a mushy mess

Won't go down without a fight. Running away, attacking back, squirming as his life depends on that. Most of the time squirming away from it only to dash in a sudden bolt of energy and then come back in a surprise tickle attack to get revenge.

Tried to get Fern back once for tickling and they ended up actually fighting but some days later she started a tickle fight so he ??? is just very confused??? if she actually hates it???

(But to see her loosing up, giggling, laughing out loud and being so full of playfulness and joy... wow)

He likes to throw a few playful teases here and there when he is tickling his friends, with plenty of snickers of his own and pointing out how ticklish the other person is or about their delight reactions.

!!Tickles games!!!

His entire face gets extremely red when his laughter begins to sound higher or crackly. Can NOT take any tease about that at all.

Sein

OUR EVEN MORE FLAWED PRIEST <3 <3 <3 Come back pls

THE MOST TICKLISH PERSON EVER

And his best, amazing, ruthless friend Gorilla was more than happy to remind him about it all the time

Until nowadays he can't really see fingers wiggling in his direction without immediately getting a wobbly smile and giggles instinctively creeping up on his throat

His brother also would tickle him when he was a kid and later would gladly snitch all the 'truly good, hidden tickle spots' to his friend much to his dismisse

Will trash, squirm, plea, beg and promise to do anything when tickled. Especially if we'retalking about light, soft tickles. Those make him go absolutely crazy out of his own mind

Even so, he doesn't mind it too much. Still, gets extremely embarrased and complains about how childish it is.

Def made AND lost bets again his friend and got tickled as a "payament". Also I can see them both having competitions to see who takes the longest to laugh, say uncle, keep their arms up and etc :D

Sometimes gives Spark a few tickles just to mess w him and snicker at the jumps he gives.

Spark got revenge so rip.

[wandeel]

In the “My big brother is a jerk” category, part 3:

[justarandomlambblog]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 [END]

The second shackle comes off

Get adopted and feel loved, mangey cat

We're gonna pretend I didn't give Heket the wrong shaped crown aight? aught 👍

(explanation beneath the cut bc I didn't want dialogue)

The harvest comes. Narinder can't help but notice how sad the wheat fields are, the wheat growing small and patchy at best. He remembers how Heket would make the wheat fields flourish just by walking between the stalks. The memory of the fields she would create early in their godhood makes him feel somber, realizing now what the cost of being a godless land is; their entire lives are left to the limitations of the earth, without any god to help them thrive. These people are making the best of what they have, and they're happy even though it's not a lot.

Narinder notices some are harvesting wheat while others till the earth once it's been harvested, and the old dog explains that once this wheat is harvested they plant "winter wheat", which can be harvested in the spring before they plant their summer wheat. They till and fertilize the earth before planting the winter wheat, of course. Narinder tries his hand at harvesting the wheat, and the old dog begins to teach him how to use the sickle. Time passes.

Over the late summer, autumn and winter, Narinder learns how to live this provincial, modest life. He tills the fields with the other villagers, he sees feral beasts for the first time in over a thousand years, learns to collect eggs from said feral beasts, learns how and decides he doesn't like to collect milk (the godless lands have more feral beasts than the Lands of the Old Faith ever did), has finally regained enough strength to draw water from the village well without help, learns to bake bread (with great amounts of help so as to not waste the precious resources with the inevitable first fifty failures), and attends his first lantern festival. All in all, this marks his approach to his second year here, most of his first year spent indoors recovering. (His fur is also getting long, something something new me new hair something (totally not an excuse for me to draw hair))

At his first lantern festival, Narinder decides to partake in what is usually a coming of age tradition for the village; he gets an ear piercing, choosing a symbol that will essentially act as his written name. He chooses a symbol that is a crescent moon inside of a sun, thinking of Aym and Baal when he sees it. (Note: He is not scared/nervous about the ear piercing, he isn't bothered by a literal pinprick of pain, but the fact that someone he barely knows is this close with a needle is what worries him)

Later on, days or even weeks later, the old dog gives him a chain with their individual symbols on it, with a loose chain hanging from the other side of Narinder's sun-and-moon charm. Narinder questions this and the old dog explains the symbolism behind the charms; two charms with a chain extending between them indicates marriage/partnership, and two charms with another charm on the chain between them indicates that couple's child/children. The one Narinder has is the latter, with the second parent's charm missing, indicating that the old dog views Narinder as his own son, now. It takes a moment, but Narinder realizes all at once that this is the old dog's way of extending an invitation to become family- and it's been so long since Narinder had a family... (And yes, the old dog is fully aware that this cat is thousands of years old (Narinder was very vocal about this in the first weeks before he eventually stopped bringing it up), but that won't stop him from deciding he's gonna be this abandoned, fallen god's new family)

Narinder goes to sleep, and finds that despite everything- despite how simple and quaint and, frankly, not easy life in this little godless village is, he's happy. He has none of the luxuries that he had as a Bishop; no worship, no reverence, no servants, no silks or satins or veils or anything of the sort. Here he's just... one of the people. Just another face in the crowd. And he's happy. Happier than he's been in a long time. Unfortunately for Narinder, he is failing to realize that this godless village is a little less godless every day he's there. But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The village wakes up to their fields flourishing like they never have before. The wheat is taller than the tallest villager, and no one is really sure what to do about this, but there is excitement throughout the village. Narinder thinks of Heket again, reminded once more how she would make the fields come alive. The shackle on his left hand opens up before dispersing into light, and he remembers the way she looked at him in the days leading up to his imprisonment, the quiet and somber warnings she would give him. He takes a moment to grieve before turning his attention back to the present, back to the family he's creating now.

[beanghostprincess]

i love how much all the boys in the crew (especially luffy/zoro/sanji, of course) are protective over nami in a way that they know she's smart and strong and capable of beating the shit out of someone if she wants to but they protect her either way because that's their girl and if somebody touches her they're probably going to end up dead

[burningfaith]

next month me and my grandma are going to visit my godfather who lives in Spain, but instead of being excited (it's gonna be my second time abroad in my life) I'm anxious af, because even though I'm an adult I live with my parents and I need to tell my father about it. normal parents would - y'know - be happy that their children have opportunity to visit another country, but instead he's gonna be insufferable about it, because it's my mom's side of family and he despises my uncle. but what is he gonna do? kick me out of the house even though he promised that as long as I'm studying or working I don't need to worry about such thing, humiliate me as usual, tell me that I'm childish and spoiled or make my mom's life a living hell again? I'm aware of the fact that the longer I'm putting it off the worse his reaction is gonna be, but I'm just not mentally able to tell him that, because I don't know how he will react. I don't need any money from him, I don't have to use my phone during this trip (I dunno how the roaming and stuff work), I just want to be sure he's gonna behave like a proper human being towards my mom and my siblings when I won't be at home and not act like a total asshole while talking with me about it.

[seawitchkaraoke]

Is anyone else still a red name or do we really need to wait for Ren to actually kill someone? Bc guys..... I don't think he's gonna kill anyone

[mayomkun]

Finally done with teen wolf rewatch. Phew

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

Hmmm it's been a while since I posted one of my weird crossover ideas on tumblr. Let's fix that.

For the past few days I've been enjoying daydreaming about a Avatar the Last Airbender/Wingfeather Saga crossover. But it's. probably not what you would expect, haha. I'll probably never write it as more than ideas though, so I may was well post the concept here.

So this takes place in the Wingfeather world of Aerwiar, several years before the Fall of Anniera that jumpstarts the war/plot happening in the book series. One day, Artham Wingfeather is in one of Anniera's port towns and is called over by a concerned citizen, who leads him to a crowd watching a rowboat slowly drift to shore. The rowboat contains two small children, who Artham brings ashore and takes back to Castle Rysen.

The small children in question are Zuko (age 4) and Azula (age 2). In this version of events, the Fire Nation royal family is a bit darker than in canon and, after Ozai flies into a rage and burns Zuko (yes he still has his scar I know I'm mean, but there's a POINT I swear) Ursa decides she needs to get her kids the heck out of the Fire Nation. But Ozai is suspicious and possessive of her in general and has her under guard so she can't escape the palace, so she entrusts her kiddos to a few trusted servants, who pack them up in a rowboat with food and water and send them off, hoping they'll make it to a coastal village and be taken in by a kindly family.

Most of this is explained/implied in a note that Ursa sent along with the kids, that Artham reads and passes on to Esben (and Nia and Arundelle). They are properly horrified.

However, what no one realizes is that these kiddos have come through a portal between the two worlds. So Artham and Esben ASSUME that SOMEWHERE these kid's mom is being held captive by their cruel father and so they send out search parties/reconnaissance teams to try and rescue her, and because any father so cruel as to hurt his son the way Ozai hurt Zuko needs to be stopped. The brothers also wonder if, perhaps, this is somehow connected to the Tragic Accident that befell their parents and aunt Illiya a year before when their ship was lost and they were killed. And they start to wonder if, perhaps, that wasn't an accident, but that they stumbled upon whatever This was and tried to stop it and got in the way. (They don't suspect Bonifer... at first...)

Anyway, Artham finds himself caretaker for these two small children and develops a bond with them, especially Zuko (what, you thought I WASN'T going to use this as an excuse to make a connection between two of my favorite characters of all time?). Arundelle also becomes close with them, and- besides the cooks in the castle- she's the first person Artham tells about the kids. Because I thought it'd be fun to make Arundelle a healer (hey, why shouldn't she be good with healing plants and herbs? heh) and have her be the main person who treats Zuko's burn.

Azula recovers from the trauma of being separated from her mom and home pretty quickly since the new place she's in has kind, caring people, nice food, is still a palace, and she's two. She loves playing with Arundelle and listening to Artham's stories. She's very bright and friendly and talkative. She IS very attached to her brother tho, sleeping in the same bed as him the first few nights in this new place, even defending him/trying to explain his actions the way she's heard adults do. (when Artham finds the siblings they're clinging to each other in their little boat, terrified)

Zuko is more complicated. He's had the physical trauma of being burned paired with the emotional trauma of being hurt and abused by his father (the burning wasn't the first time, just the most severe). He understands a little more of what's going on than his sister. He love, love, loves being held, especially by Artham, because since Azula was born he's not been allowed to act like a "baby" and hasn't gotten much physical affection. He's very shy and has periods of mutism when meeting new people or encountering distressing/unfamiliar situations. Little guy has also had his senses severely rattled by losing both half his vision and half his hearing in one fell swoop. In short, he's a mess. The first time he's alone with Artham he has a panic attack because he thinks Artham will hurt him, but Artham being so kind and understanding and gentle with him helps him unlearn that. Zuko becomes very attached to Artham very quickly and... Artham becomes attached to him pretty fast too.

(Additionally, Zuko is terrified of Bonifer. The only explanation he can give for that is, "He looks at me like father did." which does plant a little seed of suspicion in Artham's mind specifically)

So, long term, this severely messes up Gnag/Bonifer's plans, since suddenly the Annierans are combing the Hollows/The Killridge Mts/even the Doonlands trying to find Zuko and Azula's family. This either forces the baddies to speed up their plans... or derails them altogether. I haven't decided yet, haha. The Annierans do find out something of what Gnag is doing (they don't connect Bonifer to it right away tho) and end up with some preparation for the attack that eventually comes. I think the attack on Anniera is still somewhat successful, but a lot less so than in canon. Like, I don't think the entire populace is captured/scattered and I haven't decided if I want Artham and Esben to still get captured or not. (if they do I have this great mental image of 7-year-old Zuko and 5-year-old Azula trying to rescue them from Throg. Just. just imagine the CHAOS even a pair of BABY firebenders could do in Aerwiar. Imagine.)

Oh yeah, to give you a better idea of WHEN this happens, Nia is pregnant with Janner when Artham finds Zuko and Azula. I just thought it'd be fun for Zuko to have the same age gap with Janner he has with Aang and it makes it close enough for things to come together plot wise.

So yeah, that's my thoughts on how Zuko and Azula could potentially have prevented the Fall of Anniera. xD

Other random things they cause:

Artham adopting them

Artham and Arundelle getting married a few years before Anniera falls after the closeness and bonding that comes from caring for a pair of traumatized children.

Absolute chaos with their firebending (the Annierans chalk this up to the old stories of Annieran/Anyaran kids having special powers to defend their home with and decide not to question it further)

So yeah, there's my late night thoughts on a WFS/ATLA AU. where Artham adopts Zuko and Azula. because why not. I hope it was a fun read. :D