#all in the name of science of course but there is still a sick sense of fascination and the scientific urge to experiment on the unknown

[askblueandviolet]

Have you ever tried dating Syntax?

MASTER POST

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[i-write-shakespeare-not-disney]

Very curious about pro hero Deku one for hadestown au!!!

Oh bet!

So the way I see that one going is that Izuku asks Rody to go to Japan with him around when he's about to graduate UA, about to start a hero agency, etc.

However, due to everything that happened and heroes hanging up their capes when they were most needed, the amount of money cast to heroes went down, so that money isn't a driving factor. Think... teachers. You teach because you're passionate about it and want to do something good and help kids. Not for the money because we severely underpay teachers and it's awful. That happens to the hero career too.

Rody works on being a pilot, but it's a lot harder to do in Japanese. So he's picking up another job and Roro and Lala are in school, he's still figuring out the language etc

Then one day Lala becomes horribly sick and there's no clear reason why. Doctors can't tell, quirks can't tell, and she's getting worse.

She's close to dying when someone offers to cure her. In exchange for Rody helping with a quirk analysis. Rody, desperate to save Lala, agrees without a care. He just wants Lala safe and healthy, and Izuku— for all his strength and quirks— can't help here. He's been working himself to the bone and unintentionally unaware of what rody has been feeling and what he's about to do.

Suffice to say, the guy who cures Lala was also the one who infected her, all a ploy to get more people involved in quirk experimentation meant to get to the core of a quirk so that a person can mix them or extricate them or give them, inspired by AFOs ability, except they're looking for the science behind it.

Of course, this leaves the subjects brain pretty scrambled, leading to lapses in memory and stuff. So rody doesn't remember why he did it, how he got there, who was waiting for him.

Lala in this has a quirk where she sort of senses things, draws them, and they happen. It's brushed off at first, cute sketches of Izuku standing tall seen as her admiration, no correlation to the day Izuku wins Hero of the Year at a city festival. So she starts drawing rody and it's assumed that it's just her missing him since he went missing.

Then izuku notices. And he uses her drawings to find rody, but everyone there is... well. Almost like a drone. No thoughts in their heads.

And when rody sees him, rody panics.

He panics because the sight of izuku causes something, but he's not sure what and it's strong and he's saying these names that sound familiar but rody barely knows his own name, and he's scrambling through fractured memories for something but there's nothing and he lashes out because of it.

So now izuku makes a deal. We go a little into Hercules territory for this.

Rody for himself. Just let him get him home to his siblings, to his friends. And they can have izuku. They can dissect OFA.

And it's like sure. If he'll follow you.

At this another subordinate working there offers her own sort of nullification quirk, something that calms a person. But in order to keep the quirk active Rody cant see Izuku's face. It brings up too many emotions and will break the effects of the quirk because it's a very weak quirk.

So does Izuku keep his gaze ahead when he can't hear rody? Could he face Roro and Lala knowing he got that close only to be tricked and lose track of him again? Does he trust someone he doesn't know to help him? Does he hold faith and keep his sight forward, hoping against hope that the love rody held for him is enough to make him follow izuku out of bounds of the experiment site? Enough to heal him?

Or does he look back to be sure he hasn't lost the man he loves?

[endlessly-searching-for-you]

There’s Always Another Summer, Chapter 5

Chapter 5: One Summer to Change the World

When a mysterious invitation pulls Taylor and Diego toward a research facility on the island that haunts their dreams, one thing is certain: this summer is about to change everything.

« Chapter 4 / Chapter 6 »

~***~

Taylor almost deleted the email. At first, it looked like the usual university spam: exclusive internship program, limited slots, blah blah, future career, blah blah, delighted to invite you, more details here, blah blah, waiting for your reply.

Except it said that her name was already on the acceptance list. And didn’t ask for her credit card number at all.

She scrolled back to read the subject line once more and frowned:

“Congratulations on your Olivia Montoya Research Institute internship!”

Her stomach churned. Olivia Montoya. That name sent a pang of grief through her heart. Olivia was a scientist, brilliant and uncompromising, mother of her friend, Estela. Someone who had died trying to take down a monster. And now—brought back from the dead by the same man as his charming accomplice.

The paradox burned like acid in her throat. Judging by the short propaganda videos displayed here and there, Taylor could only guess that they’d both been brainwashed and twisted to fit Rourke’s vision of the perfect woman: compliant, silent, ornamental. Nothing more than a houseplant in a pretty pot.

It made her feel sick to the core.

She clicked on the attachment icon, and a PowerPoint presentation flickered on screen: Montoya Research Institute — state-of-the-art labs, modern seafront building, dorms on campus. Biotechnology, theoretical physics, quantum chemistry, neuroinformatics, chronodynamics, temporal engineering. Advanced courses. Unique career opportunities. One summer to change the world.

She stared at the background photo. The cliffs were too familiar, too exact. She could sense her skin prickle. It felt strange, almost fake. Trap disguised as an invitation. She nearly closed the file in that instant.

And then she saw it.

Address: La Huerta.

Her heart sank. Something in her head screamed at her to run, but she couldn’t. If La Huerta still existed, it could have been her only chance to find the truth, make the others remember what was real, and fix what was broken.

Her phone buzzed with another message, this time from Diego:

“Hey, did YOU sign us up for a science internship?! Because I just got a fancy message saying I’m in and I swear I didn’t apply, and I KNOW you know I suck at lab work???”

She laughed. Of course he would panic. She texted him back:

“Nope. Got it, too. Weird. Do you think we’re being scouted??”

“By whom? NASA? Ghostbusters?!”

“Men in black? I mean, that would explain a lot.”

But her smile faded quickly. Deep down, she knew this wasn’t luck or merit. This was bait... and she intended to take it.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Let’s play your game.”

Diego was far less chill.

“This has to be connected,” he muttered, pacing in her kitchen the next day, downing the third cup of coffee in a row. Taylor started to get worried when she saw him reaching for another one. “The video. Varyyn. And now this internship?”

“Do you think someone is trying to set us up?”

“I don’t think—I know. This has Zahra written all over it.”

“She said she would try to help.”

“Yeah, and now we’re being handed free summer jobs at one of the most exclusive scientific institutes in the country? Run by Olivia Montoya herself? Come on, Taylor, be serious. This is a place for biotech prodigies and academic rockstars. You and I? We barely passed chemistry without setting anything on fire. Come on. This must be a setup.”

Taylor frowned. “And yet, I want to go.”

Diego stopped pacing. “Seriously?”

She met his gaze. “Varyyn reached out to us. That means something. If there is a chance, even a small one, that we can find some answers there, I have to try.”

He pulled out a chair and sat on its edge, shifting uncomfortably. “I know it sounds weird, but… I keep thinking about his face. That look in his eyes. It’s like he knew me. Almost like he… like he missed me.”

Taylor was quiet for a beat. Then she said softly, “Well, maybe he did know you.”

Diego looked up. “You really believe that?”

“Yeah. And maybe there is some part of you that does, too. Even if it’s buried.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You think the Vaanti are there? At the facility?”

“I think… it’s possible. If there’s even a trace of the world from our story, it would be at La Huerta. I mean, the location, the name… I don’t think it’s just a coincidence.”

He let out a dry laugh. “Well, it’s not like I have better plans. My parents still think being gay is a phase I’m supposed to outgrow. They wanted me to come home this summer for another round of thinly veiled lectures and a retreat at some church camp.”

Taylor winced. “Diego…”

“Whatever.” He waved it off. “Honestly, a fake internship with questionable funding and the possibility of meeting aliens? It sounds almost like a vacation. And definitely like an adventure.”

She raised a brow. “Hold on… it pays?”

“Yup. Monthly stipend, full room and board. Beach access, too.” He gave her a half-hearted grin. “We’re living the dream.”

Taylor shook her head with a faint smile. “You’re impossible.”

“Yeah,” he said. “And yet, you still pick me as your plus-one for everything.”

There was a long silence. Then Diego looked up again, suddenly more serious.

“Do you really think we’ll find answers there?”

Taylor’s voice was steady. “I think… well, if anything could help, it would be returning to where it started, right?”

Diego sighed. “Alright then. I’m coming with you. But if I get killed, I’m coming back to haunt you.” Taylor smirked. “Better bring snacks.”

~***~

Later, after Diego left, Taylor found herself wandering the campus. Her steps took her past the student union, then towards the library, and finally out near the bus stop where Zahra usually hung out between classes.

And there she was. Leaning against the railing, earbuds in, tapping something rapidly on her phone.

Taylor hesitated for only a second.

“Hey,” she said. “Got a minute?”

Zahra didn’t look up. “If you’re here to talk about the pan, I’m not taking feedback.”

Taylor huffed a laugh. “No. It’s the email.”

That got Zahra’s attention. Her eyes flicked upward, unreadable. “Yeah. Thought you’d get that.”

“You signed me up?”

Zahra shook her head. “Nope. But I knew it was coming.”

Taylor folded her arms. “How?”

Zahra hesitated. “Let’s just say I’ve kept a hand on the pulse. You and Diego? Not exactly their usual picks.”

Taylor narrowed her eyes. “So why us?”

Zahra looked away. “Because it’s on La Huerta,” she said finally. “The internship. The facility. Do you think it’s a coincidence? That place matters. I don’t know why, but it does… every time I hear the name, something prickles under my skin. It feels familiar, somehow. And it pisses me off that I don’t know why.”

She hesitated, then added, “You talk about it in your sleep.”

Taylor turned sharply. “Excuse me?”

“About the island. Sometimes, you sound like you’re arguing with it. Or begging someone to come back.”

Taylor swallowed hard. “What else did you hear?”

Zahra hesitated again. “Lots of names. Mine, Diego’s, Quinn’s—of other people we know. And it sounds like you’re talking to us. Like you’re reliving something.”

Taylor froze.

Zahra went on, her voice quieter now. “There’s one name that comes up the most. Jake. It’s like you’re calling out to him. I put the two and two together after I found the clipping. That old wanted poster you tore out and hid under your pillow? I didn’t snoop, okay? I just… saw it by accident. I didn’t get it at first. But now?” She shook her head. “I don’t know what a girl like you sees in a fugitive. But I guess that’s none of my business.”

Taylor’s fists clenched. “And I’m supposed to believe you didn’t report that to… whoever told you to keep an eye on me?”

Zahra met her gaze. “I told you, I don’t know who it was and why they asked me to do it. Well, at least at first. But then I started to have weird dreams. One night you scream a name in your sleep, next one it’s in my dream. Terrifying one, too. There are memories I cannot access, like they were trapped on the other side of the mirror. You’re the one it all seems to follow. And if you want answers, La Huerta is the only place that makes sense.”

Taylor’s throat was dry. “And what if it’s a trap?”

Zahra gave a half-shrug. “Then spring it. Better than waiting for it to snap shut on its own.”

Taylor stared at her for a long moment, then turned to leave.

Behind her, Zahra added, barely audible, “And for what it’s worth… I do hope you find him.” A small smile tugged at her lips as she glanced back at her phone—maybe it was a message from Craig, maybe from someone else—but it warmed her tone just enough to betray more hope than sarcasm.

~***~

One week later, Taylor and Diego stood at the edge of a sun-bleached tarmac, squinting into the shimmering heat as a sleek shuttle pulled up.

“This is it,” Diego murmured. “No turning back.”

Taylor adjusted her bag on her shoulder, heart pounding. “You ready?”

“Define ready,” he muttered. But they both stepped forward, boarding the transport.

The interior was clinical and silent. Other interns sat scattered through the rows, visibly nervous. No one spoke much. Taylor caught a few curious glances—some unfamiliar, others achingly so. Across the aisle, she noticed Michelle flipping through a medical journal, her blonde hair pinned back in a sharp twist. She looked up briefly, waved a hand with vague recognition, then returned to the article.

Grace Hall hunched over a tablet a few rows back, tapping some equations into a glowing screen. Next to her, Taylor noticed Raj bobbing his head to music only he could hear, tapping his fingers on the window. None of them said anything. None of them acted like they knew her. Maybe they didn’t. Not yet.

Destination: La Huerta. No returns.

~***~

Somewhere overhead, the plane banked gently. The ocean glittered beneath them like molten glass. Jake squinted through the smudged windshield of a battered cockpit as a strip of jungle runway came into their view.

“Is that it?” Mike asked, eyeing the dense green below, barely hiding his disappointment.

Jake nodded once. “Yup. La Huerta.”

“Huh. Thought it’d have more… buildings. Or fewer vines. Or both.”

“Weird,” Jake grunted. “I thought it was a tourist spot.”

“No kidding. There goes my umbrella drink and SPF 100.” Mike leaned back in his seat, arms crossed. “So, let me get this straight. You hear of this place—nothing more than a name—and suddenly, you’re Captain Determination flying us into this mosquito-ridden rock with no clue what we’re walking into and no exit plan.”

“I didn’t say it made sense,” Jake muttered, adjusting the throttle. “It’s a gut thing.”

Mike smirked. “You always had terrible instincts.”

Jake didn’t rise to the bait. His grip on the controls tightened. “Look, when I heard the name, it felt like something clicked into place. Like this was where I was supposed to be.”

Mike gave him a long look. “You think you’ll find her here, don’t you? The girl from your dreams.”

“Could be,” Jake said, voice low.

“Romantic. Stupid, hopeless, but romantic. Think she will appreciate it?”

Jake cracked a half-smile. “Yeah. Well. You’re still here, so what does that say about you?”

“That I lost a bet. Again.”

The plane dipped lower. The coastline unfurled beneath, oddly familiar.

Jake exhaled. “Whatever’s down there… I need to see it.”

Mike muttered, “Just promise me this one doesn’t end with us running from an exploding volcano.”

Jake answered with a lopsided grin. “No promises.”

~***~

« Chapter 4 / Chapter 6 »

[dailydemonspotlight]

Raiju - Day 163

Race: Wilder Arcana: Tower Alignment: Dark-Neutral Evolves from: Gremlin February 26th, 2025 (Slime Day) Requested by @/WakaWakaWaka

To celebrate the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, @kiyyunkaiwan (@/WakaWakaWaka on Discord) has requested that I cover a specific demon corresponding to a specific monster in Monster Hunter for each day this week! Today, we're going to be covering Raiju, who Zinogre was based on.

Lightning is already an incredibly interesting phenomenon- two charged areas corresponding together into a massive bolt of electricity- but it gets even more fascinating when, ironically, you remove the science. I mean, you mean to tell me that sometimes from the sky a giant bolt of light comes down to set fire to and obliterate a random spot on the ground, with the only foretell being rain? I would jump on that for worldbuilding right away, screw the science! So, of course, basically every civilization (or really, every civilization that experienced lightning (which was basically every civilization)) ended up ascribing something of great importance to this lightning. It's cool enough that it'd be stupid NOT to. Of course, the most noteworthy example of this is the Greek god and hurler of thunderbolts Zeus, but today we're going to be shifting over to Japanese folklore- specifically, we're going to be talking about the Raijū, the lightning-bringing beasts of Edo period Japan.

Raijū literally were lightning, feared by many for bringing havoc to the wood-carved villages of ancient Japan, their name literally meant 'thunder beast,' and they resided on thunderbolts far up in the sky. All Raijū appeared in the forms of specific animals, though it seems that the identity of the Raijū's animal form changed from location to location or even from Raijū to Raijū itself- many of them adapted the forms of wolves, and the most common appearance of them in depictions is that of a dog, a tanuki, a cat, or a weasel. This can be seen in some artworks, yes, but curiously, the most common form of the Raijū is actually in the form of mummified animals sold for scams eg the Fiji Mermaid.

Raijū were said to accompany the god of thunder Raijin, and while he represented where crops would grow bountiful in the wake of a storm, his companions represented the chaos that lightning could bring. These thunder dogs would ride the bolts of lighting that Raijin hurled, and were often feared. However, the most curious thing to note here is the Raijū's association with, of all things, belly buttons..?? Yeah, it's odd, but it has a real precedent, as many of the regions where Raijū were spotted have warm and humid weathers that drop drastically during rain, and a kid taking off their clothes would lead to sickness.

Now, what's the deal with Raijū and belly buttons anyway? Turns out, if someone's navel was on display while the lightning was near, the Raijū on the lightning bolt would leap from the bolt and into the belly button, curling up inside to get nice and cozy. It's honestly a pretty cute picture, though the aftermath is far from that- once the storm is over, Raijin would call back the thunder beasts and, seeing that one is sleeping within someone's belly button, he'd literally throw lightning at that person to get them to give up their new navel dog. Alas. This would, predictably, lead to the person possibly dying because, well, they got stricken by lightning. The hell else is gonna happen? Overall, Raijū are an anomaly in many senses, but I still love their idea- the concept of beings that literally are bolts of lightning. Also, they can appear as ball lightning, and given that ball lightning still doesn't have a solid explanation, I choose to believe that it's a Raijū just popping down to say hi.

In SMT, they take the thunder beast idea quite literally, making it basically an indeterminate animal (likely a dog or possibly a panther?) with lightning attributes, fusing the animal with the lightning bolt it's represented by. Not much else to say, but it works well. No clue why it's only got two legs, but being bipedal is in, as the kids say.

[randomreadingtimewithtsuki]

Could I request Ao no Exorcist Lucifer relationship headcanons with my OC? Please and thank you!

Name:  Selma Irene Starling

Aliases:  Irena

Name Meaning:  God’s helmet/Peace

Gender:  Female

Height:  5’1”

Species:  Half angel/half human

Personality:  Patient, kind, selfless, optimistic, creative, trustworthy, steadfast, wise, righteous, intelligent, empathetic, hardworking, passionate, encouraging, respectful, caring, humble, sincere, imaginative, quiet, independent, strong-willed, observant, and honest.

Describe character:  Pure, peacemaker, reliable, integrity, reverent and charitable.

Likes:  Chocolate pudding, long sleeved shirts, art, botany, note taking, environmental science, listening to music, vegetable gardening, collecting recipes, puzzles, nature, libraries and fried dough.

Dislikes:  Cruelty, arrogance, crowds, loud noises, seafood, killing, ignorance, dishonesty, arguing, negativity.

Alignment: Good

Hobbies:  Reading, crocheting, baking, cooking, crafting, drawing.

Flaws/Weaknesses:  Worrying, overworking, isolation.

Strengths:  Family and friends, positivity, uplifting words, helping others.

Age:  28 physically, 100+ mentally

Skills:  Problem solving

Weapons:  Sword, sickle, sling 

Birthday:  December 28

Body type: Average

Appearance:  Shoulder-length curly, light blue/brown hair tied in a braid, ultramarine and turquoise eyes.

Hairstyles:  Different kinds of braids

Extra:  Phoenix companion.  Is diagnosed with Arthritis in her hands and legs. Untidy hair, Insomniac, has a scar on her right and left leg and light skin tone. Naps in random places.

Hello dear! Thanks for requesting!

This is the first time i try to write for an OC, so let's see how it goes!

Let me know what you think!

----------------------------------------------------------------------

When Lucifer first met Irena, he did not trust her at all.

She is half angel after all.

But upon noticing how frustrating she got struggling to stand on her feet and difficulty to hold weapons, he let down his guard a bit.

He talked to Irena, with a kind and understanding tone - he knew all too well how terrible it is to have a sick body.

Oddly enough they bonded over the difficulties of living.

Of course, for her it wasn't as bad as it was for him - her body wasn't decaying - but still, the frustration and the bitterness to be this way brought those two close.

Lucifer tried his best to find an elixir for himself and some kind of relief for Irena.

He did put part of his research team to aid Irena.

She was very, very grateful to him and always treated him team with kindness.

Her positive and sweet attitude towards his underlings, made Lucifer fall for her.

Irena was kind to everyone, she didn't butt in on his goal directly, she actually understood and respected his goals.

He knew she had some immense power, but he still rather have Irena out of the battlefield and more by his side.

Lucifer absolutely loves how Irena cares for his decaying body. Gently bandaging and changing the IV's.

Meanwhile Irena did not mind at all taking care of him and preferred to stay out of the battlefield - all the violence and brute action were not her cup of tea.

Of course, push comes to shove, she could and would defend herself with the help of her phoenix.

Lucifer made a room for her and another one for her hobbies inside the illuminati HQ.

Why two rooms? Because sometimes, when the pain wasn't so unbearable, Lucifer liked to stay with her.

It wasn't everyone that could meet with Irena either. Only a handful of people could interact with her.

Irena found this restriction a bit upsetting, but, Lucifer insisted it was for her safety - getting too close with foot soldiers are not good. They die, they betray. She would get hurt.

Needless to say he is overprotective of her. He treats Irena like her heart is made of glass.

So he is also very sweet and loving with her.

Lucifer loves to braid her hair whenever he can - it brings him a strange sense of calmness.

He doesn't underestimate her though. He knows she is great at seeing answers and paths no one else can see.

So he often asks her input on his plans.

Despite participating in the making of the plans, Lucifer doesn't let Irena participate actively on the execution, because it usually involves some kind murdering or torturing in the end.

All in all, He loves her a lot by her kindness and selfless atitude, but Lucifer treats her hear with utmost care, as if it is made of glass.

Irena adores Lucifer's devotion to those close to him, not only her, but his underlings too. She sees him as a poor soul trapped in a sickly body.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for reading! i hope this is of your liking!

[mdhwrites]

I Wish I'd Found the Randy Cunningham Ninth Grade Ninja Fandom

I LOVED that show when it was first coming out. I thought it was just a ton of fun and that characters like Viceroy and Mcfist were genuinely amazing takes on their archtypes. Admittedly, Randy and Howard are entirely classic to me since I grew up with stuff like Danny Phantom and Kim Possible but...

None of you probably know what I'm talking about.

Okay, so a bit over a decade ago now, Disney had a show called Randy Cunningham: Ninth Grade Ninja. The premise was actually kind of Sailor Moon S1 in with half of its villain group. The Ninja exists to oppose the Sorcerer, trapped below the town. The Sorcerer feeds on misery and can corrupt people who are vulnerable through items and the like that they hold dear, turning them into monsters who are usually beat either by destroying the object or convincing the person to give up their grievance.

The other half of the main villains (it had a lot of side villains too of course) were the duo of McFist and Viceroy. They employed a lot of robots, mutants, etc. because, well, McFist was so rich as to practicallly own the town and be beloved by all (Think Lex Luthor but bad at hiding it and really shouty) and Viceroy was literally his on staff MAD SCIENTIST! He even graduated second in his year from a mad science university. Or first. Can't remember despite it being a plot point for an episode when a skeleton that the science teacher is... Married to I think? Comes back to life and tries to finish his graduation project that would have made him Valedictorian: A Doomsday Device. After all, if you blow the world, you are indeed the greatest evil scientist apparently.

The show was pretty classic in how it was structured and played thing and when I say classic, I mean it. It had a moral of the episode format, usually taught through ancient ninja rhyme through the book that gave Randy, the main character, his powers: The Ninjanomicon which is a great name. It would also be what helped grant him various ninja tools to beat bad guys, though his main weapon was the ever changing length scarf he had and a sick ass sword.

The show also had a good sense of humor about what it was though. Like the first episode's lesson from the book is that the greatest weapon is within the suit. When Randy gets his ass kicked, he believes it must be trying to tell him to believe in himself, draw in deep and OPE NOPE! It means there's a sword in the suit! Time to get to slicing and dicing!

The downfall of the show for me was the same thing that makes me actually surprised it didn't stick around longer than it did (besides Disney being honestly pretty stingy with seasons for the past decade for its shows): It being formulaic. Eventually, I did get tired of seeing Randy making similar mistakes or do things that felt like he should have outgrown. Sure, his best friend Howard rarely if ever changed and that could pull him down but it still eventually stopped feeling right. The episode that snapped it for me was when Julian (I can't believe I remember his name), the wanna be magician of the school went full supervillain and got real magical powers. It was a neat turn... Predicated on Howard and Randy being complete assholes to someone they'd at least once or twice called friend.

And that is what the real shame of the show for me was. There was a lot you could actually read into and say about the eb and flow of relationships and sometimes even the show had great fun with it. One episode in particular that I loved was when Howard accidentally gets the ninja powers and people like how he showboats while doing it so Randy questions being the ninja. The two guys are cut from the same cloth, best friends for a reason, but the show REALLY highlighted that eventually, a conflict between Howard and Randy was going to come to the head. Why?

Well... Because Randy is just a dumb teenager who wants to be popular. Howard is an asshole. It's not even the first episode that highlights it but every time it gets highlighted, it's a BIG problem for Randy. In this one, Howard is so cruel to a robot, takes his time to mock it so thoroughly that eventually the robot gets corrupted by the sorcerer and all its weaknesses are now strengths and it's damn near unstoppable. I forget how Randy beats it (besides just being better with the powers) but it always stuck out to me as a reminder that Randy WAS a hero, despite his flaws, and that the ninja before him had made the right call choosing him (not sure if we ever got an answer as to WHY Randy got it, though that was by no means necessary.)

It's just the sort of show that I had enjoyed enough that I wish I'd had more people to share in it while I was enjoying it. I could admittedly try going back now and seeing how it is but well... It's a decade old and had protags all about trying to be cool. Danny Phantom used regular, classic tropes for this while Randy actually tried to embrace the fact that stuff like influencers were starting to exist and become more popular so you can probably imagine its sense of humor by that. I wouldn't call it bad but the last time I tried rewatching the first episode, I remember not finding it nearly as charming as I had the first time, let alone as charming as my brain thought it was.

But on that note, I will say possibly one of the least controversial thing I ever have, just to let fellow fans squeal with me: Holy shit was Randy and Baton girl my absolute OTP of the show and I still get all sorts of happy anytime I'm reminded of the two.

And if you're going "Wait, was she a background charact-" NOPE! THEY LITERALLY CALLED HER BATON GIRL! If she ever got an actual name, I don't know it! And god are elements like that why I've never forgotten that show, for good and for ill. Edit: She was named Theresa in S2. Thank you to the commenter who reminded me!

[ardbar]

I honestly fuck with Pangi so much for out right saying he values education and wants to continue school.

Even if you are in a position where you don’t need a degree to obtain a job, learning about things really is amazing and beneficial. Like I know a lot of people will be like “oh you can still do that outside of an academic setting” which is true but I do think that there is a certain level of quality that can only really be obtained in a school.

I’m a political science major and a decent part of my education so far has been reading old texts. While you can do this yourself at home you likely won’t have someone who has a PHD in this field explaining things to you. Like this is a huge reason as to why so much of historical text is taken out of context and the meaning warped. Also let’s be honest how many people are going to willingly sit down and compare aristotelian virtue ethics to the Confucianism.

Even if you think what I said is a little bullshit and tone death. Honestly it’s just so nice to see someone fervently support education when at least in my country we have been having rampant anti-intellectualism. Like ChatGPT alone is destroying things. In one of my classes, mind you everyone there are Poli majors, we had to think of a sample sentence on what our research would be about and while discussing how to word in one of my partners was like let me ask Chat. Like bro first of all if you are going to use it use the full name but also this wasn’t even graded it was just so the teacher could make sure we didn’t all chose the same topic. Like you couldn’t put an ounce of brainpower into it what the fuck.

Like of course it makes sense for some people to drop out and we are certainly due for an overhaul of teaching methods at least in the US but I’m so fucking sick and tired of literally everyone shitting on education and college.

This especially annoys me when people at my school do it. Like don’t get me wrong I bitch and moan too but I do it because I need to wake up at 7am not because I had to read 20 pages for class.

Also don’t even get me started on how practically no one raises their hand.

[aikoiya]

Hey, man. I’m just glad that you got to visit family. It’s always so nice when that happens. :) And I can absolutely get taking some time to be lazy. Sometimes, you enjoy just laying about a bit & recharging.

OOOOOOO!!!! So COOL!!! I agree! It really looks great! I wonder who made these carvings, though?

Thank you! I very much appreciate it! I think the biggest stumbling block I’ve got to finishing it is most likely the fight scene. Not anything serious, just a spar, but this spar is also super important to starting the story, so I kinda want it to be more well-developed than just sort of hand-waving it with “and then they fought a bit.” Of course, I also don’t want it to be too long or overwritten, either.

I even have a few of the exchanges thought out, so I really only need to “connect the dots.” Everything else, I can figure out after I've done this.

Thanks. I’ve definitely been considering it.

Right! Even worse! In BotW, the bun seller has Link close his eyes so he can feed it to him! D: Link didn’t even know he was eating a deep-fried frog!! And, SAME!! I also really like the idea of this legendary deity of horses just chilling, asking the chosen hero for food because they wanna try something new. XD

Exactly! And not just them either! There's also the Sand Seals! Which, I believe that the domestication of, may've been what led to the Gerudo having a stronger economy.

I dunno if I've told you this already, but walruses sometimes shed their tusks once they've grown too large. Not only that, they can grow back & they keep growing all through their life. As such, by domesticating these new buddies, the Gerudo would suddenly have a stable source of income & a foothold in the ivory trade.

Well, I have no knowledge of how using one would work, so all I can say is be careful not to make it fall in love with you. XD And, I would recommend that you not just take the things the AI gives, as is, though. More so use them as inspiration & tweak them a bit. But then, you were probably already planning on it.

True! And the Gloom Sickness would certainly feel more like a threat like that, anyway.

Wiccan, I think? Or druids! Because I've always associated witches with black magic obtained through deals with evil beings & despicable sacrifices.

Hmm… Is it possible that they believed that the nature of Zelda’s power was simply different? Like, in certain games, different kinds of magic-user use their magic in very different ways & also obtain them from different sources. For instance, the stereotypical druid's magic is based on their connection with nature, but a wizard’s is based on the arcane knowledge they've amassed. Or another way to look at it is how science is broken up into hundreds of different branches. Sure, it's all a subcategories of science, but these different branches are more focused in their study, so a botanist's field of knowledge is going to be vastly different from that of an astrophysicist. Of course, I'm not saying that this is why, but I do think it's a possibility.

And thank you so much!! I like the use of Hearth a bunch, because it lends a feeling of comfy cozyness. X3 Of course, this is Hateno's actual name, while “Hateno” is more of a Hyrulean Common exonym. Like, Venice is to Venecia.

Gotcha! So, “Les Chroniques de la Lumière de Sceau”? And, I’ve no clue.

Also, I do have a quick question. I've got a little bit of lore for a specific wine, but it actually has nothing to do with the wine itself & more so the founders of said wine.

I'm looking for a way to say, “Our little paradise by the sea.” This is what I have for it: “Notre petit paradis en bord de mer…” Anyway, the phrase will be written on each bottle of this wine by hand… fin… whatever. Anyway, it's supposed to be something like the story of the founding of not only Seesyde, but also Jabul Waters as a whole, in a way. Either way, I'm trying to give it a sense of bittersweet reminiscence. More sweet than bitter, but still slightly bitter. A love story where Zora husband & non-Zora wife loved each other dearly, but as one would expect, death parted them too early. Yet, in spite of that, it turns out that it matters little the quantity of time that you spend with someone, it’s the quality of that time that matters most. And the time they spent together was of the highest quality.

So, yeah. I really wanna nail this. For one, I sorta have in my head something like if the first scene from Up had been animated by Studio Ghibli, but in a Medieval Fantasy setting.

No talking, just stunning visuals, beautiful music, & a whole lotta heart. Something sad, yet somehow beautiful in its sadness.

Anyway, the wine itself is called La Petite Bordemer, which, initially, would seem to only refer to the little harbor town itself, but it's actually much more than that.

What’s on the bottle is what they referred to their home & life together by. A little paradise by the sea. And it eventually evolved into the name of the settlement.

Needless to say, the humans & Zora living there are quite proud of their home & the legacy of love & loss that built it.

@aikoiya The post was getting long again so here's a new one!

I knew you were going to answer that saying "this is unfair" isn't real life logic haha (and I agree that life hasn't been fair to Sky and Sun anyway). It's just that such an ending would probably leave me feeling unsatisfied and even a bit robbed, and I think it would require a lot of other changes to be made to the story in order for it to work properly. But anyway you're right, as things are now this would just be happening behind the scenes so what I'm saying doesn't really make sense. But just thinking about it changes my perception of SS in a way I don't really enjoy, so it's not a theory I favor.

Yes in that setting I'm pretty sure that the other Sun would not make herself known to Link and Zelda and would let them have their happy ending. But I think Zelda would likely suspect her existence and know that something is wrong. I guess even Link could notice that the Temple's doors are suddenly open and would ask Impa a few questions.

I had no idea Tingle called Farore the Goddess of Wind in WW, so I went on a little quest to see if I could find the same quote in the French version of the game. Apparently it's in Tingle's description of Outset Island and I never had the chance to play with the Tingle Tuner mode. I can't find the same quote in French anywhere and I don't even know if this was included in the HD remake (I guess I'll have to wait for a Switch version to find out… if they ever release one). This has me wondering if this quote isn't something exclusive to the English version, but I can't be sure and I'd like to know what the original Japanese text says. The French wikis mention that Farore is the Goddess of Wind in WW but don't provide any quote, it just looks like the pages were translated from English but that they couldn't find the same quote in French. It's really frustrating!!

Anyway that's a bit weird because WW already establishes Zephos as the God of Wind, and he seems to be a minor deity compared to Farore. The way I see it, wind is just the element that Farore tends to be associated with, and since a lot of myths might have been lost with Hyrule in WW this could just be a mistake on Tingle's part. I mean this is the game that gave us the Golden Triumph Forks haha.

I'm not limiting Nayru/the Golden Goddesses to a singular domain, quite the opposite ^^ To me Nayru being the Goddess of Wisdom includes different concepts such as order, law, science, magic, etc., and even time (since she's introduced as the creator of the world's fondamental laws), while calling her the Goddess of Time doesn't include all of that. That's why I wrote that I found it a bit restrictive. But sure she could have both titles, the same way Farore could be known most commonly as the Goddess of Courage and also called the Goddess of Wind in some situations.

Oh I didn't think of the blocks from OoT! I would say though that they don't really use any time powers, they're just random blocks that appear or disappear for some reason when Link plays the Song of Time (it's just as absurd as playing the Song of Storms to open holes in the ground haha). But yes they were blue and associated with time, and of course Nayru is too. The difference with Hylia in my theory is that Nayru created the rules of time (if that makes sense) among other fundamental laws, while Hylia's power specifically allows her to manipulate time and foresee the future. In a way I see Hylia as Nayru's spiritual daughter who inherited some of her powers over time (and that's why the color purple she's represented with is very close to blue).

The Master Sword has also been depicted as either blue or purple though, so that asks the question of the true color of all of these things! Nayru is definitely linked to time so it makes sense that the timeshift stones are in Lanayru (and Hylia also doesn't have a province named after her).

"From the edge of time" could definitely just be a poetic way to say that Hylia kind of recorded a message for Link before dying haha. But I find it interesting that she would phrase it like that, I like to see it as a clue.

Well if Zelda simply sent Link to a point further back in time, wouldn't there be two Links existing at the same time in the Child Timeline? But sure Zelda creating a brand new timeline also raises a few questions that kind of... make my head hurt. I'm not sure what happens exactly, I've always wondered! All we know is that Link finds himself in the Master Sword's chamber with the Door of Time already open, which hints at things happening in a different way this time (because he definitely doesn't have the three spiritual stones and the Ocarina of Time yet since this is before Ganon's coup, and the ending seems to imply that this timeline's Zelda doesn't know him yet). That's why I believe Zelda might have done something a bit more complex than sending him to a point further back in time, but there's no way to be sure. The Triforce of Courage is also visible on Link's hand during the ending, and we also know thanks to TP that the Triforce is still separated in the Child Timeline despite Link and Zelda preventing Ganon from entering the Sacred Realm this time. So maybe Zelda isn't able to change everything? It's complicated haha.

Anyway, whether OoT Zelda creates a new timeline or just sends Link further back in time, that's still huge time powers and that's not something Link is able to do by playing Zelda's Lullaby.

I also believe it is more likely that Talon inherited the ranch. True, Talon might not always have been so lazy, but maybe if that was the case the game could have hinted at hit. All we know is that he leaves his daughter alone with Ingo and only comes back after Link deals with the situation, which does not make him look so great. And he only promises to work harder after that.

I'm kind of bad with names so I'm impressed you're going through all of that trouble to rename the settlements!!

I haven't gotten to developping the technology that much yet, but I'm really interested in seeing what the different races could do with it! I love the idea of using the Sheikah to infiltrate the Yiga bases. I wish TotK had done something like that and shown the Sheikah helping Link that way.

Same, I was so excited when I heard about these pirates… and then so disappointed to find nothing more than a bunch of bokos with no backstory.

Vignoble is not related to noble (though I kind of make the association in my mind, especially since vignobles are sometimes called châteaux).

Yes I thought you could maybe use clos! Aquaticlos is funny, it can work! Though maybe you could use the same logic as for the raisins (I love this Raisins de Terre idea by the way, it makes sense!) and say that what the Zoras call a clos already refers to something that's underwater, since that's probably the case for most of what they cultivate.

I don't mind helping you with French, I'm glad to do so! You put so much effort and thought into this, it's really interesting.

[joshslater]

Dark Fields

Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

Of course I've heard of dark field generators before, in the same sense I've heard of general relativity. Some Spanish chick whose name I'm always forgetting was awarded the Nobel prize in physics for it, if I remember correctly. Lots of media circus around her, calling her "the new Einstein" and stuff. It's apparently a big deal to get a Nobel prize on your own, and she was like 30 or something. Dark field theory had something to do with all the dark matter in the universe no one could explain before, and while it took like 70 years from Einstein's theories to GPS navigation it only took a few years until dark field generators were put into satellites instead of gyroscopes. They kind of latch on onto the underlying fabric of space, or whatever nonsense it has been dumbed down to for us rubes.

I was quite surprised to hear from Scott that he had gotten some kinky gear with dark field generators integrated. On one hand it makes sense that new technology trickles down into porn very quickly, but on the other hand it felt like too advanced stuff to put into a butt plug or whatever it was integrated into. Scott wouldn't say, but asked me to come over on Friday to try it out. He didn't have to bribe me with such bullshit. I'd be there anyway if he asked.

He opened the door almost as soon as I knocked on it. He was visibly excited and obviously couldn't wait to put whatever plans he had in motion. "This is going to be so sick!" he said not really addressing me while we walked to his living room. There was a big cardboard box on the table and a pile of bubble wrap on the floor. He was just about to grab something out of the box when he looked back at me. "Oh! You still have clothes. You need to get naked. Completely naked." This really felt more like a science experiment than what we usually got together for on weekends. He wasn't trying at all to be sexy, but there was something charming in his childlike enthusiasm and I was getting real curious about what he had gotten his hands on.

"This is as naked I can be," I said dropping my jockstrap on top of the other clothes in the corner of his couch. "Try this. Should be your size," he said and handed me a black jockstrap in a material I couldn't quite identify. Some sort of latex, but heavier. It wasn't very flexible so it took some wiggling to get it on, but once there it did indeed fit me very well. "And this one," he said and handed me a pretty substantial collar. It felt very different, more like neoprene but still much heavier than expected. This wasn't the first time I'd had one on, so I knew how to adjust it to fit comfortably for a longer time. The fastening mechanism was a simple belt with holes punched out. No locks or anything. "And these. Put them just below your knees. Almost done," he said and handed me two smaller versions of the collar in the same material. I did as he said and secured them both just below the knees. "Finally these around your wrists," he said as he pulled out the two even smaller version of the same thing. I quickly secured them around my arms, now familiar with how they felt to work with.

"So what is this? Have you bought some hooks or something to tie me up to?" I asked, moving around a bit to test how it felt. The restraints felt strangely heavy to wear. "No, even better. I told you already." He grabbed his phone off the table and unlocked it. "Make a heroic pose for me." I wasn't sure what he meant, but I placed my feet a bit apart turned my chest a bit. Before I could finish posing he swiped something on the screen and everything just froze. I could still move my head, my fingers, my toes, and so on, but each of the black restraints were firmly locked in place.

"What the fuck!" There was some flexibility in the padding of the restraints, but otherwise there was no give at all. I understood why the leg restraints shouldn't be by the ankles. Like this they, together with the rest of the restraints, fully took all of my weight. I could relax all muscles in my body and still be pretty much in the same position, save for the chest that rotated back a bit.

He was grinning from ear to ear. "Dark field generators, as I said. How does it feel? Any straining?" I tilted the foot that wasn't fully planted up and lost contact with the floor on that side, but didn't just fall to the side, held in place as I was by the restraints. "It's actually almost comfortable."

"Great! I'll be back with some gear. Clamps and oils and vibrators and shit. The charge should hold until Sunday, easily."

Well, I did know what I walked into. Kinda.

[maddiesbookshelves]

Five weeks in a balloon, by Jules Verne

Doctor Samuel Fergusson, brilliant explorer renowned across all of England, has decided on his next undertaking: to cross Africa from East to West in a hot air balloon. To assist him in his new adventure, his faithful servant Joe as well as his old friend Dick, a Scottish hunter, will accompany him. Five turbulent weeks will ensue, on board the aerostat designed by doctor Fergusson.

I'm gonna start by saying that this book is not at all for everyone. It was written in 1863, an entirety different time, and takes place in Africa. So of course the descriptions of the various people that doctor Fergusson and his companions encounter are extremely racist and stereotyped. Sometimes it made me sick. But Jules Verne wrote this book in another time, when it was held as truth that black people were inferior to white people and that the African continent was full of stupid and cannibalistic savages. So don't read this book if you don't want to read this kind of thing, but don't go boycotting Jules Verne because he lived in a different time. He's dead and his works are in the public domain, anyways (and he's still one of the founding fathers of science fiction).

Now, for my review:

It was pretty slow to start, there are a lot of pages where the narrator lists names and where doctor Fergusson describes in details how his hot air balloon works. Once they're in Africa and up in the air, it's a little faster and it's nicer to read (in spite of the racist passages that made me grit my teeth). Jules Verne has a very peculiar sense of humor that made me chuckle in my scarf during my subway rides.

It really wasn't my favorite Jules Verne out of the four I've read (Journey to the center of the Earth, From the Earth to the Moon and The Carpathian castle being the other three), but it's nice to read. It's Jules Verne, y'know.

French version under the cut

Le docteur Samuel Fergusson, brillant aventurier reconnu dans toute l'Angleterre, a décidé de sa prochaine entreprise : traverser l'Afrique d'est en ouest à bord d'un ballon. Pour l'assister dans son aventure, viendront avec lui son fidèle serviteur Joseph Wilson, ainsi que son vieil ami Richard Kennedy, chasseur écossais. S'en suivront cinq semaines mouvementées à bord de l'aérostat conçu par le docteur Fergusson.

Je vais immédiatement commencer par dire que ce livre n'est pas du tout pour tout le monde. Il a été écrit en 1863, une époque totalement différente, et se passe en Afrique. Évidemment les descriptions des différents peuples que rencontrent le docteur Fergusson et ses compagnons sont extrêmement racistes et stéréotypées. Parfois ça m'a même écœurée. Mais Jules Verne a écrit ce livre à une autre époque, où on tenait pour vérité que les noirs étaient inférieurs aux blancs et que le continent africain était peuplé de sauvages stupides et cannibales. Donc ne lisez pas ce livre si vous ne voulez pas lire ce genre de choses, mais n'allez pas non plus boycotter Jules Verne parce qu'il appartient à une époque différente. De toute façon il est mort et ses livres sont libres de droit (et il reste un des pères fondateurs de la science-fiction).

Maintenant mon avis:

Le début était assez long, on a beaucoup de pages où le narrateur énumère des noms et où le docteur Fergusson décrit en détails le fonctionnement de son ballon. Une fois qu'ils sont en Afrique et dans les airs, ça va un peu plus vite et c'est déjà plus agréable à lire (malgré les moments racistes qui font grincer des dents). Jules Verne a vraiment un humour particulier qui m'a fait ricaner dans mon écharpe pendant mes trajets en métro.

C'était vraiment pas mon Jules Verne préféré parmi les quatre que j'ai lus (Voyage au centre de la terre, De la Terre à la Lune et Le château des Carpates étaient les trois autres) mais ça se lit bien. C'est Jules Verne, quoi.

[watchmegetobsessed]

SAFE AND SOUND

a/n: this one took a little longer to write, but im so happy its finally finished! its not what i originally planned, i started a whole different plot but hated it so started again, but i might go back to the first story, so maybe more bodyguard!harry content is gonna come! anyway, hope you’ll enjoy this one!

pairing: Bodyguard!Harry X Reader

warning: use of weapon (no one dies), mentioning of cancer (no one is sick), sexual content

word count: 9.1k

masterlist

“This is not up for discussion, Y/N. What you are doing and what you are about to achieve soon might upset a lot of people that hold great power. We can’t just assume you’ll be fine, walking around like anyone else in the world.”

Your boss, Julian explains it to you, leaning onto his desk, trying his best to keep his cool about your protest to get you a guard to watch out for you and keep you safe. It’s been an ongoing struggle and fight you two have been having these past weeks and it became a burning situation since you’ve made some major progress in your project.

“I’m not some kind of royalty to have security with me all the time,” you grumble rolling your eyes.

“Not just royalties have guards, Y/N. Just accept it, that you’re valuable, your work is very important not just to our company but to the whole world. Do you not realize how big it is? You are close to having the cure to cancer, Y/N! You can easily get a Nobel-prize for that!”

“I know that it’s important, but no one knows me, no one will see me on the street and know who I am or what I do!”

“It’s not about the people on the street. The world is a dark place, darker than you could imagine. Please, just… I want to know that you’re safe.”

Staring back at him with your arms folded on your chest you contemplate his words. You can see the rationality in his words, it’s just that you don’t want to break your routine, you don’t want people around you all the time, you don’t want to end your privacy like that. But Julian is right, your work is important and there have already been a few attempts to steal your researches, but they miserably failed. However that doesn’t mean they will be stopped the next time as well.

“One guard,” you speak up. “Just one. I’m not gonna have a whole fucking team,” you tell him raising your eyebrows. He lets out a relieved sigh, a tiny smile tugging on his lips.

“I was hoping you’d say that.” Reaching out to the phone he presses the buzzer that signals to his assistant, Monica outside and a few moments later she walks in, accompanied with a tall, suited man, his green eyes immediately falling to you upon entering the room.

“Y/N, I took the courage to pick him out for you myself. This is Harry Styles, the best you can find in the city if not in the country,” Julian introduces him as he pushes himself away from his giant mahogany desk, walking closer to the man as they shake hands firmly. You stand up from the armchair you’ve been sinking into these past ten minutes and unsurely hold out your hand to the man.

“Harry Styles, pleasure to meet you,” he introduces himself, a thick British accent lacing through his voice and the way his green irises stare back at you, you can feel your heart fluttering in your chest. Mr. Styles is undeniably the most charming and handsome man you’ve ever met, with his perfectly carved cheekbones and chiseled jawline, pink lips and those enchanting green eyes framed by his thick lashes. There’s something in his appearance, something feminine, but still, he holds so much masculinity at the same time, it’s hard not to be enamored by him.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you mumble your name, shaking his hand slightly before letting go of it.

“Details about your cooperation have already been discussed with the security agency and us, but of course, your word is what counts, so we’ll walk over the whole plan with you as well,” Julian explains to you and you nod shortly.

The three of you move to the conference room and the next hour goes by with working those so called details out, some of them are ridiculous, some of them you can get used to, at the end you are left with a somewhat bearable plan, but one thing is for sure. Harry Styles will be a big part of your life from now on.

THREE MONTHS LATER

The tiny pack of sugar tears open in your hands, but you put too much effort into it so the countertop is now covered with the content of the pack instead of ending up in your paper cup.

“Fuck,” you growl, dumping the empty pack into the trash before grabbing another one, hoping it won’t end up the same way.

“Let me help you,” a smooth, male voice speaks up next to you and Harry grabs the pack from your hands as he places his own coffee to the counter. You let him tear the pack open easily, pouring the sugar into your drink without problem before he puts the lid back to your cup.

“Thank you,” you mumble, closing your tired eyes for a split second. You’ve been overworking way too much these past weeks, it’s starting to shut your system down, but you don’t want to rest, not when you’re so close to finishing your project.

The past two weeks have been major, you finally made the progress you’ve been working towards for months now, letting you step into the last phase of your work finally. But it’s been a quite stressful time as you’ve been eager to finish as soon as possible, but that meant little to no time spent outside of your lab.

Harry shoots you a reassuring smile before you both grab your drinks and head out of the café in the direction of your workplace.

The past three months were one hell of a ride when it comes to Harry. You didn’t hide your dislike towards his continuous presence in your life, standing by your side wherever you went. It frustrated you, made you feel like you didn’t have your freedom any longer even though he never did anything to make you hate him. He was considerate, respectful and only wanted to do his job, yet you still gave him a hard time at the beginning, right until the need for his work was proved.

Two months ago someone broke into your apartment while you were out, they searched through the whole place, looking for something. Well, not just something, they were clearly interested in anything connected to your research, but luckily, you’re not dumb enough to just let these stuff lay around your home.

Even though you didn’t encounter the person responsible for it, the incident still shook your up. Knowing that someone could get into your personal space so easily, that they could have come at a time when you were home and vulnerable, it scared you. Harry was the person that eased the worry and fear in you, he took care of everything in an instant and upon his best advice, you moved to a new apartment with a higher security level. He even moved to the place next to yours so he could be as close to you as possible at all times. There was a much needed shift in your relationship after that and you didn’t see him as an intruder any longer in your life, but more as a hero.

“So would you like Italian or Mexican tonight for dinner?” Harry asks as the two of you enter the building, using your IDs you go through the massive security gates, the guards in post nodding in your way.

“Isn’t it your night to choose?” you smile at him sideways as you wait for the elevator.

“Okay, then Thai,” he smirks, making you laugh. “Hope you are not planning on eating it here again,” he gives you a warning look and you purse your lips.

“I have a lot to do, and—“

“Y/N, you need to rest sometimes,” he scolds you as if you were just a child.

“I do rest. Sometimes,” you answer with an innocent look as the elevator’s door slides open and you walk in with Harry following you right behind.

“Like once a week? Do you even sleep when you’re at home?”

“I do! Don’t make me look like I’m some kind of crazy workaholic!”

“I’m just worried about you, is all,” he sighs, giving you a hard look.

“Oh, Mr. Styles. If I didn’t know you better I would think you might have a soft spot for me,” you smirk at him teasingly before the elevator arrives to your floor and you walk out without a word. Harry just stares after you with a small smile tugging on his lips as he thinks about your words. It’s funny, especially because you both know something more than just a professional relationship has been going on between the two of you, only dancing around it as the situation is a little too complicated to address now.

It’s not like any rules are tying you down, but you would rather not mix up work with your private life. You might have feelings for Harry, but you refuse to act up on them until he is out of his duty as your personal guard.

Your days are usually the same. While you lock yourself up in your lab, working with no end, Harry stay either with you in there or he hovers around the door, keeping an eye on everyone and everything. Just the thought of his presence never fails to bring you a sense of comfort, knowing that you don’t have to worry about your safety until he is near. It might seem nerdy, but you can easily get lost in your work. It doesn’t feel like a job, growing up with parents who were excellent doctors and pharmacists themselves, you were doomed to be a science enthusiast yourself from the beginning. Learning has never been a task for you but a gift, as you liked to look at it.

Working overtime happens often because you lose touch with time easily once you get down to work. Nothing exists outside of your lab and you hardly realize how late it is until Harry usually warns you.

“I didn’t joke when I said I didn’t want to have dinner in here,” he steps into your sanctuary while you’re in the middle of running tests for the millionth time today. Pushing your glasses up to the top of your head while the machines are buzzing and whirling, you look up at him with a tired smile.

“Let me just… finish this one last test and then I promise we’ll head out.”

“Alright, but I’m watching you. No more tests,” he warns, sitting on one of the stools while you finish what you started.

Harry never really asked you about your work, for a while you weren’t even sure if he knows what you’re doing and why it’s so important. It was never discussed at the beginning and he never brought it up later either. But judging from the time he spends near you at the lab he must have picked up a few things about it surely.

The machines stop working and the tiny beeping sound signals that the results are out. You grab the long printed paper and start scanning the data, chewing on your bottom lip as you hope to find what you’ve been looking for all day. The numbers are coming in great, but it’s been like this for a while, it’s the end that never matches up with your expectations. So when you get there and see the graphs showing the result that you’ve been dreaming of since the start of the whole project years ago, your mouth falls open in disbelief even though it’s what you’ve been working for all this time.

“Oh my God,” you whisper.

“What?” Harry’s head snaps up in alert, jumping off the stool.

“I… I did it,” you breathe out, glancing up from the paper. “It’s my first time succeeding, Harry!” you start laughing, the shock taking over your whole body that you really did it this time.

“And what does that mean?”

“Come on, let me show you,” you tell him in excitement, pulling him over to the computer where you pull up all the data you’ve been working on. A virtual version of a cell comes up on the screen as you start typing, modelling what you want to show him. “This is a completely healthy cell, it’s what you are made of too, mostly,” you ass with a chuckle before another cell comes up on the screen. “And this is what cells that are affected by cancer look like.”

The difference is a lot more complicated than what you can explain to him in such a short time, but he can see it with his own eyes. The color, the shape, everything is different from the first one. Harry examines the screen and nods shortly, letting you know that he is following.

“I’ve been working on a substance that is able to not just detect the cancerous cells but it can also kill it effectively without hurting the healthy ones.”

You bring up the virtualized version of the substance you’ve been working on, a short animation showing how it can tell the two cells apart and only attack the cancerous one.

“I haven’t been able to get the numbers above 60% when it comes to succeeding in the process of selection so my whole project was about finding a solution to that. I’ve been trying to find the right substance to mix with our already existing one to solve the problem, but I haven’t been successful in it.”

“I assume until now,” Harry hum and you nod smirking.

“Yeah. The last test results came back very good, quite promising. It’s still not the end of the process, but it’s a huge step.”

“That’s great,” he smiles at you and though you know he probably understands just a fracture of the whole process, he can still figure out how important it is. “Congrats, Y/N.” “Thanks,” you breathe out, pride filling your chest as you shut the computer off. “I guess this is my cue to end the day,” you smile at him before packing up everything, getting ready to finally leave.

It’s not the first time Harry is spending the evening at your place. You often have dinner together, or watch a movie whenever you get home early enough to do that. Through the time you’ve spent together because of his job you’ve grown to be friends above everything. Good ones, in fact, which is a big deal for you since making friends has never been an easy task for you.

You bought takeout on the way home and as Harry set the table you poured yourself a glass of wine, knowing well Harry would never drink when he is on duty and he is basically working all the time he is with you, so you’re drinking alone. You both sit to the dining table, starting dinner together in a comfortable silence. It’s another thing you appreciate about Harry. He doesn’t try to talk when it’s not necessary, you hate small talk, you’d rather sit in silence than talk about something nonsense and Harry is a partner in that.

“When do you need to leave work tomorrow to get to the party on time?” he asks breaking the silence and you freeze. His eyes fall on you, examining your features for a moment before he smirks. “You forgot about it?”

“I just… thought it’s going to be next week,” you truthfully admit.

“We talked about it last week,” he smirks at you playfully. “And I told you it would be next week which is… this week.”

“I know how the days work, Harry,” you give him a look of ‘give me a break’ before you turn back to your food. “I just…”

“You just forgot it,” Harry finishes for you, and you just roll your eyes at him.

Glancing at him over the table you wonder if he’ll wear something different than is usual attire he always wears. Black suit with a white shirt underneath, the top two buttons left undone, giving you a tiny peek at the tattoos on his chest. You know those are not the only ones, you’ve seen him with the suit jacket off before, the sleeves of his shirt rolled up, his whole left arm is covered in ink and you wish you’ve had the chance to take a better look at them.

Harry is such an intriguing person in a lot of different ways. He definitely likes to keep things to himself, not one to ask for attention and it’s not just because of his work, it’s his personality. However he is good with people, interacting with them, being social. A skill you haven’t really mastered yourself yet and you probably never will. He always seems to know what to say, you’ve never seen him even the slightest bit anxious or nervous before, the confidence he holds is unmatched and it makes it hard to not think about him in ways you shouldn’t be.

After dinner he helps you clean up, just like he always does before heading out, but before he could leave he stops and turns back to face you.

“Oh, a friend of mine is visiting from the UK on Sunday. I already mentioned it to you before, but I was hoping I could get the afternoon off,” he wonders and you nod right away.

“Of course! I’ll be just fine at home,” you smile at him.

“Thank you,” he smiles back before walking out of your place at last.

Because of the party in the evening you are forced to stop working early the next day. It’s weird to leave the office in broad daylight, but you know today can’t be one of those days when you end up seeing the new day in the lab.

Harry was right yesterday, you completely forgot the whole party thing, meaning you didn’t plan anything ahead and you had nothing to wear, so through the day you called your sister, Mara to help you out. She was more than happy to lend you anything you needed. She meets you at the office, beaming to spend some time with you finally. It’s not that you don’t like her company, but you are quite different, is all. Your sister didn’t get sucked into the world of science, though she definitely has the bright mind to take up on any field she would want to explore. But she was more into the world of art, having written her first fantasy novel at the ripe age of twenty, she is now a bestseller author at only twenty-nine with a bubbly personality and basically every trait you never owned yourself.

“Harry! So nice to see you again!” Mara beams at the man as the three of you meet up at the lobby.

“Hi, Mara,” Harry smiles with a tiny nod.

“Alright, I have everything you could need so let’s head to yours!” your sister cheers before you make your way out to your cars.

Arriving to your home Harry splits from the two of you, letting you to get ready in peace and also to get ready himself. Mara didn’t joke when she said she has everything you need, the trunk of her car is basically filled with clothes and shoes, there’s no chance you won’t find something to wear tonight.

She orders you to take a quick shower as she unpacks everything she brought and when you emit from a cloud of steam with a towel wrapped around your body and one on your head, Mara gets down to work.

“So do you have a date for today?” she curiously asks while she does your makeup.

“Huh, yeah, sure,” you huff ironically. “It’s just gonna be Harry and me.”

“So Harry is your date?” her ears perk up, but you’re quick to protest.

“Of course not! He comes with me everywhere,” you mumble with your eyes closed as she is doing something on your eyelids.

“But it could be a date,” she offers and you huff in disagreement.

“You know that’s not how it works, Mara.”

“You are making it more complicated than it is! No one would blame you if you just… went for it! Harry is obviously an attractive guy.”

“Then maybe you should date him,” you bite back bitterly. Growing up you weren’t the boys’ favorite, they always paid all the attention to your sister. It’s not that you blame her or them, she always had a more capturing and lively personality that attracted people naturally. But it made you wonder if there was something wrong with you, spending all your time with your nose buried in a book or doing researches for fun while Mara was out with her friends, living her best life. Even her published books were inspired by her personal life experiences.

“Y/N,” she sighs, her hands leaving your face so you open your eyes to look at her disapproving expression. “You obviously like him so I would never do that and besides that, he for sure likes you too.”

“What’s not true,” you deny right away, but then you look at her curiously. “But why would you think that?”

Mara smirks at you tilting her head to the side, seeing right through your act that you’re not interested in Harry. Of course you are, but you choose to keep it at bay for the sake of his job.

“Y/N, I see how that man watches every move you make. It’s written all over his handsome face.”

“Of course he watches my every move, that’s his job!”

“No, it’s different. You’ll see it sooner or later,” she smiles before ordering you to close your eyes again so she can finish your makeup.

Mara does wonders to your looks, the makeup look she does on you already makes a huge difference since you don’t bother to do anything on your every days. But she didn’t stop there, she made your hair look like you just stepped off of the pages of a magazine and the dress the two of you chose was the cherry on the top. The emerald green dress was tight around your curves, showing just enough of your body to be still considered modest, but also have some spice. And though there are a lot of advantages of the dress, your first and most important thought (to you at least) was how well it goes with the color of Harry’s eyes.

“I’m a genius,” Mara sighs satisfied with her work as you slip on the pair of nude heels and put your necessities into the little clutch you’re taking with you. Just when you’re gone with everything, the doorbell rings and your heart jumps in your chest, knowing that Harry is standing on the other side of the door.

“I’ll get it for you,” Mara smiles rushing to the door as you walk into the hallway, standing a few feet behind her so as she opens the front door and Harry comes into view, over Mara’s shoulder his eyes easily find your figure standing there, feeling a little awkward and self-conscious, like you are about to go to prom with your crush. Difference is that you are not a teenager anymore and you aren’t going anywhere together together. Tonight is just work for him.

But as his bright green eyes fall on your frame and you see his lips slightly part, you can’t help but allow yourself to think for a moment that it’s more than just work. That he feels the same way about it as you do. Though you don’t voice your hopes and just smile at him faintly, hoping you don’t look completely ridiculous in your outfit.

“Harry, come on in!” Mara invites him into the apartment and he walks in, wearing his usual black suit with the difference of having a tie on around his neck, his white shirt is appearing neat and crispy and his sometimes unruly curls are now gently combed back a little so his curls are not falling into his forehead.

“Hi,” you smile at him nervously fumbling with your clutch as he takes a few steps closer to you.

“Hi. You look… beautiful,” he smiles back at you a little breathlessly as he takes a respectful look down your body before his green irises meet your gaze again.

“Thank you. You look great too,” you chuckle softly. “Should we… head out?”

“Yeah, sure!” he nods, offering you his arm and you link your arm with his instantly, hoping you won’t trip in your heels. “Lock the door when you leave, Mara, alright?” you call out to your sister who is watching you smiling.

“Sure! Have fun!”

You wave at her one last time before walking out and shutting the door closed behind you.

This party is held every year at Pharma-Z, mostly this is the time when the brain meets the money. Investors and funders like to meet the people behind the million dollars researches from time to time and this is the occasion where both sides show up. Julian always asks you to be social and try to mingle, but the whole thing feels forced and painful for you. You’d rather just be left alone with your researches and projects without having to schmooze to the people who give you the money for your hard work.

It’s held at one of said investors’ luxurious penthouse, that doesn’t even look like someone’s home with the huge outdoors infinity pool, the spacious and modern interiors and the expensive looking decoration that was put up just for the occasion.

“Y/N! I’m so happy you are here!” Julian approaches you with a drink in his hands and you’re happy to see a familiar face in the crowd. You don’t really know others from work, only your little team you directly work with and of course, your boss, Julian.

“It’s not like I had a choice,” you chuckle giving him a short, friendly hug. Julian is far from a nightmare of a boss some people have to face at their job. He is an actually nice and very smart and intellectual person. The pharmaceutical industry can be harsh and dark, the competition between the businesses is way more intent than people think. This is why you need the protection. Some companies profit off of the fact that cancer has no cure yet. They make money from all the treatments that doesn’t even guarantee full recovery. A lot of big fish don’t want the cure, because that would make them lose a good chunk of their income and some of those would even go to the depth of hurting you for being so close to ruining their business with your invention. Pharma-Z is luckily a genuine company that wants to help sick people and that’s why you’re working there.

“You know how important it is for the company,” Julian sighs, but he understands how uncomfortable these events make you feel, though he can do nothing to help you. “Harry, nice to see you again,” he smiles at the man by your side.

“Julian, nice to see you too,” he nods, shaking hands with your boss.

“Mingle a little so people can see and meet you, alright?” Julian requests and you just nod silently before he moves on to the next group of people.

You get yourself a drink to ease your nerves a little as people start approaching you. Some of them you’ve met last year, but there are a lot of new faces. Your project has brought in quite a few new sponsors and investors and now they want to meet you and talk about the research their money is going into.

You try your best to keep a smile plastered across your face as you tell the people the same thing over and over again, receiving praise and compliments on your work before moving onto the next conversation just to start over again.

You can feel your social batteries running out, not sure you can put up with another conversation with a wealthy investor who wants you to know you have a job because they gave money for your project in hopes of you bringing more money to them.

Harry has stayed by your side the whole evening, and you didn’t notice but he kept examining you every few minutes to make sure you were holding up and he noticed how tired you’ve grown from socializing for so long.

“Y/N,” he softly calls out, his palm finding the small of your back. “Why don’t we get some fresh air?” he kindly offers and you immediately understand that he is trying to get you away from the guests and the overwhelming conversations you’ve been dealing with. Nodding you let him usher you outside, finding a spot where the two of you can be a little alone.

“I fucking… hate small talks and being nice to everyone,” you let out a long and heavy sigh, as you lean against the railing, paying just one short glance at the city’s bright lights under your feet. Harry chuckles shortly.

“I figured. You’ve been chewing your lips so hard I was afraid you’d start bleeding.”

Now that he has brought your attention to it, you realize you are doing it again, so you let go of your bottom lip from between your teeth and it brings out another chuckle from Harry.

“I’m just… not good with these… social stuff.”

“I disagree with that,” he hums, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Oh please, if you haven’t realized it, my number of zero friends is a tell, I think.”

“Come on, it’s not zero. You’re friends with Mara.”

“But family doesn’t count, she is kind of forced to be my friend,” you shrug, making him laugh.

“Okay, but I’m your friend too, aren’t I?” You furrow your eyebrows at him.

“You spend time with me because it’s your job.”

His eyes soften on you as he leans against the railing next to you, looking so effortlessly handsome and charming, you almost need to take a deep breath at the sight of him. And the cheeky smile on his pink lips is definitely not helping your case.

“I know you didn’t mean that. You’re a smart woman, Y/N.” Reaching out he tugs a loose strand of hair behind your ear as he inches closer a tiny bit. “I think we stepped over the line of just work.”

“So… you consider me your friend?” you ask shyly.

“If you have to ask maybe I’ve been doing something wrong,” he chuckles softly, making you smile too. Folding your arms a shiver runs down your spine from the cold evening breeze. “Are you cold?” Harry asks, but before you could even say a word, he shrugs his jacket off and drapes it over your shoulders.

“Oh, thank you,” you breathe out shyly.

“Do you want another drink?”

“Yeah, I think I might need another one,” you chuckle and nodding he tells you to just stay there until he gets you a new one.

Turning towards the view, you enjoy the lonely moments for a little, not too keen on going back inside and keep up the façade of interest any longer. You’d rather just head home, maybe have another drink with Harry on your couch while you watch a rerun of whatever show is on TV and then fall asleep after a hot shower. You’ve been working way too much lately and it’s just now crashing down on you. Next week you definitely should cut back on your hours at the lab, the project is already going amazing, it won’t hurt if you actually had some rest before you lose your mind.

You hear footsteps approaching you and you think it’s Harry returning, but as you turn around you are faced with a stranger, a man who is staring down at you with bloodshot eyes and… a gun pointed at you.

Your breath hitches, your blood freezing in your veins at the sight and your legs almost give up underneath you.

“What… who are you?” Your voice comes out as a whisper, tears already flooding your eyes as you melt against the railing as if you had anywhere to go, but you have no chance against him.

One glance at the gun allows you to see that it has a silencer on, with the music coming from inside and no one around, if he shoots you, he’ll be able to get away before anyone realizes what happened.

The man doesn’t answer, just holds up the gun, aiming right at your chest and you close your eyes, thinking that this is it. This is how your life ends, in the middle of a posh party with no one around to help you. Your lips are trembling and hands are shaking as you hold onto the railing, waiting for the inevitable to come, keeping your eyes shut, not wanting to see your killer as the last thing you see before you go.

And then you hear the muffled gunshot, making you scream in fear, your knees turning into jelly, but the pain never comes. Instead, you hear grunting and growling as a body falls to the ground in front of you.

Your eyes snap open and you see Harry straddling the man, the gun lying near your attacker’s hand and he is trying to reach it, but before he could, you kick it away as Harry throws a punch at his face that stops him from trying too hard to free himself.

The next few moments are so busy and blurry at the same time. Your legs give up underneath you, making you fall to the ground, your whole body shaking in waves. In the meantime Harry gets the man into a position where he can be easily controlled and people start flooding out at the scene, helping Harry while security working at the party take the man, the police already on its way.

When Harry can finally step back from the attacker, his eyes fall on your figure and he rushes over to you, kneeling down next to your trembling body, cradling you into his arms upon seeing how shaken up you are.

“Hey, it’s alright. It’s over, you’re alright,” he murmurs, holding you tight as your fists grab onto his shirt, your breathing is uneven, the oxygen barely makes its way into your lungs as you’re panting and gasping from the shock. “Come on, let’s get you inside, Y/N,” he gently tells you, helping you up from the floor even though your body feels like a pile of brick.

You can feel everyone staring at you, whispering behind your back as you try to hide in Harry’s arms while he walks you back inside, away from the man that tried to take your life. He walks you into one of the bathrooms and closing the lid he sits you down to the toilet while he grabs a towel and wetting it he kneels in front of you, tapping the cloth to your cheeks gently. You haven’t even realized that you’ve been sweating from the shock and the coldness feels amazing against your burning skin.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble, but not even you are sure why.

“Nothing to be sorry for, Y/N,” he gently murmurs, giving your hand a squeeze as you shut your eyes closed. He grabs a glass from one of the cabinets and fills it with water handing it over to you.

“Thank you,” you mumble, bringing it to your trembling lips, but before you could drink it, your eyes snap up to meet his gaze. “And thank you for… what you did.” Your voice dies down at the end, the picture of the man pointing the gun at you still living so vividly in your mind.

“No need, it’s my job after all, right?” he chuckles softly, making your lips twitch the slightest bit before you start sipping on the water.

The police show up soon and they arrest the man who refuses to talk. They also request you to give your statement about what happened, but Harry manages to let you just give them the brief story and go in sometime soon to give them your full statement so you don’t have to spend any more time there. They are quite sure the man was hired by someone who doesn’t want you to finish your project, and it’s scary how far some people are willing to go just for the money, just to keep sick people in suffering for their own benefit.

Heading home you stay silent as Harry drives, staring out the window you let the nightlights of the city pass by you while you still see the same face, the face of the man that held a gun at you tonight. The gunshot is still ringing through your ears, it was so close, so real… of course it was real! All of it was real and your life was on the line. If it weren’t for Harry, you wouldn’t be here right now.

Arriving to your home Harry helps you out of the car and you cling onto his hand as you head up to the apartment. He keys the two of you into your home, flicking the lights on and looking around before you go further inside, just to be sure.

“It’s all clear, don’t worry,” he murmurs as you nod and make your way into the bedroom. Kicking your heels off your feet you sit on the edge of the bed, letting out a long breath, feeling your limbs loosening up a bit for the first time in the past hour.

Harry moves around the place doing whatever before he joins you in the room, kneeling in front of you his hands find your bare knees and your eyes meet his worry-filled green irises.

“Do you want to take a shower?” he softly asks and you nod your head. “Come on, I’ll start the water for you.”

He helps you up from the bed and walks you into the bathroom. You stand there awkwardly, not sure what to do as he starts running the water in the walk in shower before he steps back to you.

“Would you…?” you ask, turning around, needing help with the zipper of your dress. Harry clears his throat as his fingers work on it and a moment later the fabric loosens around your frame as you hold it to your chest with your arms. Turning back around you peek up at Harry and you notice the slight blush on his cheeks.

“I’ll be outside at the door, okay?” He whispers, his fingers delicately touching your cheek as you nod before you watch him walk out and close the door behind him.

The hot water feels freshening, like it could burn away the memories even though it’s still so vivid in your mind. You stand under the running water longer than you intended, but it feels nice and needed. Once you’re done, you wrap yourself into a fluffy towel and walk out of the steamy bathroom only to find Harry sitting at the edge of your bed, waiting like a loyal puppy. When he sees you, he stands from his spot and you don’t miss the way his eyes scan over your body that’s barely covered.

“Alright, I’ll go now, but if you—“ “Don’t!” you gasp, panic taking over you at the thought of being left alone. One of your hands grasps his arm to stop him from moving and he freezes in his spot, staring back at your fearful eyes. “Please, stay here,” you plead, voice barely over than just a whisper.

There’s a heartbeat of a pause in him as he is watching you intently and for a moment you think he’ll say no, but then his hand finds yours on his arm and he gives it a gentle squeeze as he nods.

“Okay.”

You let out a long, relieved breath as you ease into comfort. He’s staying, he’ll be with you all night, protecting you from everything and everyone.

“Can I take a shower too?” he asks softly and you nod, stepping to your wardrobe to get him a clean towel. “Thank you. I’ll be back shortly,” he tells you before walking into the bathroom and shutting the door closed behind him.

You hear the water running again and you find yourself standing at the same spot as you listen to the noises coming from the bathroom. Harry is in there, soaking under the water naked and you can’t take your mind off of how badly you want to be there with him.

It’s not just because of what happened tonight, though it made you realize that you don’t have much time to waste. Nothing can assure that you’ll live another day and you don’t want to deny happiness from yourself. You want to be with Harry and as far as you can make it out, he feels the same way.

Upon a sudden decision, you pad your way over to the bathroom door and open it carefully, the warmth immediately hitting your face as you step inside and close it behind you. The glass of the shower is steamed up, you can only make out the blurry frame of Harry in there and you wonder if he heard you come in, but it doesn’t seem like that. His clothes from the night are lying on the floor in a pile, his watch that he always wears is carefully placed next to the sink.

Your hands grab onto the edge of the towel around your body and you unwrap yourself, hanging it up on the wall before stepping to the shower. Hoping you won’t scare him, you open the door, the steam immediately hugging your naked body warmly and you see him standing there with his back facing you as you step into the spacious walk-in shower.

He notices your presence, you see him freeze mid-movement before he peeks over his shoulder, his eyes falling on you as he slowly turns, facing you completely. Standing in front of him completely bare, you feel more vulnerable than ever in your life. You’re scared that he is going to send you away, that he won’t let you get closer to him and if that happens, you’ll feel humiliated, but he just stands there in his naked glory and doesn’t say anything, so you take it as a chance to shoot your shot.

Reaching up your hands slide to his hard chest, up to the base of his neck as you push your front against his, skin to skin with the hot water running down your bodies. His hands find your waist and you could cry from the feeling of his touch on you. Pushing yourself up to your tiptoes your nose nudges against his as your eyes fall closed.

“Y/N,” he breathes out, stopping you right when your lips could meet. Opening your eyes you see the hesitation in his green irises that appear so much darker than they usually do.

“Do you not want it? You don’t want me?” you whisper.

“I do. It’s not that,” he sighs shaking his head slightly. “But you went through a lot today. I don’t want you to make decisions you might regret in the morning.”

You can’t help the small smile that tugs on your lips at how considerate and protective he is over you, thinking that this might be just something that crashed over you in the heat of the moment, but it’s been in the making from the first day you met him. Despite all your protesting against him, you knew you needed him and not just as your guard. He is what’s been missing from your life all along, you just never realized it.

“There’s nothing I could regret when it comes to you, Harry. I needed tonight to open my eyes. Our days are counted, I’m done running from my own happiness.”

He lets out a long, shaky breath as his hands hold tighter onto your waist while your hands run up his neck until your fingers tangle into his wet locks.

“I need you. And not just because of tonight. I’ve always needed you.”

“I’m here, Y/N. I’m all yours,” he breathes out before his lips smash against yours all wet and hard, but it’s the most heavenly feeling you’ve ever experienced.

You become a mess, tangled in each other, lips melting together as your hands explore naked limbs and torsos, bodies pressing tightly against each other shamelessly. Harry walks you backwards until your back hits the cold tile and you let out a whimper as you arch your back at the sudden feeling, just as his head dips down, lips attacking your neck, kissing and nibbling on the soft skin. Your light leg lifts as his hands wander down your thigh, your hips pressing together and you feel how hard he is, his cock pushed against your other thigh, making you moan at the feeling. Reaching down you blindly wrap a hand around the base, giving him a few slow pumps, earning a guttural growl from him before his lips return to yours, kissing you hard and filled with passion. His hands are all over you, on your thighs, ass, back and chest, as if he was mapping your whole body wanting to remember how every inch feels under his touch.

Without tearing his lips away from yours, he blindly reaches behind him, shutting the water off before urging you to jump into his arms, legs wrapping around his waist. He carries you out of the shower, placing you to the counter next to the sink as he stands between your legs, his hands once again finding your breasts as they knead them, making you whimper and shake under his touch. It’s euphoric and addictive, you already know you won’t be able to go a day without feeling him against you like this.

“Bed?” he breathes out against your mouth and you nod eagerly. Reaching to the side he grabs a towel, wrapping it around you, tapping and squeezing you to dry you off, throwing fits of giggles when you grab it and wrap it around his body as well.

The towel falls to the floor abandoned and forgotten as he lifts you off the counter and brings you to the bed, laying you down and holding himself up above you with one arm. His other hand cups your cheek and turning your head you kiss his palm gently, eyes glued to his as he settles between your legs.

“Are you sure about this?” he breathes out, his lips dancing against your cheek and the corner of your mouth.

“Yes! Harry, please!” you beg with a whimper, your whole body aching to feel him inside you.

“I’ve got you, I’ve got you, love,” he kisses you as his hand leaves your heated face, runs down your naked body until his fingers reach your throbbing clit.

He slides two digits through your already wet folds, but just to work you up even more he starts drawing circles on your bud, turning you into a whimpering mess underneath him. Your fingers dig into the lean muscles on his back, feeling them twitch from his movements and one hand sliding down to his ass, grabbing a handful of him while pushing him closer to you, his erection pressing against your core.

“Harry, I need you!” you moan, not able to contain yourself any longer. You need to feel him, you need him as close as possible.

Reaching over to your nightstand you grab a condom from the drawer, ripping the package open with your teeth before you carefully grab his erection and roll the condom down his length, ready to finally feel him inside you.

He flicks his fingers on your clit one last time before his hand wraps around the base of his cock, giving it a few pumps while his soft lips kiss down your jawline and throat, his face hiding in the crook of his neck. Your arms circle around his shoulders, your chest heaving from the sensation as he positions himself just right, the tip teasing your hole. Harry lifts his head up, his bright eyes finding your gaze just as he sinks into you, filling you up perfectly.

“H-Harry! Fuck—“ you gasp at the feeling, your walls stretching around his thick cock as he stays still for a few moments, letting you adjust to his size.

You draw your legs up, giving you more space to go deeper as he starts thrusting, sliding in and out of you oh so perfectly, inching you closer to your relief with each movement. You cup his face in your hands, staring into his eyes as if you could see his soul in them and for a split second, you feel like you actually do. His lips are parted and the cross pendant is grazing your chest while he fucks into you, never falling out of his rhythm.

You want to beg to him not to stop, to keep moving and moving, but no words can leave your mouth as your back arches, your orgasm building up in the pit of your stomach. You start grinding your hips in sync with his, allowing him to reach deeper into you, making your toes curl from pleasure.

“Harry, I’m gonna—I-I’m gonna—Ah!” You can’t make up one coherent sentence as your legs start shaking, feeling your orgasm taking over your body.

“I know, baby. Let it go. Let me make you feel good,” he pants, his lips kissing you everywhere he can reach, your lips smashing against each other in a messy kiss, your tongue meeting his in the middle just when you reach your high.

You moan and cry out his name, fingers digging into his flesh as you chase your release. Seeing you fall apart underneath him is enough to throw him over the edge, spilling himself into the condom as his mouth hangs agape, your name falling off his tongue as if it was the holiest glorification. Combing your fingers through his hair you hold him to your chest as he collapses on top of you, his head lying on your naked chest as you both try to catch your breath in the sudden silence that came over you without the sounds of your passion.

Rolling off of your body he slips out of you, an empty feeling taking over you right away, but he is quick to cradle you into his arms to keep the intimacy. You lay your head to his chest, a thin layer of sweat covering the both of you, but you couldn’t care less. You listen to his steady heartbeat as you draw one of the swallows on his chest with your finger, running it over the lines of the ink. You want to soak in the moment and stay in it for as long as possible, but you can barely keep your eyes open. As Harry’s fingers are gently running up and down your bare back you let your eyes close and the last thing you remember is hearing his soft whisper.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’ll keep you safe.”

You wake up without an alarm in the morning and it’s the first time for that in a long-long time. You stir and groan before you open your eyes, your hands reaching out next to you, looking for the man that was next to you when you fell asleep, but there’s nothing and no one beside you now.

Panic rises in your chest as your eyes pop open and you frantically look around in the room, hoping to see him somewhere near, but you’re alone.

“Harry?” you call you as you sit up, holding the sheets to your chest since you’re still naked. No answer comes and you can feel your heart rate rising instantly.

Getting out of bed you grab the nearest clothing item you find which is an old hoodie, and you put on a pair of clean panties before you carefully walk out of the bedroom, afraid of what you might find outside, but it’s completely silent and still, no one is around. Harry has left.

“Fuck,” you breathe out, feeling the lump in your throat growing as tears are forming in your eyes.

Where did he go? Why did he leave? Is he coming back? Is he gone forever?

You can’t stop yourself from going into depth you shouldn’t, just because you don’t find him first thing in the morning, but you still haven’t entirely recovered from last night’s events and before you could stop yourself, you are thinking about the worst possibilities there could be.

And then you hear the lock turning in the front door.

Blood rushes out of your head as you freeze, afraid it’s another attacker and this time you won’t be as lucky as you were last night. But as the door opens Harry walks in with a paper bag in his arm and you can’t help, but start sobbing at the sight of him.

“Harry!” you cry out, launching at him and he barely have time to put the bag down before he catches you, locking you in his strong arms.

“Hey! No need to worry, it’s just me!” he soothes softly, his hands running up and down your back and head. “I’m sorry I scared you, just wanted to get you something to eat, baby,” he murmurs, kissing the side of your head as you try your best to hold back your sobs.

“I just woke up alone and I thought…”

“I’m sorry, baby. I shouldn’t have left while you were sleeping. But I’m back and I’m alright.”

You just nod, hugging him a little longer before you loosen your hold around him to lean back and look him in the eyes.

“So… you’re staying? With me?”

“If you want me to, yes,” he nods with a soft smile as he cups your tear-soaked face in his hands. “I’ll keep you safe and sound and I’ll be whatever you need me to be.”

“Just be yourself and… be with me,” you shyly ask him and he nods, his smile growing into a wide grin before he leans down and captures your lips in a sweet, intoxicating kiss.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

[gem-the-oracle]

Running away? I'm going about my normal life, what are you talking about? Why are you following me???

If you're seeing things you should probably talk to a psychiatrist, not me.

What would I have done to you?? Of course I didn't??

Are you talking about getting sick, or staying with my dad? Cause I have a terrible immune system and usually spend the summer out of state at my dad's house.

Probably some camp or boys and girls club. Once again why are you asking me

I think I know a Martyn? Very loosely, we're not friends or anything. He might be related to something, you've yet to explain what that is though? Still don't understand why I'm the best option to ask these questions

I don't think so. Not in the traditional sense at least, you could make an argument that all science is magic we found ways to explain though

If magic IS real, I still don't have the power to do anything to you. I didn't even know your name until five minutes ago, why would I use magic on you

I don't know, I'm not entitled to his personal life. He mentioned something about family stuff, but it's none of my business and certainly not yours

(Okay, I've watched some of those weird kids doing this thing with a rainbow, uh, Oh Iris goddess of the rainbow, blah blah blah, something something, show me GeminiTay?)

Whoa! It worked!

-@ask-hatoc-lydia

[the language suddenly swaps to English at the sound of non-Ancient Greek] [all interactions on this thread are now in English]

Uh

Who are you?

[themculibrary]

Parent!Tony + Peter In School Masterlist

Blue skies fade to grey by @xxx-cat-xxx

Summary: Peter gets sick at school, and Ned, MJ and Tony try to take care of him in their own particular ways.

Bring Your School to Work Day (ao3) - notoneforreality G, 6k

Summary: Peter Parker has never had much luck, and that's without Tony Stark interfering to make things worse. He's grateful for everything Mr Stark has done...or rather, was grateful for almost every Mr Stark had done. It was just some burnt toast! Mr Stark didn't need to go that hard on the revenge.

Peter ends up on a field trip to the Avengers Compound with his class and hopes that no-one gets involved.

Ft. memes, savagery, and wholesome family relationships

Career Day (ao3) - superhusbands4ever (Potterwatch97) G, 3k

Summary: “Hey, sorry I’m late,” Peter’s enhanced senses picked up the familiar voice from outside the door. “I had a meeting this morning and then I got lost looking for the class… anyway, I’m here for Peter? Peter Parker?”

He frowned at hearing his name, still unsure what exactly was going on. He watched as his teacher continued to stand and stare out the door for a minute before seemingly remembering herself and taking a step back.

“Of course! If you could just go sit next to him until your turn, he’s in the back on the right side.”

The man stepped through the door and Peter gaped with the rest of the class as Tony Stark, in his signature suit and goatee, sporting a pair of red sunglasses and carrying a suitcase walked through the door.

Emergency Contact (ao3) - petrakronos G, 2k

Summary: Peter figured he had to have a weakness to his spider powers, but he never expected to find out in such a brutal way. It was torturous and in a place like this of all places for this to happen. He wished the universe would take him now.

Sick in second-period Spanish class. What a way to go out.

And one from me:

Graduation, Interrupted (ao3) - cazmalfoy T, 3k

Summary: As soon as he finds out about it, Tony quickly agrees to attend Peter's High School graduation.

Of course, the Avengers are then called on a mission, threatening Tony's ability to keep his promise.

In Case of Emergency (ao3) - aliaoftwoworlds G, 4k

Summary: Tony is listed as one of Peter’s emergency contacts.

These Hands Could Hold The World (But It’ll Never Be Enough) (ao3) - josywbu T, 9k

Summary: 5 times Tony goes to Peter’s school and the 1 time Peter’s class visits Stark Industries.

Tony Stark, Chaperone Extraordinaire (ao3) - CaptainStarSong N/R, 4k

Summary: After Aunt May has to cancel last minute on being a chaperone for Peter's school trip to Liberty Science Center, Tony Stark (Good Dad™) steps in to save the day. (Featuring adorable Cotton Top Tamarins, Flash being put into his place, and slightly awkward but honestly trying Tony Stark.)

Vein Drain (ao3) - ciaconnaa G, 2k

Summary: Peter Parker faints at Midtown’s annual Halloween themed blood drive. Tony Stark gets called to pick him up.

What Do Sick Teenagers Do? by natasha_alianovna_romanoff G, 5k

Summary: When Peter gets suddenly ill at school and May is out of the city for work, his teachers don’t know what to do with him. Tony is sure they handled it wrong. But how do you handle a sick teenager?

Basically the classic sick Peter trope with lots of irondad and poor Peter being completely out of it.

you’re still young (that’s not your fault) (ao3) - tonystarkstan T, 6k

Summary: Five times Tony goes to Peter’s school and one time Peter goes with him to work.

¿Cómo se dice ‘I’m in Deep Sh*t’? (ao3) - whumphoarder G, 3k

Summary: Due to unforeseen circumstances (and a bit of procrastination), Peter runs out of time to prepare for his Spanish presentation and ends up faking sick to buy himself some more.

He just wasn’t really counting on Tony being the one to pick him up from school.

[aminiatureworld]

Return to Me

Characters: Albedo, Scaramouche, Xiao, gn!reader

Word Count: 4,538

Warnings: Violence, Minor villain death

Premise: What is it like when the one you most adore becomes a stranger? And how’re you supposed to pick up the pieces?

In which the reader loses their memory.

Author’s Note: Just a note that this is not how actual amnesia works, and if you’re experiencing memory loss please contact your doctor.

That being said the amnesia is really good for angst and pining so how could I resist? It’s one of those guilty pleasure tropes I like to read and think of so I hope I did it justice.

Albedo

Albedo loved two things in this world, alchemy and you. They were what kept him centered, what kept him sharp and curious and full of life. So how could it be that one of those things should cause him such great unhappiness, and that said unhappiness should be the other’s suffering?

It had been a dangerous experiment, from the beginning Albedo was well aware of that. Testing whether or not elemental energy contained traces of elements via water could yield incredibly useful results about magic’s interaction with the ordinary world. But it could also backfire massively. Noxious gases, explosions, anything was possible.

But he’d thought he was prepared. After all you two had hiked all the way to the edges of Windrise specifically so no one would be around, and Albedo had even put up a barrier with the express intention of keeping anyone from getting hurt. It should’ve been fine, everything should’ve been fine, and yet when the Electro Slime condensate hit the water and the explosion knocked you both off your feet, slamming into the ground three meters from where you’d originated, he could only wonder how things had gone so wrong.

Picking himself up after a few agonizing seconds, every bone and muscle in his body stiff and aching from the sudden impact, Albedo crawled over to where you lay. To his horror you appeared to have hit a rock, and your head was bleeding slightly. Cupping your face in his hands the alchemist rasped out your name. The relief he felt when you opened your eyes was only momentary, replaced by shock and a sense of utter emptiness when you made out a groggy: “Who are you?”

Electro slime elements appear to contain no small amount of Chlorine, which, combined with only the hydrogen as a result of the electricity splitting the water molecules apart, caused an explosion. Although normally Albedo might’ve been thrilled by the discovery of an element only found mixed in the natural world, now he could only look upon that experiment with a raw sort of hatred that he hadn’t known he’d possessed. The ice around the alchemist’s heart had been burned away, and now all that remained was a burnt and shriveled up little thing, determined to make up for the lack of emotions by throwing its owner into the pits of despair.

Albedo spent all his time at first in the hospital and then in the apartment you two shared. You’d made an offhanded remark about how empty it looked, and Albedo had smiled awkwardly, not having the heart to tell you he could barely look at a piece of science equipment without a deep sense of loss. The doctors had said the effects should fade with time, but Albedo knew that there had been magic in the air, and a sick, twisted part of himself jeered that he was holding onto false hope.

It didn’t help that Albedo had been absolutely unprepared for the reality in which you couldn’t remember a thing about him, or your relationship. Never again would you rush up to him as you had before, excitement in your eyes and questions in your head. Memories of gathering crystal flies in the sunset and staying up all night, notes on old ruins swapped with sweet kisses and phrases that meant nothing at all, the beach where Albedo had sketched you for the first time and you had given him your first gift, all that was nothing to you, the stories of a stranger told by another.

“The first gift you gave me was a flower preserved in a solution of Cryo.” You said, words awkward and unsure in your mouth. Albedo knew that you weren’t really remembering it.

“That’s right,” he replied, voice light and calm, trying desperately to keep the despair from showing on his face. “It was a Cecilia. You said that it looked as if it was made of snow.”

“It sounds beautiful,” you replied, speaking more to yourself than to him, “I wish I could remember it.”

“You will someday, I’m sure of it.” He smiled, but the movement felt like too much effort to keep up and soon his face collapsed once more into an expression of melancholy. As if noticing this you smiled slightly in turn.

“Does it still exist?”

“Yes,” Albedo gazed out the window that faced you two. Beyond the buildings, only a few streets away lay his laboratory, locked away and gathering dust, “it does, but I cannot get it right now.”

“Oh,” you seemed at a loss for words, glancing down towards your hands, “that’s alright. I’d rather remember it on my own anyways.”

Albedo said nothing to this. Moving to place his hand on yours he paused. He was a stranger to you. This little act of comfort, all the little gestures he’d gotten so used to were now impossible. Dropping his hand to his side he moved to get you a glass of water, desperately trying to ignore the pain burning in his chest and in his heart.

_____

“Are these yours?”

Albedo placed the bag of groceries he’d just gotten on the floor. Moving over to where you were sitting, you were taking a break from adventuring until you remembered more, a decision made by the doctors for fear you’d forgotten how to control your vision. You had recently moved on from mostly sleeping to exploring your once familiar home, and now you sat curled on the couch; in your lap was a familiar book. Leaning over Albedo glanced at the page you were on.

“Yes, they’re mine. I like to sketch in my free time.”

“It’s beautiful,” you murmured, running your hand reverently over the slightly stained page, “I can see the different shades in the mountain, even if it’s only a pencil drawing.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Albedo smiled to himself, the memory of that day offering him some solace, “it was quite a difficult thing to draw.”

“It had an odd name.” You scrunched your nose slightly in concentration, an expression so cute Albedo could help but let out a huff of bittersweet laughter.

“Dragonspine. That’s the name of the mountain.” Turning to put the groceries away he paused when you spoke once more.

“No. That wasn��t it. It was something else. V-Vida something.” Albedo watched, incoherent thoughts and emotions clouding his mind as you retraced the circles you’d been making on the page beforehand. Suddenly your fingers stopped and you looked up. “Vindagnyr, yes that’s it! There’s a fortress up there, a, what did you tell me they were called, a domain. And that’s the name of it.” You closed your eyes once more. “Something happened there, something to do with you. I can’t remember it, if I was there or if you told me about it before, but something’s there. Something important.”

Albedo felt as if he must’ve been dreaming. The same sort of emptiness that had filled him at the beginning of this catastrophe was there, but this time there was something else, the bitter feeling of a hope that he couldn’t be sure of filling his lungs and his mouth. He turned back towards you, teetering forward as he tried to grasp the situation.

“Yes. That’s right. Vindagnyr. The name it had before it was essentially destroyed by Durin. I met the Traveler there, a week before I met you.” He sat down on the chair adjacent to where you were sitting, memories filling his mind. “It was also the first place we performed an experiment together.”

“I’d like to go there again then.” Your face was one of open triumph and excitement, and there was something in your eyes that Albedo thought he might never see again, a sort of recognition that he thought had been lost, “I know you haven’t been to your work once. I suppose it would make sense, considering what happened, but would you take me there?”

“Of course.” Albedo’s voice was sure and solid.

“Even though I might not remember more.”

“Even then.”

You reached your hand out to the alchemist, and after a second Albedo took it. He ran his thumb over the back of your hand slightly, and you made no move to withdraw, instead squeezing his palm slightly.

You had remembered something. It wasn’t everything of course, and there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be heartbreak up ahead, wouldn’t be frustration and sorrow and moments when hope seemed very far away. But as long as moments like this existed, Albedo could hang on. The anger and despair that had burned inside him remained, but now something stronger resided there.

And that was hope.

 Scaramouche

“Do you see them?” You whispered, raising your head slightly above the rock you were hiding under. Scowling Scaramouche made a cutting gesture with his hand.

“Yes I see them. And get back down!”

Although his tone of voice was harsher than usual you smiled a smile of understanding as you lowered yourself once more out of sight. Scarmouche took a deep breath in response, trying to control the coiling tension that sat in his stomach. Today’s mission was an unenviable one, made only worse by your presence, for Scaramouche knew these were no ordinary enemies, and though you could take care of yourself just fine there was a nagging in his head that refused to be silenced.

Your targets sat encamped up ahead, completely nondescript in appearance, although that was hardly surprising of deserters of the Fatui, especially ones of such high caliber as them.

Scaramouche’s expression twisted into a scowl of concentration once more as he thought about the moment when you two had received your orders to get rid of those who knew of the dealings of the army of the Tsaritsa, and who were certainly willing to dispose of said secrets for the right price. Although they were no doubt traitors of the worst sort and worth less than dirt, there was still something unpleasant about fighting people who had once been comrades. You’d mused it was because of the bonds of mutual struggle and culture, but Scaramouche suspected for himself it was more the annoyance of fighting people who were at least somewhat trained.

Scaramouche gave the signal and you crept once more out from behind your hiding spot. Manifesting your polearm Scaramouche could already see the well worn metal steaming. This battle was going to be bloody.

At first everything had gone well enough, being hidden on a ledge about the camp you’d managed to do a great deal of damage, made easier by their surprise and ill planned position. However things quickly began to turn sour. The ex-Fatui might not’ve had the equipment of their army days, but they retained the ruthlessness that had once made them so efficient and now made them so dangerous.

There was an odd smell running through the valley, the smell of electricity and something burning. Scaramouche stood in front of a man who had certainly once been a vanguard and a woman who appeared to have been a Cryo mage. Sweat coated their faces but Scarmouche felt cold with the thrill of battle. Electricity crackled to life in his hands and already bits of electricity were dancing on the charred and dinky armor of his enemies. What were they thinking sending a Harbinger against a pathetic group such as this? It was laughable, really.

“Such a pity that members of such an elite force are going to die like dogs.” He drawled. The woman in front of him gritted her teeth, summoning a trail of icicles which Scaramouche easily leapt over. “Is that truly your worth?” He laughed, before the calm that always came with killing washed over him. “Your best is hardly worth my worst.” Gathering electricity, Scaramouche prepared for the final, searing strike.

The man in front of him smiled a sickening sort of smile, the kind that one made only when they knew that it was the end, and then it all went wrong.

The sound of your voice was muffled by the energy approaching Scaramouche from behind, as the outline of a transparent sort of figure clipped his vision. Quickly whirling around Scaramouche was unprepared for the third ex-Fatui member, an agent who had apparently learned his skills well, bearing down on him. Raising his hands, the Harbinger was suddenly thrown aside by an unknown force. Fire made contact with lightning and the ground exploded.

Fighting to retain consciousness Scaramouche was aware of the sickly smell of burning flesh. Blinking away the confusion he glanced at the carnage around him. The agent lay haphazardly, face half obscured by a mass of flesh that must’ve once made him up but now seemed out of place. Behind him the other agents had hardly feared better, and the charred visage of mangled flesh replace what had once been arms, legs, necks. It was an unsettling view, and though Scaramouche couldn’t say it was the worst thing he’d ever seen it still left a vile taste in his mouth. How quickly a fragile little human could come undone, made into that which was unrecognizable.

Finally he fixed his gaze towards you, relieved to find that there was no apparent wounds, although that perspective shifted slightly when viewing your hands, which were covered with welts. Your fire must’ve mixed with his electricity, causing an overload of energy, and you two lying in the eye of the storm. Scaramouche looked at his own hands, and realized they were similarly reddened. Ignoring the pain he shook your shoulder. “Get up.” He let out when you finally opened your eyes.

However it was apparent very quickly that something was wrong. You eyes held no recognition in them, instead they seemed as blank and transparent as a mirror. Looking at him you furrowed your brow slightly.

“Where…” your gaze drifted towards the scraps of humanity around you and then there was nothing but screaming and a wetness on Scaramouche’s cheeks that felt suspiciously like tears.

“You need to get back to work.” Signora’s voice betrayed no sense of pity. Scaramouche was glad for it, he wouldn’t’ve been able to forgive her if there had been.

“I doubt those imbeciles need me for something as simple as the daily regime. If they do it’s their fault, not mine. I owe them nothing.”

“You owe them your work, it’s your duty as a Harbinger,” Signora’s eyes narrowed, “or have you forgotten that in your folly.”

“I’ve forgotten nothing!” Scaramouche snapped, eyes boring into those across from him. “I am well aware of what my obligations are and what they aren’t. As I said there is nothing of importance fir me right now, and I don’t wish to waste away my time with trivial matters.”

“What would our dear Tsarina think of such words,” Signora let out a dramatic sigh. Raising the glass she was drinking from to your lips she paused, “you best be careful. I cannot shelter you from your folly forever. Either you learn how to deal with this… unfortunate incident and your work, or I shall have that person thrown out into the snow.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Scaramouche’s tone was like acid and he felt for the moment as if letting go of himself wasn’t such a crime, for now there was no one to chastise him about it anymore.

“I’m warning you. Don’t forget what happens to those who cannot fulfill their duty to the Tsarina,” Signora paused, a cruel smile gracing her face, “or have you forgotten who caused this in the first place.”

It was all Scaramouche could do not to set the tent ablaze.

“Get. Out.” He commanded. Signora sighed, shaking her head and downing her drink in one go before walking out and leaving Scaramouche with the feeling of falling apart.

_______

“Do you sing?”

Scaramouche lifted his head at the sound of your voice, surprised by the question. You hadn’t said much since the aftermath of the incident, and Scaramouche hadn’t forced you to. After all it was one of the things he’d first appreciated in regards to you, you’d never forced him to talk when he didn’t want to. Now he felt the need to afford you the same courtesy, knowing that intelligence still lay behind those eyes even if recognition had disappeared. Now he put down the document he was reading, smiling wryly and shaking his head.

“No. Why would you think that?”

“Because that’s what you’re called isn’t it? Your name, one of your names. The… the Balladeer?” You said it as if it was a question, and perhaps it was. Scaramouche couldn’t think however, couldn’t think over the rushing in his ears.

“Where did you hear that?”

“I don’t know. I just heard it. Or I remembered it. But that’s who you are, isn’t it?” You smiled, and for a moment Scaramouche could almost imagine life was as it was before. “Can you sing for me?”

“No.” This conversation had happened before.

“Fine,” you shook your head, “but one day I want you to sing for me, when I remember everything, then I want you to sing for me.”

“Fine.” Scaramouche managed to get out, afraid of the rising emotions he felt, afraid they might break through his voice.

“You’re missing work, aren’t you.” You continued on, gaze piercing through him. “I can tell, I can hear people whispering about it when I go out. I’m not supposed to be here, and you’re supposed to be working. If what you told me really is what happened, you should work.”

“Ridiculous,” Scaramouche scoffed, “I can manage my own affairs. Besides,” his voice grew softer, as if he didn’t want to reveal himself to you. You were too familiar, but still a stranger, and a part of him hid behind the walls he built up around everyone else, the walls only you could climb over. “Besides, who would look after you.”

“I can look after myself.” Your answer was as confident as it had always been. “I have to, since I trust what you’ve told me about myself, about this work, this world.”

“It was you not looking after yourself that lost you your memory!” He was shouting by now, he was shouting but he couldn’t stop because if he stopped shouting he’d be crying.

“Perhaps. But it’s not looking after me to end up like the people we fought. So go to your work. And maybe one day when you come back, I’ll remember.”

He couldn’t say no to you, eventually you won. It had been that way since the beginning, you tearing down his bluffing and his empty promises. Perhaps it was what he appreciated most about you.

Every moment Scaramouche was away from you felt like he was betraying a part of himself, a part he had hid for so long. But you were right, just like before, and just like before you’d won him over with your honesty, your refusal to back down, and your view of the Harbinger for what he truly was, someone who was deep down truly afraid. That part of you remained, somehow without memory and without certainty it remained.

And if that part of you remained, well maybe some day the rest would return.

 Xiao

“Xiao look!” You let out a cry of delight as you threw yourself off the tall stone mountain, glider unfurling in a vibrant waves of color as you began circling in the air. Xiao scowled from the tree in which he was perched, unwilling to humor you in your folly.

“You’re going to be injured.” Although he hadn’t meant for you to hear that you still laughed at the comment, shaking your head as you once more carved shapes into the sky.

“It’s a lovely day for gliding! The air is so fresh and the breeze is just enough to keep you upright!”

“It’s too windy.” Xiao’s voice was flat. This was foolish, what you were doing was foolish. He could feel the currents, feel their laughter, their excitement. They were surely up to no good.

But you weren’t paying attention to that, instead you were gliding about as if you were born to fly. It was a beautiful sight, Xiao had to admit. The beauty of those immersed in what they loved. And what Xiao loved was you.

“Come on Xiao!” You called out. “Come fly with me!”

“No.”

“Oh c’mon, I know you can do it!” Screwing your face into a pout when the adeptus once more shook his head you shrugged. “Your loss.”

Xiao knew you were disappointed, but he couldn’t help it. It seemed somehow out of place for him to join you in whatever you were doing. Besides, he needed to keep track of the currents, just in case.

You dove down for a moment, and Xiao felt his stomach clench, knowing full well what you were doing, but unable to keep the worry out of his mind. And yet then you were flying up, up, up, up and though Xiao wanted to scold you, wanted to tell you to come down once more, he was rapt, in awe. You were too beautiful, and it stole his breath away.

A gust of wind came blowing through the stone monoliths and as your wings buckled and you plummeted towards the ground Xiao found that he was truly unable to breathe at all.

Perhaps it was a blessing that you were unconscious. Then you didn’t have to feel the way Xiao held onto your shoulders as if he’d never let you go, the way he gasped for the air he was supposed to be in charge of, the way his eyes were devoid of everything but fear. You hadn’t fallen so far, he told himself, you hadn’t fallen so far it was fatal. You were breathing, you were going to be fine. But he found himself unable to believe those words. If you had said them he would’ve, but there you were, a crumpled mess and he barely able to process the world around him.

Crashing onto the Inn balcony, not caring about the odd looks thrown his way, Xiao made his way upstairs. You were going to be fine. You were.

If only he could believe himself.

“They’re out of danger now.” Verr Goldet’s voice was calm, unnaturally so, and Xiao only softened a little at the knowledge, sure something had gone wrong. “But…” the innkeeper continued, confirming all of the fears Xiao had been secretly nursing.

“But.”

“But there seems to be a problem with their memory. They were very confused at first, unable to remember things such as Liyue, their duty as adventurer, this place, things like that. At first we thought it would clear, but now it seems that isn’t so. Their memory might be affected for quite a while.”

“I want to see them.” Xiao brushed past Goldet, determined to help you if this was to be your fate. But Goldet’s next words stopped him in his tracks.

“Xiao, they can’t remember you.”

At first there was the feeling of falling. And then, as Xiao vanished, there was nothing.

______

At first Xiao was determined to stay away completely. It hurt too much, hurt to think about what had happened. At first he’d managed to survive on anger, anger at the world, at you not listening to him, at himself for letting it happen. But quickly the anger faded and what replaced it was a loneliness so vast he couldn’t believe that he had managed to survive in such a way before he met you.

Still he didn’t want to go, didn’t want to see you as you were now, unaware of him and perhaps destined to remain so. How cruel fate was. It took everything he knew from him and just when he began to live again it took that to. It took away your memory, your livelihood, and for what? To punish him? It seemed unfair, so unfair.

So he’d stayed away, afraid that something would happened again to you if he were to show himself again. But the knowledge of such emotions as love is something that doesn’t fade, and Xiao found himself unable to continue on as before, finding the pain too great. He had to see you. At least to say goodbye, he had to see you. It would be unfair not to do so.

The moon was full, casting a silvery light on the landscape. Xiao drifted over towards the roof of the Inn, thankful that he was invisible, so as to not have to experience the moment your eyes reached him but you didn’t.

Your silhouette appeared quickly enough in the darkness. You seemed somewhat preoccupied, and yet there was a purpose to your step, made all the more evident by the Qingxin grasped firmly in your hand, a brethren of the other flowers which lay scattered on the railing.

“I know you’re there.” At first Xiao jumped, thinking perhaps you’d somehow managed to sense him. However he calmed down once you continued, it appeared you weren’t truly talking to him.

“I know you’re there. And I wish you’d come back,” You continued, gazing out on the landscape around you. “I don’t remember your name you see. They told me your name of course, but I wish they hadn’t, I wanted to remember it myself. It must be why you left, of course you didn’t want to see me like this. If what they said was true…” you shook your head, “I know it was true. I know that it had to have been true, that I cared for you, that you cared for me. I know because I miss you.” Xiao felt his heart pound in his chest, so loud he could barely hear you.

“I miss you so much. Isn’t that odd? I don’t know you anymore and yet I miss you. It’s as if something is missing. I mean, of course something is missing but it’s more than just the memories themselves. It’s the feeling. Like going outside without a coat on. I miss you, even if I can’t miss you because I can’t remember you I do, I miss you dearly.”

You paused, placing the flower on the railing next to the rest.

“I hope you see the flowers before they fade,” you called out softly to the dark, “and I hope one day I can look at you again. I remember you had such lovely eyes. I’d like to see them again to be sure.”

For a moment Xiao didn’t move, frozen by all he’d heard. But the minute you turned to leave he was already there, bound by the feelings he had for you, by the knowledge that continuing as he had been would kill him, would only hurt you.

“Do you remember me?” It was a silly question to ask, but he had nothing else to say. You turned towards him and smiled softly. It was true, your eyes didn’t recognize him. But there was something in your gaze nonetheless.

“Xiao.” You whispered, and the yaksha knew that he’d never be able to leave again.

[fishandships]

last thing i gotta post for the evening cause i should have started getting ready for bed like 40 minutes ago BUT my bestie asked about a summary of the IDV longfic i’ve been working on since. January now. and it’s WAY too long for Discord so im just gonna. tuck it under a readmore here. and anyone who is interested is welcome to take a peek. i do plan on trying to post at least bits and pieces of what i have finished if not the entire longfic, eventually, but for now here’s a synopsis (that hopefully still makes sense to anyone unfamiliar with IDV)

SO its kind of a “i can love him so much it changes the course of his entire narrative” fix it fic that starts as a partial rewrite of some canon and devolves into its own thing based on my interpretation of what little canon info we have and also whatever i want lmao.

it begins with my si, Rosario, receiving an invitation to the Manor, where they replace a canon character in a canon Game. this Game involves Luchino (pre-transformation, he was originally a Survivor) as well as a Seer named Eli, who in canon was aware of what was going to happen but apparently didn’t stop it. in canon, another participant (a woman named Fiona) is sacrificed to summon an unknown eldritch god. in my version, Eli decides to take matters into his own hands. he’s seen the “canon version”, and when he arrives at the Manor and meets Rosario he sees a different version that occurs because of their presence, which he considers preferable to the previous vision and decides to do everything in his power to make sure that THIS is what actually occurs. 

Rosario is very blissfully unaware of Eli’s plans or the true nature of the Game, or really anything other than their newfound romance with the equally oblivious and smitten Professor Diruse. they’ve both fully gone love-at-first-sight, completely smitten, and plan to get together (PROPERLY, this is the Victorian Era after all) after the Game, which Rosario wants to help Luchino win. they believe he’s sick, not knowing what’s happening to him (he doesn’t really know either but views the early stages of transformation as a new step on the path of human evolution - tl;dr, he was given a mysterious reptile specimen and has been injecting its venom directly into his own bloodstream to observe its effects on the human body. for science.) At one point the side effects (ie his bones growing at an alarming rate) start causing him immense pain, so Rosario ventures into the adjacent and forbidden forest to hunt down an herbal cure. They find an escaped dog with its broken chain caught up on a fallen log, and they help it, not knowing that in doing so they have also saved their own life as they were currently being hunted. In exchange for their kindness to his dog, the Hunter spares their life and very forcibly escorts them from the forest. Unbeknownst to any involved, this is observed both by Eli and another Hunter, the Nightmare (Orpheus). Rosario returns to the Manor and tells Luchino what happened. That night, Rosario finds a journal in their quarters that definitely was not there before. Upon reading it, they parse that it was written by the Hunter who they met earlier in the forest - the Manor’s Gamekeeper, Bane. 

Some time later, Bane secretly visits the Manor. Rosario had made an impression on him and he doesn’t want to see them harmed in the Game. He finds them interacting with a crow, which he suspects to be Orpheus or controlled by Orpheus, and he warns them not to trust the crows but does not yet tell them what the Game really is. Rosario tells Bane that they’d found his journal, and Bane suspects that Orpheus, on behalf of the Manor’s owner (i’m operating on the assumption that this person is actually Alice aka Eurydice, and if i end up being wrong then this is an AU where Alice is the Manor owner so there), intends to turn Rosario into a Hunter.  The idea troubles Bane so much that the night before the Game is scheduled to begin, he visits them to tell them everything about the Manor and the real nature of its Games, wherein Survivors are driven to insanity and hunted to the death by powerful monstrous beings. Rosario immediately tells the other Survivors in their group, and Eli asserts that he has a plan. He outlines a strategy that sounds viable to his fellow Survivors, which the others reluctantly agree to in lieu of any other option. 

What Eli doesn’t share is that he has foreseen the identity of the Hunter, and this remains unchanged from the “canon timeline”. The Hunter will appear when the sacrifice is made, as the Manor owner intends. This Hunter will be Hastur, an eldritch God of Knowledge. Eli’s intention in his sacrifice swap plan is to offer Hastur “the anomaly”, sparing Fiona and giving Him a pawn to counter that of His opponent, the Dream Witch. Her own choice of pawn went awry when the intended target was not bitten the dragon She sent, but instead gave it to his friend who happened to be a Professor of herpetology. Eli knows this, as well as the fact that the Dream Witch intends to play her hand regardless, and as a follower of Hastur he seeks to level the playing field. (In canon, when Fiona was sacrificed, Hastur was apparently disinterested.)

When the Game begins, Eli isolates Rosario and sacrifices them to Hastur via the traditional method of drowning. Meanwhile, the Dream Witch triggers Luchino’s final transformation into the Evil Reptilian (i would like to point out that canonically he has never harmed another person other than himself insofar as we know of so i have no idea why the “Evil” title). The Manor interferes, ending the Game preemptively. It appears that Eli’s plan works, with Luchino and Rosario being the only “casualties” in this version and the other four Survivors safe, but what Eli could not have foreseen is also the reason this alternate version of reality was able to happen - the Manor exists outside of regular time, and they’re all trapped in something of a time loop or timewarp zone of some kind (again, my theory but if im wrong then AU where this is the case).

Bane “coincidentally” finds Rosario, now “reborn” as the Druid thanks to Hastur, and tries to protect them from being taken back to the Manor, but Nightmare finds them both and brings them in anyway. There Rosario is reunited with Luchino. Initially he thinks they will cut ties with him because of what he sees as continued advances in his research, as others have in the past (my mans has hella abandonment issues), but Rosario is mostly just happy to see him alive. 

From here i pretty much have completely free rein, since Magic AND Drugs are involved and everyone in canon is pretty much in permanent time flux and any combination of characters can meet at any point, so i’m going with AU where all the Survivors live in the Manor and the Hunters live in the sublevels and Games occur with setups according to the whim of the owner where they might find themselves in either role again (bc i want Survivor Rosario to be able to interact with Survivors outside their own Game). the continuation of the Main Plot tho is that certain Hunters AND Survivors (ie the ones i care about lmao) are comparing notes and working together to unravel the whole mystery behind the purpose of all this and find the identity of the Manor’s owner for a variety of motivations. everything hinges on Orpheus not knowing he is the Nightmare but also both Orpheus and Nightmare being motivated by the owner of the manor and acting as her puppet because they believe their “daughter”’s life is at stake (my deduction is that the “daughter” is actually Alice in childhood memory but neither Orpheus nor Nightmare understand this due to decades of brainwashing). so the End Goal is for EVERYONE (at least everyone i care about, a couple of them can choke), including Orpheus, to be rescued. /jazz hands

[aquilamage]

fell asleep. multiple times.

first is another from sky islands that's a secret anonymous groupchat. Interesting word choice for the "sliverist" group to be called Sliver of Ocean. idk.

Really the main thing to be getting out of this one is more Five Pebbles's Whole thing Going To Shit (technically speaking we don't know it's five pebbles talking here but come on. it would be wild if it wasn't). Basically him going like 'ok what if sliver of straw was right. we gotta at least consider the fucked-up science solution.' I don't know what "crossing oneself out" is specifically meant to be except that it's implied death is a simpler version of it.

Also the "what if there is no universal solution." Well he was right on that part at least we know that now.

I don't think you could make any real declarations on the identities of anyone else listed there, although I will put in that I'm thinking UU might be Seven Red Suns, based on literally nothing but a random vibe.

second one was from subterranean. A conversation between Seven Red Suns and a new iterator: Chasing Wind. About Five Pebbles. First, Seven Red Suns's "Unless worrying about him counts." like oh they are friends at least that way around.

Then before we get to the meat of the thing of what's been seen of Five Pebbles's state: I can't believe the other iterators are bullying him in the groupchat. very rude

But he's got "the rot," which is a fun new unnerving concept. Based on my initial/ongoing sense of Wrongness on seeing the stuff in Five Pebbles's area and the bit about "big cysts have become mobile" specifically in the "legs," I'm assuming it's the blue tendril beasts and the stuff that looks like them that was growing in Five Pebbles. I also gotta assume there's some greater significance to the fact that there's already a name for this stuff aka it's not just something affecting him.

What's then interesting is that going from that Chasing Wind wants Seven Red Suns to talk to him because they're one of the few he still listens to, apparently. The implication that the rot and whatever's going along with it is something he can be talked out of.

Then of course the last two sentences coming in with a steel chair: "Does Moon know?" "Moon has been unavailable for some time."

First time we hear about Looks to the Moon from a source outside of herself (world's saddest yay)! So whatever happened to Looks to the Moon to cut them off from everything has likely already happened by this point :/. And then of course the question to me becomes: did Moon know (before right now)? I'm gonna guess they had at least an inkling because of the lines about him being sick, corrupted by his own experiments etc (although they also say he's severely deteriorated between present and the last time they'd heard of him)

Also the fact that Looks to the Moon was brought up in the first place. A little bit probably because of physical proximity but I also gotta wonder if they're also part of the "someone needs to talk to him" train of thought. Like, Looks to the Moon clearly knows Five Pebbles decently well and such for how much and what she's said about him but we don't actually know right now how much they agreed or talked or got along or whatever. hm.

(sidenote I gotta actually start keeping track of 1)all these iterators now and 2) the numbers I'm guessing are dates)

so I have gotten two colored pearls between yesterday and today and I will yell about those later but rn I am soso close to the end of the game so I'm gonna see how many times I get eaten by lizards navigating filtration system first