#and even knowing they were immortal it was still scary seeing them get downed! A bit funny too depending on the circumstance but u know | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

at1nys-blog · 1 month

Text

Thunders leaving hints

Pairing: not much of a pairing to be honest

Summary: something out of the ordinary happens and Percy Jackson is furiously mad

A/N: I know I have WIPS piling up but shhhh. Also this was based on a post by @awesome-shoes-with-wings and I had to write this just for fun so is not as good as my other works but is something. For the requests, I’ll be finish them shortly I hope

They didn’t know where they were going, the only thing they knew was that wherever was safer than what it was supposed to be home.

New York had been chaotic the past couple of weeks both for the mortal world and the…immortal one.

They knew about the monster living among humans, knew about the gods and goddesses watching over them. The deities appeared in their dreams every now and then leaving cryptic messages that only made sense in dreamland.

The last one was the most weird message they received, talking about a camp in Long Island where they could stop by for a while before starting their journey back again.

It took them a couple of days, walking around the forest to finally see the entrance of the so called Camp Half Blood. Before stepping in, they looked around, making sure no monster were after them, if they were they didn’t want for the campers to be in danger.

Something, stroking their leg made them jump out of their skin but when they noticed it was just a cat, once again, they felt relieved.

“Why do you guys keep scaring me like that.” They started saying while getting down on the animal level. “Thank you for keeping me good company.” They added before taking out of their backpack a cookie to give the cat a piece of it. “Okay now…” standing up they took a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” And they stepped foot at camp.

Hestia was minding her business when she saw the kid getting inside, eyes still on the situation she called Zeus over.

“I think you need to claim them as soon as possible before Perseus pays us a visit.” The father of the Gods was caught unprepared for this, choking on his ambrosia.

“I don’t have kids to claim.” He said frenetically, looking around hoping his wife wasn't around, who knows what she might think of this.

“Are you sure?” The Goddess asked, she just wanted to make sure they were not going to get a visit from Percy anytime soon. She loves the kid, dearly, he is a sweet boy but she knows how scary he can be, just like his father’s domain.

“I’m 100% sure THAT is NOT my kid to claim. If anything they look like they could be Hera’s kid if she was anything like me.” Thunder, at the mention of Hera’s name, there were thunders which surprised both Zeus and Hestia.

“Are you so scared of her you can’t control your thunders?” Joked the Goddess but again, it wasn’t Zeus.

The two deities dropped the conversation there, if his brother claimed that wasn’t his kid after mentioning Percy Jackson than Hestia cpuld believe he was telling the truth. That was not his kid.

Percy Jackson was furious, it had been three hours since this kid got at camp at the Gods didn’t say a word yet. He made it clear, they were to claim their kids as soon as possible.

For the son of Poseidon it had been a struggle the first hour with the new camper, but everyone talked some sense into him, wait, maybe their godly parent is busy with something, but Percy was sure it wouldn’t be difficult to just send a little message even while busy. They didn’t had to drop at camp, looking at their kid and saying ‘yep that’s mine’ they just had to send a little glowing little symbol, nothing that would take literally a second.

“I’m going to talk to them. They are coming with me” He couldn’t wait longer.

“Whoah whoah whoah. Hold your horses man, Annabeth and Chiron asked you to wait until tonight. Maybe their parent is busy.” Stopped him Grover.

“Man, I love you, I do but I’m pretty sure is like sending a text message. You can do it everywhere you are, whatever you are doing.” It was a fair point, the satyr agreed.

“Okay, but what if…” the glance that Percy sent him scared his best friend, who just shut up. There was no way he would make him change his mind. “You are scary.” Grover commented under his breath, praying the Gods Percy didn't hear him.

“They only had one job. One hell of a job.” Another set of thunders and lighting rumbled on Earth. “Don’t get mad at me Zeus, fix that or else…” he shouted at the sky. “I’m going to take a shower since I have to wait. Keep them company.” He said pointing at the new kid, who was having something to eat with the Hermes’ kids.

Three hours and yet nothing. Zeus called a meeting 30 minutes after he noticed no one was going to claim the new camper but all the major Gods came with the same answer ‘is not mine’ but how was that even possible?

It wasn’t a kid of the minor deities either and he was going crazy about this.

“Can you guys tell me who is so stupid to go against Perseus?” It came out naturally, everyone looking at Zeus confused. “What? That kid is worst than Poseidon here.” The God of the sea was smirking, proud of his boy being feared by his “all mighty” brother.

“Not to be that Goddess but have you noticed they attract cats like they are catnip? Could that be used to find who between us is their parent?” Said Athena and, as if a lightbulb turned on in their little godly brains, everyone agreed, and the twelve gods turned their head to Artemis.

“You people have to be kidding me. I swore celibacy.” Her words did not affect the deities. “I would give up immortality than laying in bed with a man.” Disgust filled her tone at the use of that word.

“It was worth the shot.” Commented Apollo. “So who else here loves cats.” He added looking deep into Ares’ eyes.

“Stop staring at me.” If anything Apollo’s gaze on him intensified. “Oh for the love of me, just because I had a cat as a partner ONCE now that means every kid that like cats is mine?” The war God had to take a step away from Apollo, not standing the way he was looking at him so close and so deep. “Look if that weakly thing was mine I would send something else to keep them safe.” He added which only made the Sun God coo and teased him for being a softie. “I’ll show you how much of a softie I am…”

“Stop it. If you keep fighting between one another, we will never find out who between you created them. Now…” started Hera, who only wanted this day to be over.

“Maybe is one of the nymphs’ kid?” Suggested Dionysus.

“Man you should really shut your mouth. If that was the case we wouldn’t be here.” Iris interjected before anyone else could. “Listen, that one is not mine okay? Now I need to go.” And she left, just like this but she knew the others would believe in her words, she wasn’t one to lie. On the other hand… The pro liar between them did not say a word yet which Hecate had to point out.

“What if the cats are just a disguise? What do you think about that Hermes?” Oh Gods if she was having the time of her life at this exact moment. Knowing who the demigod belonged to was so much fun, she had to thank Freya for this. “Isn’t it weird that he didn’t say anything? Maybe they are yours? Or do you know something?”

“The only thing I know is that my wings are killing me right now. Good me, I never flew this much in ages.” He said.

“Why are you avoiding my questions? Am I right? Are they yours?” Of course she was mistaken but Gods if she was loving it. Now she understood why Eris loves to create dramas.

“That is not my kid. As Ares here, I take pride in my children’s talent and they are not good enough to be my kids.” Thunders once again. “Zeus you really need to check on your thunders. If the go ballistic once again I might start crying.” cried Hermes. While everyone was trying to figure out who was behind the kid’s creation Hecate was having so much fun, trying her best to not laugh at their faces.

It was at the end of the day, when Percy came to Mt. Olympus looking at the twelve Gods with eyes filled with rage that Hermes had an enlightment.

“Uhm guys, I think I might know why we couldn’t find out who is their parent.” Hestia and Hera rolled their eyes, while everyone else was so ready to jump him. “Is because their godly parent is from another pantheon.” Thunders started rumbling in the background, like a laugh.

“Dad stop this.” Zeus' kids said in unison.

“Is not me.”

“Is not him, that is Thor laughing at us. He had been sending them all day long, how could I not notice that sooner?” At the gods faces turning into a question mark, Hermes just sighed. “Didn't you noticed he would use thunders every time we belittled the kid? No one? Really? Wow.”

“So, you are saying that there are other Gods out there? And they still don’t claim their off spring? Alright, can you tell me where they are? I need to take it out on someone.” And Percy was ready, so ready to knock some good manners into the Gods, he didn't care if they are powerful being that could easily kill him.

The gods had to block him there before he went on doing something stupid.

“Kid, that is so nice of you but they are already claimed, pretty much since birth.” said Hermes, knowing about you from Loki.

“The cats.” The other said in unison.

“This is why Loki called me last week and asked me so many questions about Camp Half Blood.” Oh, that God was in for a good group jump.

Leaving Mt. Olympus Percy was content with the outcome: the new kid was already claimed, the Greek gods had nothing to do with it and another pantheon was revealed to exist. ANOTHER PANTHEON EXISTS?! He wished those Gods didn’t like him very much but with his luck? He was ready to get a quest the second he walked back into camp.

“I just hope it is local and I don’t have to go to Canada once again.” If only he knew what the Fates had in store for him.

#*ೃ༄ at1nys blog˚◞♡ ⃗#fanfiction based on a post on tumblr #percy jackson #percy jackson and the olympians #percy jackson fandom #percy jackson imagine #percy jackson fanfiction #greeks gods #reader insert #percy jackson reader insert #percy jackson platonic fanfiction

16 notes · View notes

ice-cap-k · 3 months

Text

Just Gold: CH2

Soooo, I forgot to cross-post here that I've written a chapter 2 for the team ranchers au fic I wrote up back in October. Tango's a dragon. Jimmy's a bird. Good fun.

Read it on AO3: Just Gold

Chapter 1 on Tumblr

__________________________________________________

Jimmy was a Phoenix.

That's not to say he was very good at being a phoenix, but that was what he was. Phoenixes were supposed to be all about death and rebirth and eternal life. It’s hard to be good at the ‘eternal life’ portion of the job, though, when he keeps dying all the time.

Not like most phoenixes, though. There was almost never a cycle of burning to ash at a ripe old age and emerging as a newly hatched chick from the ashes. Even when he literally burned to death. He never got that far. It was more like he just woke back up having never aged or unaged a day. That wasn’t normal for his kind, but he supposed that after so many repeated deaths so close together over such an extended period of time, he must have somehow stunted his growth. Ungrowth? Aging, maybe? Whatever it was supposed to be, it was messed up for him.

It had its ups and downs. Dying wasn’t necessarily pleasant, but at least he still came back. He always came back… eventually. And unlike other phoenixes, he didn’t have to deal with the crippling discomfort of old age, or the helplessness of reverting back to a chick. But he also could never grow back the brilliant plumage that people associated with his kind. The bright yellow feathers he was left with made him look no different than a larger than average canary.

To be honest, he was a little self-conscious about it.

It was partially his fault, as much as he hated to admit it. He was pretty accident-prone. Bird brains, ya know? It was hard living in a world with glass windows. You’d think after all these years he would have learned a thing or two about self-preservation.

But here’s the thing about immortality, when you know that nothing can actually do any permanent damage, you start to lose sight of the inherent threat. And when you don’t notice a threat, it’s easy to underestimate the world around you. And to overestimate yourself.

Case in point, Jimmy’s newest friend was a dragon.

Dragons are meant to be big scary beasts with razor-sharp claws and fangs. They were meant to be merciless, and prideful, and very very dangerous.

It never really occurred to Jimmy that Tango could be all of those things… Well, at least not until he watched Tango burn over a dozen people to ash. So yeah, now he supposes Tango could be all those things.

But what he first saw when the golden dragon came crashing through his nest at the base of the mountain, after the initial annoyance began to fade, was someone suffering from the kind of bad luck he was all too familiar with. Someone who wouldn’t come back from the fraying edges of death like he would have.

Fortunately, Jimmy was still a phoenix.

He had a long memory that reached back eons across his many previous lives. And in one such life, there had been an old ranch not too far from here. One large enough that the dragon could hide indoors. One that was out of sight of the nearby village. One that Jimmy knew had been left vacant.

Someone with a healthy dose of self-preservation probably would have kept their distance until the dragon awoke, so as not to startle it into attacking. Or maybe they would have pointed the poor beast in the direction of shelter and been on their way. If they were feeling really reckless, they might have tested to see if the dragon would have let them help it get up, or bandage some of its many wounds.

Not Jimmy. If Tango had burned him or clawed him off or rolled over and crushed him, he would have just come back anyway. And cleaning wounds or helping the dragon leverage itself up wasn’t in the phoenix’s wheelhouse at the moment. Tango was so big compared to the phoenix that Jimmy could fit in the palm of his hand comfortably. And what would he stem the blood flow with? His feathers? He didn’t have nearly enough to go around.

Of course, Tango didn’t do any of those things when he woke up. He had done nothing to hurt Jimmy, except maybe the Phoenix’s pride when the dragon tried to shoo him away like a common pigeon.

And while he didn’t have to go with Tango, Jimmy wanted to go back to the ranch with the dragon. The old building housed a lot of fond memories. That was one reason. The other was Tango himself.

The truth was, Jimmy had been setting up his nest at the base of that mountain because he knew that people were nearby. Maybe not necessarily a giant gold and red dragon, but the humans of the village weren’t too far away. Phoenixes worked best in a flock. Especially Jimmy. He could handle being on his own, sure, but he thrived amidst others. And what a ‘flock’ looked like to Jimmy had changed over the lifetimes. Sometimes that meant coexisting with humans. Sometimes it meant flying with large groups of your more typical, non-magical birds. Sometimes a flock was only him and one other, and sometimes it was a large group of friends and family. He had been looking for his next flock. Had been planning on finding a nice family to settle down with for a while and play the part of a typical pet canary.

And then came Tango.

Really, dragons and phoenixes were pretty similar if you think about it. Depending on how you define immortality, both species were technically immortal. Dragons could live forever as long as they weren’t killed. And sure, Jimmy died all the time, but death wasn’t permanent for him. A phoenix couldn’t breathe fire, but they still had the same fire in their belly that dragons did. They both could fly. They both could burn. They both could bleed gold…

According to that train of thought, dragons were practically big scaly phoenixes in their own right.

And as the saying goes, birds of a feather flock together.

______________________________________________________________

“Tango Tango Tango TANGO TANGO TANGO!!!”

The lump of stone is heavy in Jimmy’s claws. He’s not used to feeling so imbalanced while flying. Not for this long. He kept having to remind himself that it would be worth the effort once he saw the look on his buddy’s face.

That doesn’t make the uneven strain on his wings better, though. It’s so bad, he nearly missed the window entirely. The backside of his wing brushed against the wooden frame. A stray splinter caught at his coverts. There’s a painful twinge as a few feathers are pulled loose and he over-corrects, sending him spiraling to the floor inside.

The little bird lands in a messy heap on the floorboards, losing his grip on the pretty rock. It went rattling across the floor in front of his beak.

He tested his toes, gingerly flexing each one to make sure he hadn’t broken anything in the crash. Nothing appeared out of place outside of a few wisps of broken yellow feathers. That would probably leave a bruise or two, but nothing more severe. Jimmy wasn’t about to die this time around. Even the rock looked completely intact after its little tumble.

He had landed in the old ranch house kitchen. It looked warm and inviting in the late evening haze, despite the unused furniture strewn across the floor. The smell of smoke still clung to the walls and floor. Enough time had passed that the uncomfortable burn of brimstone had begun to fade. The ruined walls had been stripped away and patched up with new oak and spruce timber. The smell of the hewn wood boards mixed with the lingering scent of ash. It almost reminded him of sitting alongside a nice warm bonfire under the stars on a cool summer night.

“Tango?”

The dragon wasn’t answering, but something was creaking nearby. Floorboards groaned. Hinges squeaked. Jimmy had a good idea of where his friend could be, but he wasn’t about to go flying around indoors while carrying that stone around. So he hopped to his feet and took flight. The kitchen floor was as good a place as any to leave it for now.

“Can you hear me, buddy? I brought you something?”

With the slightest shift of his wingtips, he banked around an open archway into the living room. Sure enough, there was Tango. The dragon had his back to him. His claws scraped at the inside of a makeshift hopper he had managed to fashion out of an old shovel head and a little fire-breath metalworking. Looked like something had gotten stuck in the sorting system again.

“I can’t believe this. This is ridiculous,” Tango was saying as Jimmy landed on his favorite perch; one of the ridges of the dragon’s right horn. It was just so nice and warm; glossy and easy to nestle against. It shifted as Tango tried to look up at him, his head tilting to compensate for the slight weight change. “Oh! Hey Jimmy.”

“Hey, I’m back. How’s the progress coming along?”

A wisp of smoke wafted out of Tango’s nostrils. He turned back to the funnel in his claws. “Well, it was going pretty fantastic for a while there until this thing decided to jamificate the whole operation.” Jimmy tightened his grip on the horn as the dragon beneath him let out a sigh. The delicate swirls of smoke turned into a turbulent stream as he breathed in then out. “These quick fixes just aren’t cutting it.”

“Quick fixes?” Jimmy chuckled. “Tango, you know you can take all the time in the world, right? Automatic sorting will be nice and all, but we don’t absolutely need it right now. We barely got the house patched up. The barn’s not even rebuilt yet.”

If anything, the sheer amount of work that he had managed over the last few days had been impressive. With the barn gone, the two had taken shelter in the farmhouse. In that time, Tango had thrown himself into making the place as easy to live in as possible. The ruined portions of the wall had been stripped away and replaced. A door had been renovated so that there was an entrance large enough for the dragon to pass through. Bedrooms had been ransacked and rearranged so that they had a place to sleep at night. For Tango, that meant a padded stretch of floor space for him to curl up in. For Jimmy, a simple shelf with a nest he had put together all on his own.

And then there were the projects! The redstone projects were in every room. The sorting system, a trash dispenser, a line of automatic cooking furnaces. Whatever materials he and Tango had gathered into a tiny hoard while the dragon had been grounded were gone, put to use in whatever idea his friend had thrown himself into.

But they hadn’t touched the barn.

Jimmy could tell that the memory of the attack was still a bit of a sore spot for Tango. Sometimes, the barn served as a reminder. Even after all the bodies had been cleared away.

The stream of smoke coming from Tango’s nostrils petered out. He could hear the dragon's claws clicking against the shovel head as it turned in his claws. Gold wings still trussed up in their splints stretched ever so slightly, nearly knocked over a dusty grandfather clock they had shoved into the corner of the living room. The contact was enough to make Tango wince beneath him.

“You’re right,” Tango relented. He placed the funnel down on the hardwood floor at his feet. It rolled unevenly away to bump against one of the chests. “There’s not enough room for us here.”

The feathers along Jimmy’s shoulders puffed up. “Us? Excuse me. I find this place rather cozy. I think what you meant to say is that there’s not enough room for the two of us.” He almost tented his wings to make himself bigger. A show of fluffed feathers and bravado as if he could square up against the massive creature beneath him, but his friend wouldn’t be able to see that. Not as long as he was perched on the horn. “I’m a big man. The big man!”

There was a jolt below as Tango shook his head. The sudden movement knocked Jimmy’s feet out from under him. With a shrill cry, he went tumbling down the glittering gold slope of Tango’s head until he skittered to a halt hanging halfway from his nose. Yellow wings stretched and pressed against scales as his feet dangled uselessly over open air. “TANGO! HELP!”

“You know you can fly, right?” the dragon huffed, a smile evident in his voice. Still, he reached up and scooped Jimmy up in his claws.

“Y-yeah. Of course I do,” he sputtered, adjusting his jostled feathers back into place. It took a bit of time, considering how ruffled they were from the tumble. The wave of embarrassment washing over him did not help.

“Sure thing, buddy.” The corners of Tango’s mouth pulled up for a moment, before his head swung back and forth to take in his surroundings. “You’ve got a point, though. This place isn’t big enough for us. I should just settle down until my wings finish healing. It’s not like I have to wait much longer.” As if to illustrate his point, he shuffled his wings against his back. He didn’t recoil from the movement. His eyes didn’t crinkle at the corners from strain. He seemed fine.

The only apparent problem was that there wasn’t enough room to risk spreading them out. Just that little motion knocked a faded family portrait off the wall with a thumb claw.

It had been more than Tango had been able to manage without wincing in pain a couple of weeks ago. The membrane between the wing fingers had healed over a while ago. Dull scars pitted the skin, stubborn reminders of how badly the dragon had been hurt. The bones were less obvious, but beneath the scales and muscle, they were well on their way through the healing process. Tango had been good about keeping them still and letting them mend. And when he had been tempted to put pressure on them early and take a risk, Jimmy had made sure he was there and ready to give him a solid peck upside the head to chase those thoughts away.

“You… you want to leave?” The question hung in the empty air. There was a moment of silence. Not even the grandfather clock ticked with the passing seconds. They had never bothered to wind it.

Eventually, Tango shrugged. “It’s an option. Beats accidentally busting this joint up. Feels like I’m trying to put a square peg through a round hole, and I’m the peg.” He held his claw up to his head for Jimmy to hop back up onto his horn. The small bird gratefully settled down against his perch while Tango reached down to scoop the picture off the hardwood floor. He watched the two smiling faces centered in the frame as Tango hung it back up on the wall. One a woman. One a man. Both familiar to the phoenix.

When the dragon’s claws pulled away, the frame was crooked. “This place is made for humans.” There was a sad note in his voice. Something distant. Something angry. A shiver ran down Jimmy’s spine as he thought of men on fire. People rendered down screaming smudges of light on a dark night.

He didn’t like where that train of Tango’s thought seemed to be going. “Or human-sized people,” Jimmy blurted in a rush, trying to bring the conversation around to something more his speed. Something that didn’t involve Tango leaving. Or humans. “Or me-sized birds.”

“Or that,” the dragon agreed with a snort.

“You know, we could get back to finishing up the barn. It was a lot of fun. You know, before it burnt down… And there was a lot more room for the both of us.”

Tango’s head swayed thoughtfully. Jimmy rocked along with him, shifting with the movement instinctually. “Yeah, we could do that,” Tango hummed. They turned towards the door. “That’s another option.”

“I say we just focus on getting the roof back up and then worry about the walls after.”

“That’s not going to protect us from much.”

“I’m not concerned.”

“Well of course you’re not, mister ‘I can’t die.’”

“Hey, I don’t appreciate that coming from you, mister ‘immortal.’ You very well know I can die.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“EXCUSE ME?!”

By now, Tango had lumbered back into the kitchen. It was the only way he could go to get to the only door big enough for him to fit through. There was the stone in the middle of the floor, right where Jimmy had left it. “Here I am, all excited, bringing you a gift, even,” he twittered, alighting from his perch. This time, the little bird landed on the floor with much more grace and intention next to the glittering red gift. “And you’re bad-mouthing me. I will not stand for such slander.”

Jimmy watched with satisfaction as Tango’s eyes glittered. He had just noticed the large chunk of redstone. “Wait-a-minute…” The dragon had to hunker down, practically resting his head on the floor so that they were eye level. “Where did that come from?”

“I found it.” Pride warmed Jimmy over from head to tail tip. Chest feathers puffed out as he pushed the rock forward with one foot. “Had to go pretty far out for it to. We’ve picked the nearby valley and mountain clean, but I know how much you’ve been wishing for more. You practically used up everything we were using for your temporary hoard, so I brought you back the biggest piece I could find.”

There had been more past the villages, but Jimmy hadn’t been physically equipped to tackle an entire ore vein, even if it was on the surface. Mining was out of the question, and what was readily available was usually no bigger than fine grains of dust. What was he supposed to do with dust? Sweep it up with his wings? But this! This he could bring back on his own.

“And it’s for me?!?”

He gave the rock another tap with his clawed toes. It rocked, then rattled and rolled to its side. “Well, I sure ain’t gonna use it.”

“Oh my gosh. I don’t even know what to say.” With careful claws, Tango plucked the stone off the floor. He held it gingerly, like he was afraid he was going to break it. Knowing Tango’s strength, it was entirely possible he could have crushed it to dust if he wanted to. “Thank you, Jimmy.”

It felt good. It felt good to see Tango smile like that. “Don’t worry about it. Just use it towards something cool, ya hear?”

He nodded. “I don’t even know what I’d do with it. Or if I’d even do anything with. I think I’m just gonna hold onto it for now.” Then, to Jimmy’s horror, he tucked it into one of the folds of his bandages.

“No!”

Tango whipped his head around, eyes wide, pupils shrunk down to hairline slits, thrown utterly off guard by Jimmy’s outburst.“What- What? What?? WHAT?!?”

“No. No. NO,” he repeats unhelpfully. “You’re not putting it there,” he chirped. “That’s just asking to aggravate your injury. I’m not letting you go and do that.”

The phoenix hopped towards the dragon, who scrambled away with wide eyes. Considering their size difference, it would have been a comical sight to see the little bird scaring the dragon. But Jimmy wasn’t laughing. He was too concerned for that.

“But I-”

“No buts!”

“Fine!” Tango still looked a bit baffled as he pried the rock back out from a layer of gauze.

It had only gone beneath the first layer of clean linen. There were plenty of layers that would have separated the rock from skin and scale. There were also plenty of spare bandages to replace it if necessary. As far as the phoenix was concerned, it still wasn’t worth the risk.

“I’ll just stash it in my nest or something instead,” the dragon huffed. “Just gotta find a spot where I won’t roll over and crush it first.”

“You don’t have to do that. Why don’t we find you something to help you carry it? A safe place to put it until you decide.”

The sharp scales making up the ridge of his eye raised in a way that Jimmy thought looked uncomfortable, what with all those sharp edges. Tango made no sign that it was uncomfortable in any way, though. “You’ve got something in mind?”

“I’ve got an idea.” Jimmy bounced forward, craning his neck so he could see past his friend through the kitchen door. There was a trapdoor in the hallway ceiling. Cobwebs dusted the corners and the wood looked warped and faded from years of disuse, but it was still there. “If memory serves me correctly, I bet ya there’s something in the attic we can use.”

“The attic?” Tango turned, following Jimmy’s gaze to the hatch in the ceiling. “Oh no way. I’m never going to fit through that.”

“That’s why you’ve got a big strong man like me to help.” With a sweep of his wings, Jimmy took off. “Mind lifting the door for me a smidge, though?”

He was too busy circling the hall to get a good look at Tango’s expression, but he could still hear his friend’s voice. “Will you even be able to see up there?”

“Sure I will.”

A golden tail snaked its way to the ceiling, pushing the trapdoor open a few centimeters. That was all Jimmy needed. With a twitch of his tail and a twitter, he pulled his wings in tight and swooped through the opening. Almost immediately, he crashed headfirst into the long thin wires of an old bird cage.

Bam!

“What was that?! Is everything alright?”

“Fine! It’s fine Tango!” It was fine. There were a few more bruises added to the number he already had from crashing into the kitchen, but his wings weren’t broken and he hadn’t hit his head. Another potential death avoided. Another win in his book.

The birdcage was ruined, though. It had toppled to its side after the impact and rolled into a forgotten rat trap. He looked it over as he settled feathers back into their places. There were massive dents in the wires now. One gap was big enough for someone his size to easily pass through.

The sight sent a twinge through his chest. What a shame.

“Could you hold the door for me, Tango? I need a minute to look around.”

“Yeah. I got it.”

“Thank you!”

Well, there was no reason to dwell on an old cage. It hadn’t been used in years anyway. Instead, Jimmy turned his attention to the rest of the attic. Trunks and boxes and chests, oh my. The space was piled high with more junk than he recalled. The abandoned items were dusty from years of neglect. It made what should have been a brightly colored, overstuffed room feel dull and hollow.

Again, there was no reason to dwell on that now. The old inhabitants were long gone. It was him and Tango now. So Jimmy flew, passing over a dress form with a long wedding gown and a crate painted with a hot air balloon. He instead began his search with the piles of boxes on the other side of the room.

_____________________________________________________________

Night had fallen.

Jimmy felt nice and snug in his nest. It was perched in the Y-bend of the support beams holding up the newly built barn roof. If you could call it that. Slats of timber had been screwed together and raised onto the supports at an angle. There weren’t any shingles or insulation to keep the water out if it were to start raining. There definitely weren’t any walls. Tango was right, it wouldn’t protect them from much. It wasn’t much, but it was still a lot for a day’s work.

At least it was a nice night outside. Almost like they were sleeping under the stars. The twinkling lights were just visible through the spaces where walls would eventually go up. And it was spacious. Jimmy didn’t have to try very hard to coax his friend into sleeping there for the night. He had a feeling that the dragon hadn’t been excited about spending another night cooped up in one of those too-small bedrooms. In a show of solidarity, he had even helped the dragon carry his nest out. That is, if ‘helped’ meant ‘asked Tango to do it.’ What could he say? Tango could carry the whole thing in his claws. If Jimmy had tried doing it himself, he would have had to carry it twig by twig.

Still, the dragon hadn’t seemed to mind. He was in good spirits, curled up beneath Jimmy in the bedding they had pulled from the linen closet. The leather coin pouch Jimmy had found in the attic was tied around one of his wrists, the redstone rock nestled inside.

“Okay, my turn,” he was saying. With one claw, he traced a line from one star to another, to another, and another as if connecting the dots.

Jimmy followed the motion, trying to find a pattern in the movements. “Looks like a triangle with a line down the middle. Is that supposed to be one of your hoppers?”

Tango shook his head. “I was going more for a cross shape. I’m also ninety-nine percent certain that it’s a real constellation I’m pointing at. Come on. Try again.” He traced the line of stars once more. Jimmy’s head twitched, following its path intently. Left, right, center, a small swipe up, and then a long trail down. A real constellation, huh? He’d never been very good with those. He wasn’t some lowly pigeon that had to worry about keeping track of directions.

Wait a minute…

“Is it a bird?”

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner!” With a grin, Tango knocked his tail into the base of the Y-beam. The shockwave made Jimmy’s nest shiver around him. “Pretty sure it’s supposed to be a hawk or something, but I don’t remember the name of it.”

“Well, don’t look at me,” he said, pushing the twigs back into place. “I wouldn’t know the first thing about that sort of thing.”

“Really?”

Jimmy peered over the edge of his nest. There was Tango, staring up at him with red eyes brimming with curiosity. His friend tilted his pointy head as if seeing him from a new perspective would help him understand. “Well, yeah,” he mumbled. “I’ve never really needed it.”

“Then how’d you navigate?”

He didn’t. Jimmy shrugged his wings, a motion that probably wasn’t visible to the dragon below. Not over the ledge of his nest. “Usually my other flock mates handled that.”

“Flock?”

“I’m a bird, Tango. That shouldn’t be so weird.”

“I don’t know! You’re the first Phoenix I've met. For all I know, you’re all meant to be hermits.” With that, Tango pushed himself up to a seat in his makeshift bed. Bandaged wings trailed at his sides as he craned his neck back to get a better look at Jimmy. “Besides, you’ve never talked about a flock before. Where are they now?” Scales scraped the bare dirt as the dragon worried at it with his claws. “I’m not keeping you from them, am I?”

“Of course not,” Jimmy exclaimed. He almost laughed at the thought. “Far from it.”

Those big red eyes narrowed at him. “I don’t understand.”

Jimmy wanted nothing more than to sink further into his nest out of sight. Of course Tango wouldn’t get it. It's not like Jimmy had ever talked about it. It was his own fault of course, but had his reasons. The main one being that it had simply never come up in conversations. Another one was that he had gotten his hopes up about Tango sticking around, and with it came the fear that if he voiced his feelings about flocks, it would only make things awkward and ensure Tango would leave. Now he wasn’t sure what to do with the sudden rush of self-consciousness. “Sorry. I guess this is kind of confusing. What I mean is, I don’t really have a flock right now. Not anymore.”

“Oh…”

A shadow passed over Tango’s eyes and Jimmy realized that his wording probably hadn’t been the best. “It’s not like anything bad happened to them,” he quickly added, trying to set the record right before his friend got the wrong idea. “It’s just, every so often, time passes and you’ve gotta move on. Kinda comes with the territory of being tangentially immortal when everyone else around you isn’t, you know?”

Tango blinked. “So it’s not a flock of phoenixes, like you?”

“Nah.” Jimmy waved his question off with a flick of his wingtip. “I haven’t flown with my kind for a very long time. I guess flock might be the wrong word for what I’m trying to say. I’ve lived with flocks made up of birds, sure, but I’ve also stayed with people. Humans. All sorts. Could probably call it family, or friends, but ‘flock’ feels right. Like it works the best for what I mean.”

He expected Tango to start shooting off more questions, or to laugh at him. Maybe even squint at him with those brightly colored eyes as if that could help the dragon figure him out. To his surprise, his friend instead looked back at the farmhouse through one of the many gaps in the barn’s foundation. His wings slumped to the ground as he let himself fall back into his bedding. “Humans, huh?” While it was technically a question, there was no hint of curiosity in his voice. If anything, it sounded strained.

The two sat in silence. Tango stared out at the other building, tail-tip twitching, and Jimmy picked himself over to the edge of his nest, not sure what to do or say. Now he’d gone and done it. This was exactly the type of reaction he had been trying to avoid. At least since the barn burned down. The little bird wasn’t sure what else to do, so he decided to fill the silence himself.

“They’re not all like that, buddy. I swear. And the ones I hung out with…” Jimmy found his own gaze drifting towards the barn house as well. It had changed so much but was still so similar. “They’re long gone. I promise you. And even if they weren’t, I can also promise you that they weren’t the type to go around harassing folks like us.” He blinked and saw green eyes and a cheeky smile in the empty space behind his eyelids. “Well, not like those fools who showed up here,” he corrected himself. “Harmless. Good people living a good life and I was there helping them out. Rooting ‘em on-”

“Hey, Jimmy.”

Jimmy blinked. He shrank down against his nest a little lower. “Yeah?”

Tango didn’t look at him. Just kept his eyes locked on the farmhouse, his head propped up on a lump of fabric. “Is that how you knew about this place? When you first found me? Is this your human friends’ home?”

The little bird sighed. “Yeah.”

“What were they like?”

Oh. “Um, really nice actually,” Jimmy twittered. “There were two of them. You know that portrait in the living room, right?”

“Mmhmm.”

“That was them. The man, the- uh- the one with the green streak in his hair, he liked to annoy me. Kept reminding me I was small and rubbed it in my face, but he also threatened to punch a guy in the face for almost breaking my wing. He had a big head, but he was a really good friend…

“And the woman with the pink hair, that was his wife. She was the one who found me. I had just gotten tossed around in a nasty storm. Wasn’t pretty. I was probably just as hurt back then as you were when I found you. She picked me up and took me back here. Took care of my bandages and gave me plenty of seeds to eat while I was on the mend. We got along really well. It was just how I’d imagine having a sibling is like.”

“And they knew what you were?”

Jimmy couldn’t help the little chuckle that escaped his beak. “Yeah. Yeah. They thought I was a normal bird at first, just like you. Didn’t take them long to realize that wasn’t the case after I started talking.” Another thing they had in common with Tango. “They were good flockmates once they figured it out, though.”

“I see…”

Was that an invitation to talk more? Or a dismissal? Jimmy couldn’t tell. He wasn’t sure what to say. He could talk about old memories of this house. Of the ranch. Of the people inside. Would it help? Would it only make things worse? Tango didn’t say anything else, either. He just kept looking at that farmhouse, away from Jimmy.

More silence. More of that infuriating quiet that made it feel like time had stopped around them. There wasn’t even a breeze. No whisper of grass or whistle of wind. Empty. Jimmy hated it. And after what felt like hours but couldn’t have been more than a minute, he decided he had enough of it.

The little bird jumped off of the beam to glide down to Tango. At the last second, he pulled in his wings and dropped, clawed toes catching on Tango’s horn.

“Tango I-”

Jimmy cut himself off. The dragon’s eyes were glistening. Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes. Wet streams left streaks from his eyes down to his chin. As soon as he noticed Jimmy looking, he tucked his face beneath his claws.

“Tango, are you alright?”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I’m so sorry Jimmy.” Bright little droplets began to fall from between his claws.

“For what?” The phoenix leaned down closer, patting one wing against his friend’s head. He wasn’t sure if Tango could feel the brush of feathers through the scales, but he hoped that the pressure and motion could comfort him. “What on Earth do you have to be sorry for?”

“I messed up. I lost my temper. I ruined everything.”

“What are you on about? Of course you didn’t.”

“But I did. It’s because of me the ranch burnt down. Here you are telling me that this was your home, that you lived here and had family here and they were humans, and I- And I went messed it all.”

Jimmy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Tango, you’re being silly. They were trying to kill you,” he said, exasperated. “And they were the ones who started the fires.”

“Exactly! They wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for me. They wouldn’t have shot you or ruined your home if it wasn’t for me. I led those people here, and then I killed them. Humans, just like your friends.”

This was ridiculous. Jimmy hopped off the horn. Tango moved his claws away automatically, making room for the little bird to avoid accidentally bumping or crushing him. With the space cleared, Jimmy perched instead on the end of the dragon’s nose so that he could look his friend in those big, teary eyes. “It’s fine, really. And it’s not your fault by a long shot. The ranch, the house, it’s been vacant for years. I haven’t been there for years. Neither have my old flockmates. They’re gone. This hasn’t been home to me for years. Not until I came back here with you. And it’s not because I lived here before. It’s because I’m here with you and these past few weeks have been a blast. And yeah, I’m sad it burned, but I’d rather those guys burn the place down than get you.”

Tango sniffed. The rush of air and smoke nearly knocked Jimmy from his perch. It certainly left his feathers in a mess. But he stood strong as his friend wiped at an eye. “Really?” he asked.

“Really.”

“But- but what about the humans?”

“What about them? Far as I’m concerned, they got what was coming to ‘em.”

Tango’s eyes widened. “But… but I thought… The way you’ve been avoiding talking about the fire, and we don’t ever mention the humans… I thought I really scared you.”

Well…

“I mean, I won’t lie, you’re temper took me by surprise. But you thought I was dead. And like I said, they were out to get you. I don’t hold it against you if that’s what you're thinking. I’m not scared of you.”

Tango seemed to melt beneath him. Massive wings that were once wound against his sides untensed and pooled across the ground. A massive sigh escaped his nose. It was less violent this time, though, sending the oddly comforting smell of bonfire smoke wafting over Jimmy. The guilty glisten in his eyes turned into a reassured glitter. “Oh thank goodness. I thought we were avoiding talking about all this time because I scared you. You would keep mentioning it and then dropping it right away. I felt so guilty all this time, you don’t understand.”

“What? No,” Jimmy huffed, settling his feathers back into place. “Is that really why you’ve been shutting down every time I bring up the fire or humans?”

“Uh… yeah…” he said sheepishly, trying to look away. It was a difficult task, considering Jimmy was right on his nose.

“I thought it was because you didn’t want to think about it. Every time I mentioned it you got that look in your eye and I thought you were still angry at them or something. And then you were talking about leaving today-”

Tango cut him off. “I thought you’d want me out for ruining your place and losing my temper!”

“Of course NOT!” That was the farthest thing from what he wanted. “If anything, I’d hope you might stick around for a while after your wings were healed. It was finally starting to feel like-” Jimmy snapped his beak shut, realizing what he was just about to say. Was it too soon?

“What? What what what?!” Tango asked. He pushed his head forward, trying to lean in, but Jimmy was perched on his nose. The little bird just moved with him. He blinked, realizing his mistake before reaching out with his claws to scoop Jimmy up. “What were you going to say?”

He debated. He warred within himself, thinking so hard there was probably smoke coming out the sides of his head in a similar fashion to the smoke coming from Tango’s nose. If there was ever a time to say it, now was that time.

“It was starting to feel like we were flockmates.”

#Life series #trafficblr #fanfiction #team ranchers #the ranch #jimmy solidarity #solidaritygaming #tango #dragon tangotek #phoenix jimmy #alternate universe - fantasy #alternate universe - dragon #past life #found family

16 notes · View notes

murderbirds · 3 months

Text

It is really baffling to me that DC made one of the potentially most dangerous enemy imaginable in the form of the court of owls and they just don't know what to do with it. The concept of the elite group of a city as dangerous as Gotham City forcing Gotham to remain what it is and always has been for the sake of their own never ending greed and cheap work makes so much sense and works so well as a parallel to Bruce who is all about how to use his fortune to try and 'fix' the city, but instead people will dumb it down to just 'oh, we are so scary, we have this maze, you see.' The court of owls shouldn't be just another enemy. They should be the very essence of what Batman fights against because their reach is so great that every single one of the rogues and batman's villains were created by them, directly and indirectly. They are the ones who refuse to allow Gotham to change. You can't have all of this potential and just throw it as "villain of the week!" C'mon!

Gotham almost did it well. In season 2, we are introduced to the Court as this entity that controls all of Gotham, from Wayne Enterprises to Arkham. At this point, Strange is our main antagonist in the season, and even he is terrified of them. Season 2 of Gotham is the Court at its best. You witness how little they care about human lives and just how powerful they are, but of course, in comes season 3 and ruins everything.

Not only does the court of owls become a bunch of idiots in season 3, but they also make no sense. I understand that the big reveal is that 'oh, they are actually just being controlled by the league of shadows', which, mind you, makes no sense. The court of owls is the definition of everything that Ra's hates about humanity, but pop off, I guess. And it is funny because Ra's is probably the most effective antagonist in this show besides maybe Sofia and Strange. Ra's is an actual threat, he feels imposing, he feels powerful and it is gratifying to see him go down. He is a man led by his desire to die and to create a better world though Bruce and I could go on a whole tangent about how powerful of a narrative this can be, but I won't. This is about the Court. Not Ra's. The Court is a representation of greed from those on top and how their actions perpetuate this cycle of hate and destruction. The court is about capitalism. The league of shadows is about nihilism and trying to force the next generation to do what you wish you had. They don't work together. They are opposite extremes.

Now, let's get back on track. In season 3, the court decides that they want to 'start over' by killing off most of Gotham's population through the Tetch virus, but they never really explained why besides 'oh everything has gone wrong so we will now start over' and I just want to understand what exactly is it that has gone wrong. At this point, the court is still almost unanimously the one on top. The one who was actually the biggest threat to them, Galavan, is dead. Bruce is still a kid, so even if you do need to do something about him eventually, wouldn't it be easier and more practical to just get rid of him? Wayne manor has basically no defenses. One almost immortal guy nearly killed Bruce, Alfred and Jim, and you have an entire army of those available. Oswald isn't a threat either, at this point, he is more interested in his own greed than anything else. Hell, if they had offered him to join them, chances were, he would have accepted it. Would he be a problem in the future? Possibly, but if you are willing to try to get Jim "golden boy" joy your organization, the guy who wins a medal for not following rules, I think letting Oswald in is fine as long as you make him think he is on top. That leads us to the only remaining threat, Jim. James Gordon, at this point, isn't a part of the police anymore. He is just a private investigator. He has little to no power. Kill him, arrest him, threaten to destroy everything he loves if he doesn't stop. It doesn't matter, but don't invite him to join you. He has no power at this point, why do you even want him? Because he sorta promised Bruce to help save his parents? What? It just makes no sense that they would want Jim in their organization, who doesn't even have a place of his own at this point in the story, but not Oswald or Barbara or Butch or any actual major player in the city. And the most mind boggling thing of all is the fact that the court would go out of their way to subdue both the Riddler and the Penguin and throw them both into cages and do nothing about it. Why? What was the point of that? Weren't you going to destroy the city anyway? Why not just place them in the blast of a bomb or get rid of them? Or better yet, just kill them and get rid of their bodies! Why do you want them alive?! You didn't give two shits about Edward in season 2, why are you keeping him locked up now?! If you want something from them, why don't you talk to them?! What are you trying to accomplish?!

In any case, what I'm trying to say is, the Court of Owls makes no sense in season 3 and is just there to do what the plot requires them to do, and that is true for most other Batman media I have seen with them. They are there just to fill a role instead of being an actual threat, and this goes all the way back to their introduction, when, once again, they are treated as just a villain of the week with no further development.

#gotham #batman #dc comics #dc #court of owls

6 notes · View notes

theressomethinghappeninginparis · 1 month

Text

It's been a while.

Let me tell you why. I left the Croft Manor and went to Utah.

I know, it's a leap of faith I took, but it was worth it. I have retrieved knowledge and information and shared all I know with Lara Croft as well as with Mister Trent. I needed a day's rest at the Croft Manor and I felt slightly ashamed, but I am no superwoman like Lara, and my knee is still throbbing. I hope I haven't relocated anything, lol.

Transcript of the first, second and third page:

Here's a whole list of things I asked Lara Croft. She was kind enough to sit by me while I was sipping tea, moaning, and trying to recover from *points at everything*. Q: The piece of the Sanglyph I have given you, what do you know about it? A: From what I have gathered: the Sanglyph is a relic created by Eckhardt. You surely crossed paths with this psycho already. It's a disc that can be parted into five pieces. To prevent mortals from using it, he was hiding it inside the five Obscura Paintings. Q: So the paintings were his idea, too? A: He commissioned to get them painted andhid the pieces in there until his glovey-dovey hands could get onto a Nephilim. (me: the Lux Veritatis later seized them, let them be painted over by Brother Obscura, and scattered them). Q: This guy's not normal, right? A: Best actor in history. No, he's neither normal nor human. He was. With a deal he was made immortal, and the cost was reviving the Nephilim race. He's a vessel for over 500 years of evil, alchemy and hatred for humans. And the LV. Q: The Lux Veritatis were a pain in his life? A: You guessed it.They tried anything to stop him, even putting him in a ditch for several hundread years until an Ally bomb hit the castle and he could break free. The Shards were recollected by Heissturm, who gave them to his son. I think you've met him already. Q: If you mean Kurtis- yes, I've read about him. But I haven't had a chance to talk to him yet. A: In case you can offer something, he'll talk. He loves teamwork. (Lara chuckles, is that a smile?) Get the Sanglyph to him and ask him to get it here, at some point. I trust him, he'll do so. (me: I think we all know Lara Croft will not hesitate to track me down and shoot me if I were to disappear with it, so I guess...it'll do.) Q: (...) Thank you, again. What do you know about him? A: He's a tough cookie, a mercenary. Who is out for revenge. All he can think of now is to stuff Eckhardt's and his allies' faces with bullets or sever their heads. He was of great help, although I took care of Eckhardt first...anyway. He was of great help, especially in our escape out of the Louvre. Q: Speaking of Louvre- the killings in Paris and Prague. Was that Eckhardt? A: Not all of them. The murder of Werner was Karel (she looks aside). He's almost weirder than Eckhardt, I don't know much if anything about him. And, he is, you won't believe it, a shapeshifter. These Nephilim guys (she looks at me again) are a whole lot of strange. Q: (...) You mentioned the Shards... A: Kurtis knows way more. All I know is that they're way too scary to Eckhardt. You know, maybe bring him his, the one I have...he surely misses it. Q: Are you sure he wants to talk to me? Kurtis, I mean? A: If you have trouble convincing him with the Periapt Shard, just tell him (she smiles) I'd love to see him again. That'll convince him (she gets up to leave), trust me.

Transcript of the fourth page: This is all I can write in this journal. We talked a bit more, obviously, and she handed me Kurtis' contact information. He should be in Utah now, but I have his number in case I don't find him at home- it's somewhere in dumbfuck nowhere. Lara lets me stay for as long as I want and I can roam the Manor's museums (or "rooms" like Lara calls them") freely. I got a ticket to visit the USA, and am preparing a catalogue of questions for Kurtis Trent. I kind of hope he lets me write down more. In case he gets back to being a ghost he might allow me to publish more. It feels good to not be on edge all the time. Not having a maniac roam the streets is nicer than I ever imagined. I feel relief.

I'll take some rest and gather nerves and strength for the- hopefully- last trip regarding this case. I want it to be over, it's exhausting.

Transcript of the fifth and sixth page: Questions for Mister Trent: 1. What do you know about Eckhardt and what's he to do with the LV? 2. What are the Lux veritatis anyway? Why was it founded and where is everybody? 3. Your father Heissturm, is he involved? 4. How did you cross paths with Lara Croft? 5. The Periapt Shards- what are they made of? Do they really kill immortals? 6. The Nephilim are conected, just like the Sleeper. But what about the guys in the Sanitarium? 7. The guy in cell 42, know him? And the "Nephilim Proto" he mentioned?

I'm on my way to Utah. Lara was on a call fow a few hours with what I think was Kurtis, had a good laugh, and mentioned that I'll hand him something and he should leave me in one piece. Really reassuring...she handed me one of the Shards. Such a weird...thing. It is made of crystal I believe and is purple-ish black-ish depending on the light. The lionhead makes the Shard heavy to carry and I can hold it, but itfeels like it carries a weight, maybe even a metaphorical one, like there's a power stored within. Absolutely supernatural and strange. I'll try to sleep now. Miss Croft has sent me all my luggage and food, along with a return ticket and her direct contacts. She was so happy to have the piece of the Sanglyph or rather the whole thing now, but kinda happier to speak to Kurtis.

Is it her stubbornness that keeps her from visiting him herself?

Transcript of the seventh and eighth page: I literally got a map to Kurtis place. He is in the middle of nowhere. of course. I'm not kidding: Lara printed me a map I found in the folder she put my tickets in. It's more of a guide and she got me a driver to get me there. Why the fuck is Mister trent living in dumbfuck nowhere? Don't ask about the sigils, the driver could read them, but Lara didn't bother explaining.

After several hours of driving in the middle of the fucking desert and taking the wrong way once I found it. I found him. Was greeted with a gun to my face until I mentioned Lara's password-sentence: Move along, mon chère. I am still surprised he didn't shoot me on sight.

The weapons of the Lux Veritatis: Kurtis has given me a detailed description of the tools the LV have used and/or continue to use. It's surely not all of them.

Betyl (training stones) Betyl is an ancient metal that the LV shape to resemble arrowheads. Most of the time there are engravings in them and they're used as training device for the Shirugai. They have some main skills:

guide (compass)

impulse (attack)

crisscross (whatever)

pattern (uhm?)

There are also five stages of control: 1. Aronsäid 2. Gyllais 3. Tuleic 4. Ömsa 5. Veruta

And of course Mister Trent didn't bother elaborating. I guess he's too busy being excited to get the Shard and then bring it to Lara- just out of kindness with no self-interest, of course.

Shirugai Translated as throw-star. The LV have their own invention, it's a disc-like thing with five spikes on the edhe. These blades are retractable. The disk is being held by putting five fingers through the holes in the middle. A shirugai is connected to a single member of the Lux Veritatis and can only be used by them. It's controlled via telepathy and can be used within a radius.

The Betyl stones are not needed if the member has enough skills. I bit my tongue to not imply Kurtis surely needed them. The blades are so sharp they can cut through steel. Although fairly popular the shirugai has seen not much use: there's barely people left that can more than just hover it.

Transcript of the tenth page: The hut is pretty small and Kurtis seems to live here by himself. When I explained to him I was accidentally crossing paths with this whole murder plot he laughed and admired my skill to stay alive. I mentioned Miss Croft cleared the path for me, and he replied that anything that gets in her way dies, and he barely dodged that fate himself. He is a grim dude who listens to Nirvana and fits perfectly to Lara's love for Nine Inch Nails. Depeche Mode anyone? I feel like he never has visitors- his tables are full of books on mysticism and ancient history. And guns. Holy shit guns.

Not too inviting, but he answered all I wanted to know and will fly back with me to London and I will continue further to Paris. Back home. At last.

Forgive me, the rest of the interview is there, but I am so, so tired. Here is the first question: Q: What do you know about Eckhardt and what does that have to do with the LV? Eckhardt is an old-ass dude who is about 600 years old. He made a deal with the Nephilim to help them take over the world - he is a bit insane- and in return, they made him immortal (he takes a smoke). The LV always wanted to prevent evil int his world, and an alchemist that seeks for organs and organ harvest is not the good guy. After being put in chains in a castle pit an Ally bomber freed him (he looks at me and raises a brow), definitely planned, and he plotted revenge.

I will continue my notes tomorrow. It's way past midnight. I nudged a talk on Lara Croft and am listening to Mister Kurtis talk about her in admiration. I wonder. What keeps them from hanging out? Both of them shoot first and ask questions later. Perfect match if you ask me.

#angel of darkness #journal #tomb raider #traod #tomb raider angel of darkness #tomb raider series #aod #classic tr #lara croft #classic tomb raider

6 notes · View notes

mylungsdontw0rk · 8 months

Text

"Hey, Guqqie," aimsey began, their voice shaking slightly "I have something to tell you."

"Yes," Guqqie replied anxiously, they could tell this wasn't going to be good news

"I kept working on the stronghold stuff, and now I am going to find the answer to becoming mortal. I want to feel human" aimsey said, studying guqqie's face for her reaction

"B- but you promised" guqqie said as her heart dropped "you promised you'd stop working on it, at least until we figured out if I was immortal"

"I know, but I don't think I can live forever, I want to experience getting old and dying, for good" aimsey's voice cracking as they tried not to cry

"Please, please don't , what if you die, and I never get to say goodbye, I never get to see you again" guqqie's voice became higher, as warm tears began to roll down her cheeks

"Guq, please, remember I will always love you, no matter what happens" aimsey said, voice cracking, as his eyes became filled with tears.

"If you love me, why are you trying to die? Am I not enough for you?" Guqqie's sadness turned more to anger.

How could he leave her. They promised they were going to stay. They said guqqie was their reason to stay.

"I do love you, I love you so, so much guq, I just can't do this anymore, I can't live forever, it's so... isolating"

Guqqie began to walk away.

*What a stupid excuse, am I not good enough them?* Guqqie thought to themself, tears still falling down their cheeks.

"Guqqie, guqqie please, come back, I love you so much, I'll miss you when I'm gone, please, never forget I love you" aimsey calls out, as they fell to the floor, sobbing.

Guqqie ran home, sobbing. "They promised they would never leave me, he said I was his reason to stay. And then she said she was leaving. I have no one now. No one to see, no one to talk to, no one to love."

Aimsey began to walk home, sobbing softly to himself. They arrived home, opened a book, and starter writing

-to guq,

I'm sorry. I have to go, I can't live like this, I don't want to live forever. I feel trapped, death may be my only escape. I know it's scary, I'm scared too, but I need to do this, I need to be able to die. Living forever scares me, I'm scared I will lose you, and have to grieve forever, knowing I'll never see you again. I love you so much, never forget that. I will always love you, no matter what happens. Please, if I die, go and see the stars, imagine I'm with you, imagine were together, forever. We will always be together, even I f you can't see me, I will always be in your heart, always watching over you, always living you.

I love you forever and always

aims :) -

Still sobbing, they close the book, and title it 'i love you'. They start wandering over to guqqie's house, contemplating their decision, but they feel no regret. They have to do this, or he will go crazy.

He sees guqqie's house on the horizon, and whispers to himself "these fucking walls, they're so stupid"

She reaches the walls and places a chest down, labelling it 'letterbox'. He smiles to himself, remembering when guq had done the same thing to him, not that long ago. Placing the letter in the chest, they dry their tears and softly whispering "I love so much guq, I really do."

Guqqie wakes up, and heads outside, seeing whether they can catch aimsey before he leaves, possibly forever. They see a chest, and open it. They open the book, and softly read it out loud to themself. She begins to cry again, realising how much they love, and will miss, aimsey. They close the book, and begin to sprint to aimsey's house, wanting to stop him, to get him to stay. They arrive at aimsey's house, and call out "aimsey, aimsey, are there, aimsey please", but it was too late, aimsey had left, they had left forever.

After leaving guqqie's house, aimsey began walking straight to the stronghold. Walking there gave him time to think, time to make sure this is what they want to do, but they felt no regret, he finally felt free. They reach the stronghold and head straight to the portal, almost running towards it.

They step up, to the portal, whispers to himself " this is it, the moment I have worked so hard for", and jumps.

#au!sunshipduo #au!aimsey #au!guqqie #area unknown smp #i cried writing this #au!sunship duo are my babas #i dont want anything bad to hapen to them #aimsey #guqqie #sunshipduo

9 notes · View notes

mostlymobilegames · 1 year

Text

HS2 first impressions

(spoilers from both books and complaining)

((This isn't as coherent as I would've liked it to be but I've spend too much time writing it already))

So after getting my ducks in order the beginning of HS2 wasn't really a bad experience, even though I still have a lot to complain about.

First of all, the MC is just not what I would've liked her to be after 10 years and like 2 consecutive wars. She still comes off as hotheaded and stuck in her own ways at times, which isn't what I want from a +30 year old high ranked immortal, especially from one who considers herself a "leader" (c'mon now). It gives off the impression that, even though she was basically Heaven's main weapon some time ago, getting a cozy spot on the Council didn't push her to get better. You can't possibly be in such a high position for such a long time and not get a better and less sensitive attitude (sure, there can be something said about the amount of trauma Vicky suffered in her Academy days which probably had an impact in her growth and is the reason for her nightmares but I'm not a psychologist, I'm just here to complain).

This isn't the worst thing (and my expectations are high because it's Alice and RC keeps creating top tier MCs) but it annoys me how small the development is after such a long time. It's not a good look, it's a look that makes it seem like she literally only got the place on the Council after graduation because she had been useful (which is somehow true, considering your average immortal had to spend years climbing the hierarchy), and that isn't completely bad unless she's not developing any skills afterwards. I do understand that she accepted that she had darkness inside her, she has power yada yada yada, but... why didn't she look into it more? Malbonte always kept talking about getting his power back from her, so why didn't anyone, not even Rebecca, look into this at some point? I don't mean immediately after winning the war, but some time down the line.

I will say that I might be too quick to judge (we started off with solitary confinement and relationship breaking) and that maybe I'm too harsh, too soon, and Vicky will prove herself in the future. I'm sure she will (proving herself is like one of her most redeeming qualities) but for know... she's not impressive. She's literally back to square one, no power, no status. Actually, she's worse now.

Now, returning to the power swap moment done by Plague, I really liked that. Not the part about how the MC became powerless, but that it was really the moment of "omg this is actually the villain". The fact that it was so easy to take away MC's only hope is horrifying but it also leaves her completely vulnerable. There's nothing there for her to use anymore.

Speaking of Plague, she's so annoying. I can't even try to respect the prowess because she's so shit. She is powerful, but the fact that she's an unknown danger and sadistic contributes more to her scary factor than her actual powers. I can't deal with villains like her, their good looks just aren't enough. Not even gonna get into the leashes scene or how creepy she is with the men, she definitely can't take refusals. I dislike that in bad guys. She's also not as bad as she likes to think she is, her power is fuelled (at least partially) by people's desperation. Her presence makes me wanna scratch my skin off.

I don't know what the plan is with characters like Loy and Andy. I only had Andy alive just for him to die immediately in HS2 so...

The rest of the LIs are as I would expect after probably being tortured for at least 3 months. I'd be really surprised if there's any genuine betrayal happening, cause I only see them as being beaten (not necessarily in a literal sense) into reluctant submission. Maybe characters like Fencio and Torendo were willing, but I doubt any of the others wanted or expected this when they went with Plague. I have no explanation for why she saw Dino as not loving the MC anymore but I'm sure there will be one.

Their new looks are superior tho, at least. And I really like how the relationship between the MC and her long time partner is being presented. Regardless of who the player was romancing, their relationship during school ran pretty hot because it was forbidden and dangerous: sneaking around, getting in trouble because of the ban, worrying about death for 3 seasons straight and so on. It's not surprising that after so many years things not only settle down drastically but they see each other more clearly. Being closed off isn't sexy anymore, it causes real tension, working late puts a strain on the relationship, being on different sides isn't exciting, it's exhausting. Real life gets in the way, they aren't college kids (who fight for their lives), they're adults who are responsible for many other people (Mimi for her students, Dino, MC and Luci for the people under them, Andy for his squad not anymore but whatever). Although it is sus how very little opening up happened in 10 years, it's expected and not surprising that the relationship turned out kinda meh.

I am curious if there will be other LIs. Part of me doubts it, there are already established romances, but idk.

The flashback in Mexico is... not that good. It isn't bad in the sense of visuals or writing, it just doesn't make sense, the four of them were never in a close friendship to the point where they'd just chill on earth. When would something like that even had happened? In season 1 of book 1 Lucifer wasn't really part of the team and idk why Dino would've agreed to go on vacation with him anyway, and in seasons 2 and 3 (in 3 more) there was a bunch of drama and wars and breaking people out of jail and being captured and training etc. WHEN did this holiday celebration happen? It couldn't have happened after defeating Malbonte, since they all graduated pretty fast and my Lucifer wasn't even alive (it makes even less sense for it to have happened after the MC sided with Malbonte🗿). It's just such a weird situation, the group was never the kind to have holidays together, even if we were to accept that Lucifer eventually warmed up to Dino enough for them to be buddies (that's not their relationship)

I have very high expectations from Rebecca and Mammon. Idk where Rebecca disappeared in chapter 2, cause I'm pretty sure no one said anything about her, only Mammon is confirmed to have ran away, so they're literally the only ones not captured (who we know exist, I don't know how many characters Plague resurrected).

The visuals in HS2 are great, no complaints there. It does seem like I've had more bad things to say than good things about the book but I am expecting abnormal levels of badassery in the future to make up for the humiliation and pain received so soon. There's just no way MC isn't gonna have her revenge on Plague. I'm really hoping she figures this powerless shit out, but I'm really liking the new partnership with Shephamalum, I'm 100% down to fill the empty vessel with god powers 🤞

#imagine if i wrote this much for my essays oof #romance club #heaven's secret #heaven's secret 2 #rc hs 2 #rc heaven's secret

43 notes · View notes

ace-the-fox · 1 year

Note

Based on what I see on your blog, i know you have other jojo oc kids besides Haruka and Momo. Is it alright if I know who they all are?

I WAS SO EXCITED THAT I GOT THIS ASK AND THEN I FORGOT ABOUT IT WHOOPS-

I was gonna maybe do quick sketches to go along with this ask, but I don't have the time rn and I drew them for this dumb meme a while ago anyways. I'm just really talking about my main villain kids here, and also a bonus girlie 👀. Also some of these aspects, especially in later parts, are a little underbaked. I haven't really rewatched Jojo in a while (and I also have yet to finish part 6, let alone even sniff at the manga) so if it contradicts with Jojo canon... don't talk to me lmao /lh

So, let's start off with Ciliegia, my DIO kid. She's also Giorno's twin sister. She seems aggressive and a little scary, but she's actually just a lil chihuahua. She can and will hurt you if deserved, but she's also just a lil guy you know? A lil vampire lady who just wants head scratches and cherry lollipops. She goes with Giorno to join the mafia, but it's kinda just because home and school suck and she wants to help keep him safe. She's got a crush on Fugo, which eventually develops into a real relationship later on (when exactly is a difficult question, because I haven't decided wether I want her to get on the boat or not. I have reasons for either side, but this section is long enough as it is...) She's also kind of "One of the Boys" but not in a Pick Me girl way (she and Trish have a very nice friendship :) ). Her stand, Dresden Doll, can essentially disintegrate anything (or anyone...) into an ash like substance, but she doesn't use it after a... pretty traumatic experience of her accidentally activating it.

Izei is my Kars and Esidisi kid, who was in the care of Santana as an infant during the events of Part 2. He, thus, was adopted by Stroheim without literally anyone else's knowledge... oof. Stroheim kept him to have further insight on Pillar Man development, but kinda had a father/son bond but the experimentations and the fact that Izei was cooped up in the facility all day really hindered that. He does end up in the care of Joseph and Suzi Q somehow as a teen though, and becomes besties with a younger Holly. He also joins the Speedwagon Foundation later, around Part 3, specialising in animals. I like to imagine, in this universe, he drops off Iggy to the crusaders. He doesn't get a stand, because he obviously doesn't really need one with his ultimate being ass dad, but he does inherit Esidisi's nifty heat powers (they are mostly used to reheat Joseph's coffee). He's a good, quiet lad, if a little snarky and rebellious at times.

Livia is my Diavolo kid, the product of a one-night stand. Her mother quickly became a drug addict when she was little, to cope with her young and single motherhood and being kicked out by family due to it. She has, therefore, probably had the worst backstory. Taking care of her mother, dealing with the often sleazy and aggressive boyfriends she brought home, living in poverty etc. And then her mother died of an overdose and Livia, not wanting to end up in foster care, ran away and got donuted by Diavolo in the process... but then her stand kicked in. Nine Inch Nails' ability is literal immortality (and also makes wounds heal faster - she can heal a papercut in under five minutes), but she can still feel the pain of everything, she just can't die, so it's not as fun as you might think.

Miel technically doesn't count, as she has no biological or even legal relation to Pucci, but idc lol. She sees him as a father figure anyways, as their dysfunctional family were very attentive in the church he preached at. I'm not sure exactly what role she plays in Part 6, but she is very much aware and on board with his whole plans, as he's one of the two people they trust. The other being a boy named Peter who they have a crush on, and he does reciprocate those feelings but she turns them down. She claims it's because she wants to be a nun and doesn't want to affect that, but it's really because witnessing her parents' terrible relationship really affected her. Their stand, Oh Klahoma, makes them able to disguise themselves in objects like desks and walls while still being able to see and hear.

Jamie is my Funny Valentine kid (even though I despise that man), originally from a separate universe where his wife can have kids and then brought into Part 7 by D4C. He actually really looked up to his dad until he met Lucy Steel shortly after being brought to this universe, which just so happened to be after the... you know. He didn’t look upon him so favourably after that (mmm... yummy rebellion arc). There's also stuff going on before he switched universes, like his dead boyfriend who was also engaged to someone else at the time... yeah. His stand, Achilles, can also see into the future, meaning he can change the future. It's a little tricky, though, as 1) he can't just choose to see the future, they just come as random prophetic visions and 2) he has no idea when these future visions are meant to be, they could be anything from five minutes to five years away.

Kia is my Tooru fankid. Not sure how exactly it happened, but one day a 17 year-old just popped out of the dirt like nothing. They were immediately taken in by a teenage boy who they almost immediately developed a crush on. Unfortunately, he's taken. Fortunately, Kia's stand, "Breaking Glass", allows him to shapeshift. So, he pretends to be the guy's girlfriend. If you feel bad for their crush, I would also like to say that he had a feeling it was Kia the whole time BTW and let them do it anyways... *sigh* men.

And lastly, as a bonus, Concetta! My Cioccolata/Secco kiddo. They should probably not be allowed anywhere near children, but their aesthetic and relationship is fun and I just had to. Concetta was raised by her dads up until the colleseum fight, which she was present for, and the police found her as a newly made orphan at ten years old. She goes through foster care for a couple of years, and then runs off to get revenge on Giorno. Just teenage girl things, yk? Her stand, Brittle Bones, allows her to take off her own limbs and have them still be fully functional without causing her pain... fun!!

#jjba #jjba ocs #ciliegia giovanna #izei #livia bianci #miel pucci #james valentine #kia #concetta #this is so long and there's still so many things i cut #i could go on about these little shits for hours istg #also sorry for the delay #as i said i forgot about this for a day #felt sick as fuck this morning #then at one point my phone died and half of this didn’t save so i had to rewrite 💀

7 notes · View notes

ac-liveblogs · 3 months

Note

Deadass first thought when I saw jing yuan and blade was "bitch, cut your bangs".

As much as I love Yanqing for trying to solo The demigod, most infamous and divisive political hot potato in his culture, AND an immortal ranked at the top of the IPC's most wanted list, AT THE SAME TIME, blade and dan heng's first encounter being them fighting /together/ wasn't a good look, given their history and dan heng canonically having nightmares abt the dude.

Then again, most of the hsr fandom probs comes from genshin, with the lack of critical thinking that entails - exhibit A, see the most popular ship for dan heng in ao3...

Also with jingliu I was like "...weren't you dead...?" Bc I, like a fool, watched the animations before playing the game, so I thought the Imbibitor Lunae transformation would be a lot cooler than it was and that Jing Yuan actually put down his mara-struck master. Knowing she's a playable character completely ruined the dramatic tension in the "A Flash" animation for me lol

I liked Jing Yuan's design but his role as 'moral upstanding always right hero guy' really started to grate on me. It was in pretty sharp contrast to Herta and Bronya as the previous 'leaders' of their worlds. Disappointing downgrade.

I mean, Blade did still stab him. That's still a thing that happened. The issue is more that him doing that ... wasn't really about Blade and Dan Heng. It was about Imbibitor Lunae.

And when you've got-

"that man [Blade] only has a killing intent toward him [Dan Heng] — even the spaceships he had traveled on were all annihilated."

-plus. You know. Blade's lore...

Based on Blade's handling in everything I've seen so far (bear in mind that I don't go to HSR's YouTube page or watch any shorts or trailers so whatever information is conveyed there is a mystery to me), I never would have guessed anything even remotely close to that level of intensity was going on with them.

Which is really like... the issue...

I don't think, necessarily, that the first fight with Blade being against Yanqing is the problem in isolation. It's that it muddies what Blade and Dan Heng's actual dynamic is. If Blade's introduction had been him, I don't know, attacking the Express to get to Dan Heng and the reason they stopped in Xianzhou was for repairs (absolute bare minimum of establishing conflict), they would've set up what's up with them and the team-up would've been less damning later on.

Just less. Still not great as Blade's first playable fight. But. Less. I assume they wanted a playable NPC Blade for that patch since he just dropped and because they also wanted DH:IL ... eh...

But because Blade is almost completely out of focus in XL, when he shows up his conflict with Dan Heng loses impact due to the team-up and his role in it is just to reveal Imbibitor Lunae and then he leaves... and the lore is 1) buried in Character Stories and 2) infodumped after the fact...

The man is utterly lost in the weeds. He's a hologram. He's off-screen. He's standing to the side while Dan Heng does cool things. He's locked in a room while Kafka and Trailblazer chat about their shared past. He's absent while Jingliu explains his history with Dan Feng to Dan Heng. He's nothing. He does nothing.

I don't even buy he's that crazy. Him or Jingliu. They can have the scary eyes in their Ultimates all they want, I don't believe it, they're both way too rational for that.

In my opinion, Blade doesn't bring anything to the table right now (like, at all, the Quintet's lore wasn't really structured in a way that makes the best use of him or his hatred for DH or... the themes of Abundance vs the Hunt... grrr).

Blade's entire situation here is. It's just bad writing. I was pulling for him because I knew he was connected to Dan Heng and he's a stupid useful support character, almost got to hard pity, and then stopped pulling because the man bored me to tears!

Then again, most of the hsr fandom probs comes from genshin, with the lack of critical thinking that entails - exhibit A, see the most popular ship for dan heng in ao3…

I'm a little surprised that you're surprised by that, given those two being popular makes sense if you're accustomed to fandom. It seems like their lore would've resulted in a lot of speculation and (depending on what's in all the lore books I haven't read or animations I haven't watched) theorycrafting, plus Dan Heng being a playable MC with a rival team counterpart (guaranteed future interactions in a main story capacity) with whom he has a dynamic, drama, a mysterious shared past...

No real shock fandom latched on. Them even being the most popular makes sense, since it's not like there's a whole lot else on that level in HSR at the moment. At least not that I've seen, and especially not with the main team (setting aside whatever's up with Welt and Luocha). Fandom loves filling in the gaps and 'fixing' things too. So. There's that.

...God, you really would've expected their dynamic to matter?? Christ a moment of silence to anyone that got invested in that what a shit payoff, I've been here for a week and I'm mad? You could completely remove Blade from this chapter and the only change you'd need is a different reason for Dan Heng to leave the Express to go to Xianzhou. My guy deserved better than this??? How come Trailblazer and Kafka get so much time and attention but Dan Heng gets shit all with his counterpart in his own chapters??? Atrocious, absolutely atrocious.

I have no idea what to think about Jingliu. The High Cloud Quintet's handling is weird. I suppose it's still better than Genshin's Adepti-obsession given 4+1/5 are playable but. Why she was brought back here, and for this, is beyond me.

#ac plays hsr

1 note · View note

butchcraftwrites · 1 year

Note

For the ask game, Rhea and Manuela, please?

Look, I'm just going to tell you straight up. This has been about Rhea. This has always been about Rhea. From the beginning of this seemingly endless FE3H rabbit hole that I have for some god forsaken reason thrown myself down, it has been about Rhea. Rhea, my beloved. Rhea, you parallel of a demigod or angel. You eternal victim of a hate crime. Baby. Baby cakes. Honey.

*Blows a kiss up to the sky* For the Immaculate One.

First impression: I honestly didn't piece together that Rhea was Seiros until the end of my first run (Silver Snow), so I didn't realize it was her in the opening cut scene. What I DID realize however, when she noticed Byleth walk into Garreg Mach for the first time from her Star Terrace, was her VOICE. Cherami Leigh's voice echoed from my speakers and immediately my ears perked. From like the first conversation she had with Byleth, I pretty much fell in love.

A friend of mine who was also in the middle of completing the game asked me which character so far was my favorite and when I told them, they were like "Oh." (as in "oh, of course") and then told me that I could only S-Support her if I played Edelgard's route. I had already picked Claude by this point and I really am not the type to restart a game once I've already put a few hours into it.

Anyway I restarted the game immediately and my head has been filled with pretty much nothing but Rhea ever since.

Impression now: *GESTURES TO MY BLOG. GESTURES TO MY MERCH COLLECTION. PUSHES YOUR FACE INTO MY DOC OF FIC IDEAS. SHOWS YOU ALL OF THE SAVED PHOTOS ON MY PHONE* *Breathes* Okay. So. I love her. So much more than I could have ever imagined. Dear Lord. I love her for being so resilient. I love her for loving the very species of people that massacred her family. I love her for her stumbles and oopsies in governing (which, to be fair, all in all she's done a pretty great job). I love her for being born with a purpose, having that stripped away from her at a fairly young age, and still day after day striving her hardest to choose kindness. I love how much energy she dedicates towards nurturing other people even though she knows they are going to die long before she does. I love how she is a Scary Big Dragon but treats children delicately and with tenderness (Cyril, the students who have anxiety, the mentions of how much she loves visiting the orphanage and playing with children). She just. She has so many reasons to be cruel and tyrannical and she just isn't. I know a big part of this is her trying to prepare the world for her mother's return (which no doubt is a delusion she's committed to false-memory) but that's honestly also another reason why I love her character. She is flawed. Very flawed. And yet after 1K years of life, we get to see her slowly decide to develop and change. And I love watching how immortals decide to finally do things. Anyway tl;dr She ticks like all of my boxes and I would die for her in a heartbeat. Also. EARS.

Favorite moment: HOW DO I PICK THERE ARE LIKE 5 CUT SCENES AND THEY ARE ALL GREAT. Maybe when the Empire invaded Garreg Mach and she morbed off of a cliffside (fun fact, I went into this game completely oblivious to the series and when I saw that she was a dragon I SCREAMED ENDLESSLY. In fact, I am still screaming, and writing is the only way to bring the eardrums of those around me peace). Or perhaps it was when Byleth woke up with her fucking head in Rhea's lap like it was a fucking pillow, another moment that made me scream and sob the first time it happened. Or perhaps it was in Hopes when Edelgard asked Rhea for the assistance of the Knights of Seiros and Rhea very quickly decided that she would lend a hand but immediately established her boundaries in doing so. It was such a small moment, and yet...

Idea for a story: :) Oh, wouldn't you like to know... I DO have a one shot Rhealeth fic in mind that's another Crimson Flower AU that plays lightly on the French texts of Guinevere and Lancelot. It will give me the opportunity to play more heavily with purple prose.

Unpopular opinion: I love Rhea as much as the next person in this small section of the fandom, but I think the crown she created is absolutely ridiculous and probably a constant strain on her neck and or shoulders. Don't get me wrong, I love her for it, but it just gives me another excuse to make fun of her(affectionate) and for me, it's True Love when I pick fun at a character relentlessly.

Favorite relationship: I'm pretty sure at this point, shipping her with Byleth has overridden everything else in my life.

Favorite headcanon: I like to think that the children Sothis created herself (those not born of Nabateans already created) were made fully grown. I imagine Rhea was born exactly as she is now, and she already knew how to fight, dance etc. I think she had a nice few years surrounded by family and loved ones, but that didn't last for much more than a decade or two before her mother was slaughtered. Strange that this is one of my favorite head canons, but hey, my favorite classical works are all tragedies, so.

AND NOW FOR MANUELA. My beautiful, glorious disaster. I love you. So much. You deserve everything. Everything. I raise my glass to you, sweetheart.

First impression: I was firstly annoyed with her. I generally dislike depictions of feminine flirtatious women in media (bit of aftershock from being tomboyish and coming out as young as I did), so I thought "Oh, it's that trope" and thought nothing of her. Clearly, I was wrong.

Impression now: Manuela is so nuanced. A lot of her motivation comes from needing to be loved, sure, but she gives as much love as she desires to receive. Like, dude, at some point between being a diva at a renown opera company(full time job) and coming to work at Garreg Mach, she became a physician. And a Professor. Like, HOW. I calculated this once, but at the start of 3 Houses she's only around 35??? At some point she must have started cramming her studies as hard as she could, and each field of study she chose benefited others. I also love that her ending cards sometimes mention that she dedicated the rest of her life to educating students from less fortunate families. Girl just wants life to feel good, and I love her for it so much. I think I've said this about every character I've been asked about so far, but she's one of my favorites.

Favorite moment: When she rants about wanting to stab the Death Knight herself. Or when the Death Knight isn't on the battlefield and she's like "Great, even the Death Knight is running away from me..."

Idea for a story: Manuela finds a spellbook on the ground that someone dropped. It's unlike anything she's ever seen, and that WILL show Hanneman, damnitt! She starts casting spells from this book that go HORRIBLY wrong, but she's oblivious and thinks she's doing great. Also she hasn't pieced together that the book she found is from Abyss.

Unpopular opinion: Is it popular to have an unpopular opinion about Manuela? Everyone has so many... Unpopular opinion: there's no way that Manuela is straight. Nope, nope that's also a popular opinion. I give up. I'm just sheeple.

Favorite relationship: With Ferdinand... I know, I know. I just think they are Rally Cute, and I love how he becomes a stay at home dad while she becomes Prime Minister.

Favorite headcanon: I am not the creator of this headcanon at all, but I love the headcanon that she stabbed the knife into the anatomical dummy to help her through the stress of getting attacked.

#long post #fe3h rhea #fe3h manuela #rhea #manuela #ask

10 notes · View notes

kokomochi · 2 years

Text

𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 | 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢 𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐮

"𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞 𝙢𝙚𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚?"

PAST LIFE AU! falling in love was something that he didn't expect- having a broken heart was the last thing his brother wanted.

01. cuts and clinics MASTERLIST

we all thought that in the future years, our world will be as good as new.

that there'll be flying cars taking us to school or that everything will be made of titanium metal, strong enough to withstand even the most horrifying earthquakes to shake the earth.

sorry to burst your bubble, however, because these are nothing but a child's dream.

there are no flying cars, no good innovations, no one who holds the power of immortality- none of those. the world is still fucked, everyone is still the same and we're all slowly dying. but who gives a shit about that right now?

sure we have good fashion sense, good technology, but amidst all these materialistic things, we're killing the earth and everything around it- not like the government will do anything about it, it's been like that for the past few decades.

it's the year 2075, and goddamn is it boring.

like, you're still going to school when literally half of the earth is dying of global warming? and you teach students how to do maths instead of how to help prevent this darned situation? i mean, you have your priorities i guess but come on.

don't get him wrong, he's sort of grateful to still be going to school even if he's just one admission slip away from expulsion, but at least he can do basic maths right?

meet haitani rindou, the youngest of the infamous haitani brothers known for their brute strength and overall scary appearances to ever roam the school halls.

can you imagine how scared other students feel just by walking down the same staircase as these two? like, do they shit their pants or run away with their tails in between their legs, cowering in fear?

who knows, they don't know that because they're too unbothered to even look at them.

no one, even the teachers don't know why these two are still coming to school when they're clearly smart- they're just scared to deal with them, honestly.

but it is true that they're smart. haitani ran himself got ranked first during the exams and the same goes for his brother who ranked first in his own grades. though in all honesty, the two didn't even review for the tests and instead went around roppongi, beating people left and right.

not a great activity to begin with... but at least it's productive! sort of.

however, on this particular wednesday, the two of them decided to finally show up to class after being suspended for a week. although that was two weeks ago, they spent another week just lazing around because none of them wanted to go to school.

walking past gapping students, ran and rindou made their way down the halls to get to the cafeteria where they planned on spending their first period there. seeing as the older of the two had science and the youngest having english, they wanted to spare themselves from the boring discussions and just finish all the doriyakis in the canteen.

"i told you that we should've just went to the arcade."

"i'll be a bad brother if i don't force you to go to school now, won't i?" this caused rindou to roll his eyes at his annoying sibling, clicking his tongue as he buried his hands deeper in his uniform pockets to make himself look cooler.

it's a very dumb idea but it still works.

"says the one who threatened his math teacher to give him a passing grade."

the dual-hair colored male ignored the harsh glare that ran gave him and continued walking, not noticing a group of art students rushing in their direction.

"please excuse us-" too late. may their lives be spared as the props that the students were holding fell in front of the youngest haitani, managing to land a scrape on his cheek while every student in the hall with them stopped and looked at the commotion.

everyone held their breaths at the sight of the bleeding cut on rindou's cheek, giving the art students their silent prayers as ran looked at his brother with an unreadable look on his face.

the president of the club had their eyes wide open, legs starting to shake in fear not knowing what to do now or if he even has a chance to live! getting down on his knees in a begging position, he started pleading for their forgiveness and telling them that it was nothing but an honest mistake.

meanwhile, ran knew that his little brother is more than annoyed at the situation and is currently thinking of ways on how to send the poor president to his final resting place.

looking down on his wristwatch and seeing that they had at least ten minutes before the bell rings, the oldest of the two gave him a pat on his back and guided him to the staircase that was coincidentally beside them.

"go get that shit patched up, i'll handle them. meet me in the cafeteria once you're done."

rindou didn't need to be told twice as he gave the club president one last glare, completely ignoring the dull sting that he's beginning to feel on his cheek, and proceeded to make his way up the stairs where the clinic is located at.

the students let out a relieved sigh, glad to know that they'll live to see another day and began to pick up the fallen props off of the floor. the president was the most relieved out of all of them, nearly bursting into tears when the haitani gave him his infamous death glare.

"where do you think you're going?" an arm held the poor guy into place, chills running up his spine as his club members began scurrying out of there, completely leaving his ass to haitani ran.

"i- class is almost starting and we kind of need to get the props to the gym before it begins..." the president couldn't even stop his voice from shaking, completely scared to be left alone with the infamous brother who hummed as a reply.

with a harsh tug on his uniform collar, ran began dragging him off to the courtyard to teach him a lesson. and if he's unfortunate, the teachers will also teach him a lesson by reprimanding him to ever enter the courtyard again.

"no can do buddy, we're having a little chat about how clumsy your ass is."

let us give a silent prayer to this unnamed character, may he rest in peace.

never in his entire sixteen years of existence did haitani rindou imagine having his precious face ruined by some clumsy ass art club leader.

he would always take time out of his week to make sure that his face is perfectly flawless even if he has to go participate in a brawl in an hour- he needs to look extra handsome when it comes to him putting lowlifes in their places.

so imagine how pissed he is seeing that it's all ruined? all his efforts... gone just because of a dumb prop falling on his face.

what was that thing even made of?! metal?

rindou just knows that he'll spend at least a week to try and fix the damage before he can even join his brother in fights. ugh, how boring really.

but never mind not being able to participate in fights, he can just sort that problem out later. what he needs to focus on right now is to get his cut treated and avoid getting it infected, because he knows that he'll look even more shitty if it were to get infected.

he's all pissed just because his image is ruined, how cute.

grumbling under his breath, the first year entered the clinic and was immediately welcomed by the smell of rubbing alcohol and sterile objects, something that he isn't used to smelling if he was being honest.

it seems that the room was empty, except for a lone student sitting on a random stool, having their complete attention to the phone in their hands.

now, he knows that they're just doing their job by being there but they should at least be alert if someone enters the room. what if a passed-out student was brought in and they're just scrolling through their phone? what now?

the guy's patience is beginning to grow thin, coughing into his palms to try and grab their attention- which fortunately did.

purple eyes clashed with (e/c) ones, a smile etching itself on her features as she placed her gadget down and stood up from her spot. by the looks of it and based on her uniform, she's either a student the same as him or she's the nurse cosplaying as a student- that doesn't matter.

"i take it that you want to get patched up?"

"no shit, where's the nurse?" the student chuckled at how blunt he is, straightening her school uniform before she made her way to the shelf full of medical supplies and motioned for him to take a seat.

"she's running late. so you'll have to deal with me for today."

rindou didn't have the time of his day to complain about this. as long as this girl who looks like she knows nothing about the medical field can do her job then he's alright with it. he just prays that she wouldn't make him look more shitty than his current state.

taking a seat on the stool that she was previously sitting on, the male closed his eyes and waited for her to do her job.

"you're from class 1-2, right?" she said, pouring some rubbing alcohol on the cotton ball that she was holding and began to disinfect the fresh cut. she wasn't surprised when he didn't flinch, unlike the other students who get their cuts tended by her, they mainly whimper in pain.

"why'd you wanna know?" even with his eyes closed, rindou can imagine the look of amusement on her face as he felt the cool sensation of the bandaid on his cheek.

"i'm surprised that you forgot about your classmate. but you haven't been going to school for two weeks so it's inevitable- you can open your eyes now."

he almost jumped back when he saw her (e/c) eyes staring into his in such close proximity, scooting back on the chair to create some distance between them.

does this girl not know what a personal bubble is?!

"what the fuck?!" the (h/c) haired girl chuckled at his reaction, standing up straight as she began arranging the used equipment back into their respective shelves.

"i'm just testing to see if the rumors about you having a deadly look in your eyes are true- must be a myth really."

now, haitani rindou didn't know whether to be insulted or mad that this pesky little girl right here is mocking his power to make everybody scared of him, it's like she sees him as a joke! and no one has ever done that to him before- no one.

so imagine how pissed he is, seeing this person calling his infamous death glare a myth. the audacity of this bitch, really.

"oi, what are you calling a myth-" he was interrupted when the bell rang, the sound of it echoing through the hallways and resonating inside of the small room where they're in.

this caused the (h/c) haired girl to hum in amusement, taking her bag from the floor and making her way towards the door, much to the younger haitani's disappointment. he wanted to teach her a lesson or two for having to mock his glare and calling it a myth- and maybe he can earn himself another minion to boss around.

clicking his tongue in annoyance, he stood up and called out for her to come back.

(e/c) eyes met with his annoyed ones, a sly grin tugging on his lips as she gave him a half-assed wave of goodbye.

"don't wanna be late for class. see you when you decide to attend- or not."

"and oh- i hope another student bumps into you on the way there."

and with that, haitani rindou watched her figure disappear with narrow eyes, now being all alone in the sterile room as students walked past the door to get to their classrooms.

whoever that girl was, he hates her with a burning passion- but is also quite amused to see someone like her trying to get a rise out of him and even have the guts to mock him in any form of way.

she said that they're classmates, right?

"heh, ran can eat the doriyakis by himself."

then that girl better prepare herself for a nice trip to hell.

#haitani ran x you #haitani rindou x you #haitani ran x reader #haitani rindou x reader #rindou haitani #ran haitani #haitani rindou #haitani ran #haitani brothers angst #tokyo revengers #tokyo revengers angst

29 notes · View notes

moku-youbi · 1 year

Text

Wangningxian Dream Bunny

I keep having these elaborate dreams lately that make me wanna write fics, but I AM TOO BUSY. So feel free to steal this idea, anyone out there, although there are plenty of ridiculous ~Dream Details that make NO SENSE for these characters, but whatever, enjoy it for what it is! Immortal cultivators au where Nie Huaisang, Jiang Cheng, Wei Ying, Wen Ning, and Lan Zhan have lived at least a few hundred years by now. It is decidedly AU because Wangxian are not a thing, and WWX and JC have a decent enough relationship with one another at this point. JC has stayed basically in Lotus Pier but the rest travel around the world. LZ ended up in the Americas at some point being worshipped as a dream God??

Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are constantly longing from afar. LZ thinks WY loves WN (and, I mean, he does, but neither of them have ever said it or acted on it, because WY can still be oblivious and WN knows WY loves LZ, plus being a corpse and all figures he can't have what he wants). WY and WN travel together and they run into LZ pretty frequently, sorta book-Aziraphale/Crowley-esque. Mostly LZ is polite to WN, but also just kinda ignores him at first, and tries not to think about him because they both love WY, and he thinks he's chosen WN and wants to respect that but also is sad about it. But over the centuries grows to care for WN without really realising how much.

WY and WN come across LZ when he's in the Americas somehow and WY is sorta in lustful disbelief over how much skin his dream God get up shows. And LZ is mostly past his hangups about his body, because that's just how you dress among these ppl. But having WY see him like that??? So he scurries off to cover up and for some reason WN was there (like even tho LZ was the one hanging out with these ppl, they were at WY's place...? Actually, I'm wondering if WY was the sleep god in a different city and the two were brought together for some ceremony or something?? Idk.) And at first, intellectually, LZ is like it's no big deal if WN sees me like this because I barely even notice his existence, right? Except he's getting all ear blushing and hot and uncomfortable and has to lock himself away to get dressed and has this 'oh no I'm into WN' moment.

I forget what happened exactly, except I think at some point the two of them talked about how they both loved WY, but he never responded to their overtures/only wanted them as friends, but they're stupidly devoted to him. And LZ gave him a very small smile, and they hugged? And LZ thought about how good WN felt in his arms.

WY meanwhile has been over the years working on trying to fix WN so that he has more mobility and sensation, can enjoy food and drink, etc. That's why they travel so extensively, seeking out other forms of magic.

Later, LZ ends up back in China to find that WN is in trouble. I don't know why WY wasn't with him, but even though it's been a few hundred years (I wanna say 250-350), because some cultivators lived longer lives, ppl still remember the YP and his Ghost General, and want revenge. JC was actually decent in my dreams, hilarious given how much I hate him, but he kept trying to reason with the ppl. He's respected and wealthy and powerful, but every time he tries to explain about what WY and the Wens went through, all the rich lords were always like omg, we are so sick of hearing your war stories, boomer.

They're going to put WN on trial and LZ hears about this and starts panicking and JC is unwilling to actually go so far as to fight for WN's life. And LZ can't just hurt all these ppl, plus he thinks anyhow this is still plaguing WN this far down the line and they need to do something to make him safe permanently.

So LZ starts coming up with a plan to like humanise WN in their eyes during the trial. Because all the old stories are about his cold, white, unfeeling and stiff skin, his inhuman black eyes, his scary expressionless face as he tore ppl apart, that he was a weapon in humanoid form. And WY has made a lot of strides, plus LZ came back to China with his own ideas to share with them. He has a medicine or lotion or something that makes WN able to move his facial features more. He visits WN to talk about his plans and walk him through it. They agree not to try to reach WY because he'll go all YP on everyone and reinforce their beliefs and make everything worse. WN tries to tell him if things go wrong, he should just leave, but LZ promises he'll save him no matter what. It gets pretty close to a confession of love tbh, face touching and shuddering breaths, etc.

They're making WN wear these weird robes that I think are meant to be demeaning because they only come just below his knee and they have short sleeves and a scooped neck which show off a lot of skin. But LZ points out that it shows that his flesh has become more naturally colored over the years and looks more supple now especially with the lotion. They've also broken his feet and as much as LZ wants to heal him, he also wants the crowd to see that WN is actually experiencing pain over having to walk like that.

The day of the trial comes and WY has somehow found out and comes rushing into try to do something about it. He comes up short at the door where JC stops him and tells him to just watch and wait. WY is in a panic especially when he notices LZ is at the head of the room like he is somehow part of the trial. Of course WY trusts him at this point but he doesn't realize how close LZ and WN have become over recent years and still thinks that LZ has some sort of weird antagonism towards WN.

Then WN comes in and WY feels sick to see him like this, and at first there are a couple pointed jeers about what he is wearing. However as he starts to make his way across the room and up the stairs on his broken feet, they are starting to hear more and more sympathetic comments about how he looks in pain and how they hadn't expected him to look so normal and so human.

WY notices that LZ looks almost proud of the way WN carries himself, and how WN keeps darting looks at LZ that are sorta sweetly hopeful. And at one point he stumbled and bites his lip but still cries in pain as he's reaching the top of the stairs and the magistrate puts a hand out to stop LZ from going to him. But LZ just gives him one of his murderous glares and goes over to sweep WN up in his arms with his hands around his waist and kind of swings him around and smiles down before settling him carefully in his own seat, and WN smiles up at him showing off the mobility of his face.

And like the people of the town know enough to know who LZ is and that he is one of the most highly venerated Immortal cultivators ever, and they've also seen all of this artwork of him where he never shows any facial expressions, so now they're seeing him smiling and embracing WN, who has now shown pain and emotion, and who is smiling back. And they are thinking if someone like the Great HGJ is looking at the GG like that, then there is no way that all the horrible things they have heard about him can be true. And WY is having his own crisis where it feels like his heart is atrophying in his chest watching them, and seeing they clearly love one another (while WY, my dear oblivious boy, does absolutely not put together the fact that both of them have been looking at him like that for literally hundreds of years.)

The trial got dismissed pretty quickly after that, even though the magistrate was not happy about it. I think there still might have been a few cultivators kicking around at the time even though that practice had mostly fallen out and the emperor was hoping to show that cultivation was clearly a thing of the past and getting rid of WN would be a very loud symbol of that. However between the threat of having four immortals present and not wanting this to happen, and the pressure of the townspeople who were now against this trial, there was no way it could go forward.

WN and LZ see WY trying to sneak out unnoticed and go after him. WY is trying not to look at them, especially with LZ carrying WN around bridal style because of his feet. But he's telling them how happy he is for them and how thankful he is to LZ for taking care of WN when he wasn't around. And also how happy he is to tell them that the reason he wasn't around was because he was researching this thing that would basically allow WN to be able to function mostly like a regular Immortal cultivator even though his body would remain that of a corpse. Meaning he would be able to feel sensation just like they did and taste things just like they did and move around more easily with greater flexibility like an immortal cultivator. And that maybe this can be a wedding gift for them.

And WN reaches out to touch WY's face make him look at them. And he sees how close WN and LZ have gotten to him. They both have these adoring if exasperated expressions on their faces. And WN says that it is an excellent gift for a wedding, and he can't wait to try it out with them both. And WY's eyes get gigantic looking back and forth between LZ's indulgent smile and WN's warm one.

And then there were all these bits with them travelling the world together for thousands of years and never parting again and it was super sweet, and also hot with this one scene using LZ's dream magic, but also just them all being disgusting in love, and always so gently affectionate and ugh.

#the untamed #mo dao zu shi #wangningxian

7 notes · View notes

vividxp · 2 years

Text

Part 4 (final) of Liveblogging my second watch of IWTV Ep 5 because I need to process and get it all out

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

When I saw the synopsis before watching the episode I was so confused. Claudia going to college? The way the synopsis sounded was like welp, she just decided to go just for the ~*experience*~ and then Louis and Lestat had to deal with being empty nesters during the the Great Depression alone. So yeah, they really undersold the episode by a lot.

Seeing the total dump the townhouse becomes in the 7 years of Claudia’s absences was another painful thing to experience. Even if the random racoon was funny. The picture of depression and desolation, my heart felt heavy watching this. To top it all off, the argument...like this isn’t fun, I want to get off this ride.

I do wonder why Lestat stayed, why bother? Why not leave? Did he think if he waited 20 years one day Louis would stop being depressed and they could go back to whatever fantasy he had of their relationship?

On that note, after watching the episode for the first time I couldn’t help but think of Hades, the videogame. One of the themes of that game was the idea that being immortal meant that eventually you had to solve your issues. Some of the elements are familiar. Hades is willing to kill his son, Zagreus, over and over again to prevent him from escaping. Eventually (and as Zagreus comes into his power) you get to a place where the relationship between Hades and Zagreus, while not a-okay and not without scars...it does show some potential for reconciliation.

Anyways, to wrap up that tangent, the point is I’ve seen the ‘immortals fuck up a lot but it gets better with time’ type of story pulled off before. It’s not completely impossible, but it’s going to take a lot of work.

So we transition to the scene between Killer and Claudia. I have to agree with a lot of people. I didn’t like that they did this to Claudia. I don’t think this added anything and it wasn’t in the book, so I didn’t like it. If the point was to show that vampires can be bad news there are many ways to show that.

We go back to Daniel questioning Louis about the 4 ripped pages. Daniel you ain’t shit and you know it. You knew where you were and who you were provoking. Like sure Louis has generally waved it off maybe with a snarky comment or two about internet classes. But even Louis, even one determined to push this suicidal quest to get the story out is dangerous. That’s his point.

But yeah Louis also deserved the slap, that shit was scary as fuck. Like these vampires are scary y’all. I also see your theories on Rashid being able to pull Louis out of that and I subscribe to them because again, something is up. I would like to get to the bottom of it.

Lowkey as much as the whole Antoinette infuriates me, I need to know what the fuck is going on with that. Why?

“You’re not my Louis, you can’t be”. "I prayed myself old thinking about what to do about you. God never talked back, so this is what it has to be. For me, for my family. You understand?” Ok and this is where the tears start. This was so sad.

And then we don’t get a break because Claudia returns and shit goes all the way down. But firstly, I am so here for Claudia and Louis’s vampire hunting adventures in Europe. That whole premise sounds like a good concept for a tv procedural. But would it have been necessary if Lestat told her anything she asked. She wants to know! She knows Lestat knows. But I think Lestat wants her to go and not come back.

“That’s right keep ‘em scared. That’s his way. But I think he’s scared. And when he’s scared he ridicules.” I mean...is Claudia lying? Is this not years of experience? Louis has to know.

So okay, here’s the thing that is going to haunt me a bit. Had Lestat not attacked I really don’t know who Louis would have stayed with between the two of them.

This scene is still shocking. I really don’t have any eloquent thoughts. I do admit screaming in shock watching it for the second time. Once again, I don’t subscribe to the ‘unreliable narrator = lying’ explanations that sometimes I see floating around on social media. I think this did happen, yes, as people pointed out there was weirdness with not being able to see everything and the dialogue in that scene. Which I do think could be interesting to explore in future episodes, but when it comes down to it, I do think this actually happened.

I don’t know, I feel a little a little lighter after writing my thoughts, but this is going to stick with me for the rest of the week. I do think the episode was gripping. I do think I enjoyed it even as dark as it is. But again, I’m curious to see where we go from here.

#iwtv spoilers #iwtv episode 5 #interview with the vampire #spoilers #iwtv reaction #recap #my thoughts

13 notes · View notes

hersilver · 9 months

Text

@theirgold sent : how did malee feel about starting a family? how did it come up? who brought it up first? when did they decide to become parents? how did they make the decision to have vampire children?

MACE FAMILY? YOU MEAN THE BEST PARENTS EVER? 🥺

the idea of having a family of her own didn't really sit easily with malee, as she didn't really think of it before? she lost hers in such a devastating & unexpected way, she kinda thought she would be alone forever 🥺. and given the times back THEN, there was NO WAY she'd settle down with a man aksjdhaksjdh but she did imagine what it would be like! she's a very loving person and loves the idea of love? having a child with someone she loves & raising them better? than she was raised? however the idea was a nice little dream to her, as she knew deep down that she would MOST LIKELY outlive whoever her partner was,, at least until she meets ace 🥺🥺🥺💕

meeting them made her believe not just in herself, but love too! for malee at least, falling in love with ace was as simple as breathing to her & it's still 1000% true to this day! she was definitely SCARED when the discussion happened and then the planning for it too! but when she's scared she has ace! she looks to them for help & patience! she didn't feel alone regardless of whatever problem she was dealing with, because she loves & trusts ace unconditionally forever 🥺💕🥺 so the endless talks they had about starting a family, wasn't as scary because she knew they would be with her every step of the way 🥺💕

given how long mace have been together & with everything they've been through, the thought of potentially having a family together definitely crossed their minds! with andy having her kids, booker, joe & nicky it was kind of. . . always a lingering thought of 'what if?'. it was never EASY of course, given that at the start of these precious little lives, was the same end result. the guard would outlive their kids. a very real and very scary thought that also lingered in mace's heads. as much as they loved and often helped raise them, they too were affected by the loss of the kids aging & everyone else , , wouldn't. i think the thoughts and lingering questions remained pretty quiet for them at least for awhile. because children or not, ace is really all malee wants & needs in her life; and she's very content living happily forever after with them, even if it's just the two of them💕

now with immortality comes, , a LOT OF FREE TIME and given how brutal ace's job can get, there's definitely periods where there's a lot of breaks or 'vacation' would happen! as times went on, and life flourished all around them,,,, i don't see why mace wouldn't have made human friends? for their many cover identities and trying to be 'normal' 10000% got to them. there were already odd questions for malee like "when are you having kids? / when you have kids one day you'll know" and honestly? they kind of made her think more about having a family? like the times changed and the possibilities of having a child were all the more accessible to them! FOR MALEE at least, she lowkey did some very subtle research on what options would be available to her? and mentally took notes? however actually discussing it was something she still stayed silent about. she wanted both her and ace to come to the 'what if?' discussion together!

AS FOR BRINGING IT UP, i really think ace would've mentioned something! it wasn't something really 'planned', it could've been some news story or maybe one of their friends asked for them to be godparents? something that kinda surprised the both of them lmao. when ace mentions it, malee would add on the little research she did and tell them her findings! I feel like after that, the rabbithole of research started for them that night and that's kinda when the realization would've hit them?

AND THEN THE TALK OF WHAT IF STARTED! how and when would this happen? who would be their doctor? what would the risks be, considering mace knows VERY WELL about the burden on malee's shoulders about 'not producing a heir' to the society. the discussion probably started with the doctor and who would help them, and then the steps after that? how would they conceive? who would be a donor? the first few conversations were more rational & kinda logical? planning how they would start this, because safety is 100% mace's biggest concern. malee would've told ace about the numerous families of common vampires being born where one parent was human and the other wasn't. there was definitely discussions of how that would work, but honestly? malee genuinely didn't know lmao. she was never around pregnant people, so she was pretty clueless as i'm sure ace was lmaoooo. but the more they discussed this (probably hours into the night oops), the more real the excitement was? you KNOW they got carried away with potential NAMES lmfao. at the end of this very long first talk, it was a very intimate and private moment between them 🥺🥺🥺. just how much they love each other, but also the realization that they both wanted to start a new life together? a new chapter in their endless adventure? they were definitely emotional, malee the most as she has always dreamt of having a family of their own with ace 🥺🥺💕💕💕

ANOTHER THING THAT KINDA SEALED THE DEAL ABOUT KIDS,, was the fact that most children in the society didn't really grow old? a lot of the kids they met (discreetly from the council ofc), were hundreds? if not almost as old as malee was? the realization that mace wouldn't suffer the loss they witnessed and know a piece of when the guard lost their families :((. and given that malee is a pureblood, the chances of her let alone her child getting sick wasn't going to happen! and with only immediate family knowing of mace's plans, the hunt for a donor started! (and malee being malee HAD to get her donor from norway). the thing with pureblood's being donors, , it doesn't happen, like EVER. and the fact malee befriended them & treated them so kindly, that they agreed? kiiinda says a lot on malee's character lmao! BUT ! there was definitely a thing they had to do, to kinda ensure? that the donor wouldn't be curious about the future child being born? it was a spell where they would cut ties off to that part of themselves (since they have complete control of their bodies/blood etc) ; and given her donor was a pureblood, and they weren't keen of having any children of their own. . . the spell went as planned! the donor was definitely a LOT older than malee was, and definitely liked to live in isolation away from any council business.

ACTUALLY HAVING A FAMILY, the last step of their plans was to actually settle down lmao. mace didn't want to just have a baby at any point in time, just for something to not go as planned? they had a lot of work to do to ensure no surprise crisis/visits etc! financially they could have 20 if they wanted LMAOOO, but getting their house in order was the big number one! mace didn't want either to feel alone in the journey ie) malee left alone because of ace's job/family smothering malee so much ace is left out? THOSE KINDA THINGS! they want each other to feel completely involved in this! they're partners and best friends first 🥺💕 their needs come first as well as keeping each other safe & happy! this would be their first child they're raising! they both are involved, because they want their child to feel loved & wanted by both of them! when they settle on a TIME and the doctor's appointment, there's no side poly relationships going on whatsoever as this is their special moment! malee only wants to have this family with ace & ace only! she doesn't want any distractions and i'm pretty sure ace feels the same way? like as exciting as this is for them, there's a fear? how will malee feel in the next 9 months? will she be herself? will she have any risks? and then the gravity of "we're gonna be parents" is very very real and hits mace the HARDEST when her first ultrasound comes back to them 🥺🥺🥺💕💕💕. it definitely gets them again when rune is born, and i'm pretty sure in mace's eyes. . . he's the most perfect baby for them? their little boy! 🥺💕 because YOU KNOW DURING THOSE NINE MONTHS, malee was a landslide of hormones, cravings & morning sickness which probably made ace worry a bit lmfao. but regardless of the chaos and the pain of childbirth, malee would do it all over again if it means seeing ace's first smile when they held their son for the first time 🥺🥺🥺💕💕💕💕

#・. ✰・.【 it’s a memory that presses like a blade against my throat】 ― headcanons ♡.#・. ✰・.【 i looked at you & fell in love all over again】 ― ace åse birgisdóttir ♡.#ask to tag /#long post /#pregnancy /#pregnancy mention /#depression /#anxiety /#loss /#grief /#child death mention /#im emo over mace's family #like the genuine love they both have for each other #never judging or criticizing each other #having an open mind and heart & carefully taking half the load of whatever troubles them #overcoming everything together step by step #and then the final moment of /this is ours/ when their kids are born #im crying in the club rn #the truest love for mace = their children being born

0 notes