#bc it was 10 years of not being able to trust anyone

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Apparently cooking up a hellspawn one shot 🙏

[viaviv124]

Cotl Orphan AU

So bc i would never in a million years finish writing this as a fic i'll just write everything i have so far here so its out of my head and y'all can also do whatever you want with it. This will be a long ass post so get a drink and get cozy. Of course i won't get on full Detail like characterizations etc, in this post at least, so feel free to ask questions! I'd love to answer them!

This post includes content warnings for all sorts of very dark topics, but especially murder, body horror, torture, cannibalism, suicide, depression, slightly implied sexual abuse, implied abuse in general and other stuff like that. If you're sensible to this please click off or proceed with caution.

It all starts with 5 siblings, Shamura(16), Kallamar(14), Narinder(13), Heket(10) and Leshy(8). When Leshy was barely able to walk they ended up on the streets because one of their parents killed the other before taking their own life. They struggled a lot but they got by.

One day, when Narinder was out looking for food, he found an injured lamb, around his age, in an ally. They seemed starved and the life had already left their eyes as they barely managed to look up at him. Being unable to just leave them there he knelt down to them, ripped off parts of his own clothes to wrap around them as makeshift bandages and left them all the food he gathered so far whilst telling them to keep living, that they shouldnt have to die like this. Once making sure the lamb will be fine alone he left, thinking he can just collect some more food anyway.

Around 3 - 4 years pass and in that time 4 of the siblings were gravely injured. Shamura suffered a devistating blow to the head from someone they stole food from, cracking their skull just enough to keep them alive but also to damage the brain. Kallamar's ears were ripped off by other homeless people that succumbed to insanity. Heket's throat was slit by an older, privileged child who thought it was funny after Heket expressed that she didn't want anything to do with them. Leshy's eyes were all shot during a heist, requiring his siblings to gouge out the remains. It's unclear how they survived all that. From then on the siblings, espacially Narinder, decided that murder is okay and justified if necessary.

More years pass and they reach their current ages. Due to a dispute they're chased out of the current ally they lived in for a long time. Now they're on the search for a new home, but it's very hard. Once they're on the other side of town, where they've never been before, yet still unable to find a suitable place especially Shamura starts to despair, blaming themself internally for being unable to help their siblings. Narinder and Kallamar do their best to try and reassure them.

One night, as they're wandering, they get found by a lamb dressed in rags, covered in scars and dirt and wearing a bag, they're around Narinder's age, who smiles kindly at them and offers a hand, promising a secure home and food. All of the siblings distrust this child, however out of necessity Shamura feels forced to accept the offer, they take the lambs hand. The lamb's smile turns gentler as they introduce themself as Belphy before starting to lead the way.

Belphy leads them to an old, abandoned factory at the outskirts of town, in which are several children of various ages and states, some coming to greet Belphy and asking if they brought new friends. At first the siblings don't trust anyone, keeping to eachother instead of interacting with the others, however eventually Leshy starts to get along with a yellow cat barely younger than him and with a missing arm. Heket becomes friends a bunny girl, who's quite the oddball, detesting touch in one moment and then clinging to Heket the next. Seeing their siblings get along with the other children Shamura and Kallamar also slowly start interacting with the others. However, Narinder only really socializes with Belphy, as they seem to cling to him whenever they're not busy. Seeing them first as an annoyance, Narinder soon learns to trust and appreciate this strange lamb. He also learns that this is the lamb he helped many years ago, being the leading cause of Belphy helping other children in need too.

However, Narinder notices some very odd behaviour from Belphy. He can't say what exactly it is, but it bothers him. But no matter how often he decides to trail them when they go out, they seem to always be a step ahead of him, greeting him with a sweet smile and going home with him before he could even get a rough glance of anything the lamb was doing. Whenever he asks questions Belphy smoothly avoids them or tells him not to worry about it, that everything is fine and nothing's out of the ordinary. Narinder can't help but get a bit scared, though. Because as nice and sweet as the lamb is, whatever they hide, he knows they must hide something, must be horrifying.

But one day, on the day he finds out. This time he wasn't even trailing Belphy, he was just out on a walk of his own when he suddenly heard a scream. He hid behind the corner and glanced into the back ally, having never seen something so horrifying before. In the ally was a bloodbath, Belphy in the middle of it, surrounded by two or three gruesomely mutilated corpses. Belphy licked the blood off their hand with a terrifyingly satisfied smile as the black knife in their other hand turned into a black snake with only a red eye as a face and curled around their arm, conveniantly hidden under the fleece. Confused by the transformation of the knife-snake they looked at their arm "Hmm? What was that for? I'm not done yet." As they look up again their eyes meet Narinders and Narinders blood runs cold as he freezes. His heart beats up and almost out of his chest as Belphys smile softens and they walk torwards him, covered in blood. The closer Belphy gets, the faster and louder Narinders heart beats as he squeezes his eyes shut.

Despite his expectations Belphy just gently cups his face, pulls his head down to their height and leans their forehead against his. They gently caress him and with a soft and gentle voice they attempt to soothe him, telling him that everything is okay, that he is okay and that he doesnt have to be scared. They tell him to breathe. To Narinders own surprise this works unexpectedly well and he manages to steady his breathing and calm down a little, however once he can move again he moves away from Belphy, opening his eyes only for a glare as his fear turns to fury. Narinder hisses not to touch him.

Belphy smiles and puts their hands in the air to show they're not a threat, the snake, now more exposed, stares at Narinder. When Narinder demands answers, Belphy complies with no hesitation.

They tell him that the snake found Belphy several years ago, not too long after their first encounter with Narinder. It said it needed blood and if Belphy provides it'll help them in turn too. So as proof it turned into a black crown with its red eye in the middle, its true form it said, and sat on Belphys head, healing every wound as good as it could it its weakened state. Once Belphy agreed to do it the crown now turned into a combat knife. Belphy only ever kills adults. When they first killed they let out all their pain and sorrows, following the crown's advice to make it easier, and as a result they came to like it. Torturing and killing adults, the ones that made their life so horrible in the first place. Now these despicable creatures are at their mercy as they scream and cry in pain, just like the lamb did too, before taking their lifes at last. Over the years they also grew fond of the taste of their victim's blood and flesh, what once was a necessity now was a guilty pleasure, allthough, they added, they cannot stand the smell.

Belphy reassures Narinder, who is a mix of heavily disturbed and (for reasons he doesnt quite understand) somewhat unfazed, that they won't ever harm him, the other children and his siblings, not now and not when they're all grown. They also make him promise to please not tell anyone, not even his siblings, before suggesting he can help them if he'd like.

With that Narinder is now Belphys partner in crime. He did come with them on a few massacres, he calls it that because of how messy Belphy is, and whilst he's still somewhat disturbed, mainly by Belphy's cannibalistic tendencies and a level of merciless sadism he didn't expect of them considering their sweet and gentle demeanour, he can't help but admit that he also bears a deep rooted spite for adults and that this is a great way to vent all this pain, it made him discover he might also be more sadistic than he thought. Maybe murder for fun was okay and not just a necessity.

Yet all of this still bothered him. Deep inside he was not only scared of Belphy but also himself. Shamura noticed Narinder's off behaviour and after weeks, maybe months, of observing him they finally asked what's going on. Narinder's deep trust in Shamura makes him forget about the promise he made and so he tells the everything. Everything about Belphy, the murders, his own sadistic tendencies, his fears and worries about all of this. Shamura didn't say much about it. They just held him close as he spoke.

It took less than a day for Belphy to find out. They're not happy. And Narinder is going to feel the consequences of a broken promise. Some cuts and bruises, maybe a broken bone or two, but nothing more than a severed finger. They care too much about him to do more. They cant bring themself to do more. So this'll do. It should teach Narinder to keep a promise next time.

They did it. They hurt him. As much as they hate seeing him scared, him accepting their embrace for comfort afterwards was very nice, considering how often he told them to not touch him. Maybe they'll ask the crown to heal Narinder, the message they wanted to send seemed to arrive so there's no need for him to be in even more pain.

AND THATS ALL I HAVE FOR NOW :D Thank you so much reading through this! If you have any questions about the AU and characters etc, feel free to ask!!

[connabeth]

that was the best episode by FAR and here’s why:

1. annabeth instinctually knowing he’s alive and refusing to lose her faith in him even when grover didn’t believe so.

2. the hug. the overwhelming relief on her face. his pleasantly surprised reaction. us being able to see everything visually click in grover’s head once he realized what he’s in for. percy teasing her about it when they’re hiding on the highway bc he assumes that’s why she’s being standoffish. grover heaving and rolling his eyes when percy suggests that. i can already envision the MoA parallels in my head of them running to each other.

3. percy and annabeth referring to each other as friends on multiple occasions like FINALLY you’re getting it

4. percy telling annabeth and grover about his revelation that the quest goes deeper than they think and annabeth and grover being light years ahead of him

5. percy’s renewed faith in his father contrasted with annabeth’s dwindling faith in her mother

6. annabeth seeing the fates cut a string and mentally preparing herself to sacrifice herself for her friends and the quest bc she’s so ride or die for them it’s insane even if she’ll deny it and say it’s for the sake of the quest.

7. none of them talking to gods with the deference they’re supposed to. annabeth cooly staring down ares like she couldn’t be blasted to smithereens.

8. annabeth casually mentioning she’s never seen a movie ever to an appalled percy, speaking to how sheltered camp life has been for the last 5 years, making her unaware of general pop culture. percy promising to catch her up on what she’s missing out on. cut to their interrupted botl movie date that’s most definitely not a date. cut to MoA when she mentions roman holiday is her favorite movie bc she watched it a lot with her dad after they somewhat reconciled…also due in part to percy.

9. annabeth getting distracted by the beauty of the machine at the entrance while percy thinks he is actively going to die. her love for design will never not be endearing.

9. percy and annabeth riding down the tunnel of love seeing hephaestus’s story play out and annabeth insisting that sally prepared him the best way she could’ve—with unwavering loyalty to his loved ones, the antithesis to the gods.

10. annabeth being so ready to sacrifice herself for him, especially after probably being ridden with guilt and self-hatred for letting him get the best of her at the gateway arch, and understanding he would never let her do that. his pure faith in her as being the most capable—“You’re better at this than me. You just are.” with the utmost conviction in his voice. both of them tearing up and percy begging her to do what he originally chose her on the quest for. annabeth fighting back every instinct within her that despises standing back and letting someone else take the fall. him turning to her and saying “i need you to promise me something” and her immediately swearing if she’s able to save anyone on this quest, it’ll be his mother, knowing that’s the most important thing to him in all of this. him asking she come back for him and her scoffing “you think you had to ask?” and his sad watery smile back, knowing he didn’t need to….ALSO the ever-iconic “seaweed brain”. PEAK cinema i’m telling you

11. percy trusting annabeth with riptide as his parting gift and thing to give her strength and remember him by. paralleled with how she’ll (hopefully) untie her camp necklace and tie it around his neck before his final fight with ares as a token of good luck and entrusting him with the home she wore around her throat…

12. the well-written conversations with the gods, though unexpected. grover being FAR more clever than he’s given credit for, manipulating ares’s tendency towards anger, bitterness, and pride to get what he wanted out of him. annabeth rejecting hephaestus’s promises of power and glory and the renewal of her mother’s favoritism and pride, something annabeth used to crave with her entire heart. annabeth echoing to hephaestus what she said to percy in the tunnel about him not being like the rest of their godly family and telling the god that she refuses to be like them too. that the way they treat each other and their children isn’t right, the same way percy insisted to her last episode. hephaestus being one of the only gods capable of empathizing with her and telling her “you’re a good kid, annabeth. i’ll put in a good word with your mom for you.” no one speak to me i’m unwell

13. timothy omundson in general…although i keep hearing him as lassie in my head 😭

14. ares negging on them and warning percy his dad’s mind is as fickle as the sea itself and percy won’t be able to hold down his father’s favor and percy responding by threatening the literal god of war in the most percy-like fashion

15. ares didn’t call twitter X. but now we know who’s behind the mentally ill stan wars

things they really didn’t need to change:

1. the one thing i am really miffed about it is them robbing thief annabeth from my cold, dead hands. i wanted to see her raid a store without a second thought and be a little gremlin!!! she has hermes’s influence all over her (thanks luke/being a runaway), let us see it!!!

2. percy and annabeth being slightly awkward at the entrance of the thrill ride of love didn’t carry the same humor as the book scene because they’re such children about it in tlt and annabeth is extremely flustered but we don’t see that here.

3. aphrodite’s scarf. it was a fun detail they could’ve kept. seeing percy making heart eyes would’ve been funny (and maybe a glimpse into future seasons)

4. percy seeing a clip of gabe being gabe and saying “im going to kill him” is merely a NUGGET of the hatred we should be seeing from percy for that man. especially in area’s presence which feeds off of and amplifies everybody’s anger and hatred and bloodlust. there still needs to be more build up to turning gabe to stone at the end of all this

5. percy blacking out from using his powers to get him and annabeth out of the water. while he’s nowhere close to being a master at his craft at this point in the books, and he is known to lose control, even as a more seasoned warrior, i don’t think what he did warranted a blackout. i feel like they’re underselling his innate strength a little bit.

6. overall, although it kind of worked out, there was just a lot of plot deviation from the books—grover not going to waterland, no mechanical spiders, percy and annabeth not jumping out the ride into free fall and being saved by grover wearing maia, although they crash into a billboard etc etc.

[highlordofkrypton]

TALK TO ME ABOUT CASSIAN X TAMLIN BROTP PLEASE?

I WAS IN BED WHEN YOU SENT ME THIS I HAD TO WAIT UNTIL I COULD GET TO A COMPUTER AHHHHH I love talking about this himbroship I'm buzzing where do I even start omg omg

This is 10000000% fanon, but it's good, happy, soft and silly!

Cassian and Tamlin met during the First Hybern War; Rhysand was like 'hey ya'll meet my new friend' and like any normal person Cassian was like OH YEAH, TAMLIN'S NOSE MEET MY FOREHEAD

They ended up wrestling bc the broness called to one another, so obviously they had to test each other

It's now a normal greeting for them for Cassian to barrel into Tamlin and tussle with him; Tamlin loves it because it's the relationship he never had with his brothers

Cassian is THE shorter older brother, he's at least 30 years older than Tamlin, but Tamlin is 6'5"+ and Cassian is built like a BAKED BEAN

Tamlin is definitely the more introverted one because he's insecure, but Cassian will double down on ANYTHING Tamlin says or wants. OH UR VEGETARIAN BRO??? BEANS ARE THE SHIT AND GRASS TOO

Cassian doesn't know what exactly vegetarians eat except grass and beans, he tried once and cried he did not like whatever the hell a 'bean patty' is

Having a friend outside of the Night Court is a really fascinating experience to Cassian because even though they both had different upbringings, they have similar... vibes? Tamlin is quiet and curious, Cassian and loud and will put his hands/mouth on anything to figure out what the hell this new thing is. They both had 2 brothers with a MEH dad, warrior training, they punch first and ask questions later, it's just really cool to connect with someone on that level

It's also nice for Cassian to be able to chill w/ someone else and get an outside POV when he's going through something w/ his brothers

Cassian 10000% percent vibes with Tamlin's let's just fuck off and live in nature, it's very peaceful

Tamlin's great great great great great grandmother is a willow tree who has the hots for Cassian, lots of shh shhh and stroking his face with her vines when he's being so dumb

Cassian is seemingly more hot-headed than Tamlin, but Tamlin is the one with rage issues; it actually helps Tamlin a lot to have a friend who will BLURT OUT the first thing that comes to mind especially when confronted with something shitty like 'YO DUDE THAT'S A FUCKED UP THING TO SAY' and 'OK U WANNA GO?? MET ME IN THE PRYTHIAN PARKING LOT 1V1 ME'

Cassian's bluntness also helps drag Tamlin out of depressive slumps. Trauma can really re-wire someone's brain and make you act out, but Cassian also turns his loud honesty on Tamlin like 'FIRST DON'T TALK ABOUT MY BEST FRIEND LIKE THAT' and 'YOU'RE BEING A DICK is this how you feel or is this a reaction my broski' -- his heavy hand is an excellent contrast to Tamlin's other best friend LUCIEN

The humour shared between Tamlin and Cassian makes zero sense to anyone. At all. They will die laughing at a bag of 70% cacao and Cassian will over the 'o' and they've been laughing at 'caca' for the last 10 minutes. It's very freeing for them.

Tamlin loves fruit, Cassian general does not eat fruit or vegetables. Tamlin introduced Cassian to a giant fruit bat and lied to say 'he's very disappointed u don't eat ur greens' and CASSIAN TOOK THAT PERSONALLY??? he eats mangoes now and other tropical fruits to honour his batcestors bat-ancestors???

Yes, they can have an entire conversation in 'bruh's

IF we transpose this friendship that started in the canon 'Tamlin trained with the Illyrians in the war' to TODAY, Cassian never recovered from the falling out between Rhysand and Tamlin. It's really difficult for him to reconcile what happened to HIS family with his friend he knew, loved and trusted. When Rhysand vanished, his first instinct would have been to go see Tamlin for help (but there's a lot of guilt for not checking on him either since Cassian knew Tamlin didn't have.... a support system like him).

In Modern AU, Cassian and Tamlin have DEFINITELY those ugly shirts wit each other's face on them and their names in ✨GLITTER✨

Fuck it, Cassian gets really into shirt printing and just prints shirts for them for every occasion, they're ugly on purpose -- he also has swim shorts that are just Tamlin's face going 8D all over them

Cassian started the 'BIG STRETCHY' trend whenever Tamlin stretches and it's law EVERYONE DOES IT NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE

Anyway, I love them a lot and ummmm I absolutely not normal about them I will DIE on their bestie hill

THANK YOU FOR THIS ASK I HOPE U LIKED READING IT AS MUCH AS I LIKED RAMBLING ABOUT IT

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

Batman au but Thomas Wayne lives

Thomas lives, and well Bruce has his Uber traumatised ready to murder people father.

Thomas becomes Batman, his favourite weapon is the gun that killed his wife and a scalpel bc he’s poetic like that.

Bruce being literally 8-10 is like

“dad where are you going don’t leave me!”

He has like really bad attachment issues now.

“Son I have to avenge your mother”

“dad, what-what are you going to do? Can I come with you?”

“no you can’t”

Bruce follows along anyway sneaking out to find his dad, he watches him suit up in his Batman suit it looks scary as fuck but little Bruce keeps following

(Thomas doesn’t have like Uber amazing fighting skills he’s just strong and a doctor”

little Bruce keeps following along making sure he doesn’t lose his dad, until they come to a weird warehouse. It’s old rundown and looks abandoned, Thomas enters little Bruce is still scared but he can’t leave his dad.

Thomas enters the warehouse and pulls the gun from his holster. And starts staring at the man who killed his wife.

“You thought I wouldn’t come back for you huh? How does it feel to be in the same situation again?” Thomas says darkly and loud.

little Bruce is off to the side confused why his dad is doing this, and starts sneaking towards him.

“Man I- I- don’t know what you want! It was a hit! It was a hit!”

“You know what I want.. I want your blood spilled. But it won’t be quick no, it will hurt. It will hurt so badly you’d wish you were dead.”

“Please- ple- I will give you anything you want! Money! Bitches! Smokes! Whatever! Just leave me alone!”

little Bruce has snuck up and starts asking his dad what’s he’s doing?

“Dad! Wh- why are you threatening that man? You, you said all life was-was sacred! That’s not okay! You shouldn’t um kill people! You should turn him over to the police!”

“Bruce? What are you doing here?! You should be in bed!”

“Dad I can’t sleep. I don’t wanna lose you like mom”

Thomas stares at Bruce and back at the man who killed his wife, and he sighs.

“Okay Bruce, okay. Your lucky, your so lucky don’t you ever tell anyone you saw me or your life is as good as gone, trust me I follow through with my promises.”

“Yay! What do, we do now?”

“Well Bruce we are going to take this bastard to the police, and then we are going to have a LONG conversation about what you just did”

“Jesus what the fuck are you doing”

Thomas grabs a tranq and stabs it into the man.

“Okay dad!”

-

flash forward a couple years, Bruce is 12 and he is very very determined to follow his dad out on patrol.

he even made his own version of the bat suit with Alfred’s help!

he dubs himself “batboy”

and starts to follow his dad, his dad isn’t as stealthy as him he’s been practicing for a while now.

but he follows, his little black cape and gray and yellow suit modeled after his favourite show gray ghost, and a domino mask cover his face.

he can barely keep up with his dad but he does, following him through alleyways and up. Eventually he stops and he goes up to his dad to hug him.

“Bruce! What are you doing here?”

“No! Dad call me ‘batboy’ I thought that.. if I made a costume I could join you!”

Thomas stares at him, he looks adorable and so happy.

this isn’t the first time he’s done this and it won’t be the last, the kid sneaky and persistent this is the 4th time this week he’s snuck off to go find him.

maybe it won’t be so bad, but he just can’t fathom anything happening to Bruce.

“Okay ‘batboy’ you can only come on patrol when you finish your schoolwork and are able to fight. I know you will keep following me again and again but it’s just not safe, go home buddy, go home.”

Bruce sulks and heads home, but with a new goal. Learn how to fight! And finish all his school work, if he does it all he’ll be able to work with his dad so much faster!

so we have a training montage of Bruce being taught by Alfred and him getting self defence lessons and learning how to use different weapons and stuff.

by the time he’s 13 he’s completed all his schoolwork and has gotten into college, and learned a ton of different fighting styles and tactics.

he also started learning about forensics and criminal justice and sciences, his dad may be a doctor but he’s not really good with the whole forensics stuff.

he actually just passed it off to Bruce to Learn about, Bruce is estatic about being able to work with his dad.

eventually Bruce tries again and sneaks out to follow his dad, his dad is going to take down a mafia deal. And Bruce feels comfortable with going and helping his dad.

he arrived shortly after his dad and sneaked into the battle field he started running at a goon and thumped HARD against them. Whilst laughing and turning to face his dad.

“Hiya dad!”

“BATBOY WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

“I finished my homework. And I know how to fight people now, I did everything you asked of me so why am I not allowed to help you?”

Bruce said while jumping onto someone and start punching their face.

“BATBOY I DONT WANT YOU HERE IT’S TOO DANGEROUS!”

“Dad, this is nothing this is a Tuesday for me!”

Thomas scowls, but let’s him continue to fight.

they quickly defeated the mafia and high-five!

“Maybe I was wrong batboy, maybe you can help me fight crime.. but there’s still more to learn, and I’d prefer if you stuck to your studies.”

“Aw, really wanted to help you dad!”

too be added idk, here you go please write more about them

[horizon-verizon]

Leaks saying that Rhaenyra send Elinda to hang up posters in King’s Landing calling for anyone who dares to try to claim a dragon (I think it’s true, in the preview for episode 7, there a soldier tearing a poster down) and WHY TF is she recruiting from King’s Landing when plenty if not more than dragonseeds reside in Dragonstone and Driftmark ?? At least in F&B, the dragonseeds were from the area and you could assume as Rhaenyra had been ruling over them for 10 years there was a greater allegiance to her. She’s not even looking for people who have Targaryen/Valyrian blood anymore, just anyone who’s willing to take the risk. Handing over the biggest dragons to complete nobodies with no affiliation at all to her is stupid. Doubly so because what’s to say Aemond or Larys doesn’t get word and makes a deal offering much more if they claim a dragon and flip sides, and Aemond has shut down all exits. Rhaenyra already makes plenty of foolish mistakes during the war, why do they keep adding/creating more ?

It's pretty strange, considering peasants largely aren't literate in ASoIaF/Westeros.

Also, having the dragonseeds ALL come from or reside in either Driftmark or Dragonstone makes much more sense with this particular fact bc of what you say about there being a history of Driftmark/Dragonstone special allegiance to the Targs and other Valyrian families ("The Red Dragon and the Gold"):

Said allegiance came from two things interacting:

the long history of the Targs/Velaryons/etc ruling those islands for generations BEFORE the Conquest

Targs sexing up locals with the FM custom of right of first night that established the idea that a lord "bestows" a child onto a peasant family/woman (no this doesn't mean every single Targ-local coupling was bonafide rape...but the power dynamics went crazy and are MORE questionable with that FM "tradition")

This is esp good:

Doubly so because what’s to say Aemond or Larys doesn’t get word and makes a deal offering much more if they claim a dragon and flip sides, and Aemond has shut down all exits. Rhaenyra already makes plenty of foolish mistakes during the war, why do they keep adding/creating more

So it's either going to these:

those KL future dragonseeds will have to sneak out using some seriously dubious means totally unaffliiated or given by Rhaenyra-Mysaria

they will have means of getting out thru Mysaria-Rhaenyra's arrangements, which themselves need to be explained: how long do the agents stay and hide themselves in KL and how did they do it? Wa sit through Mysaria's connections, Daemon's, or is Elinda magically rowing to Kl again? Who and how does she know those she comes to contact with? No Dyana doesn't make sense bc we have seen no interaction b/t Rhaenyra and Dyana, and Dyana was a low-tier servant not a lady-in-waiting. So yeah, you need to have already shown (S1) how Rhaenyra/Elinda and Dyana got as aquainted as to be able to have such communications and established some amount of trust even with Aegon having raped Dyana.

However, I don't think the Red Keep has dragon eggs. that appears to be just a Dragonstone thing--which makes sense bc that is the original home with all the necessary accommodations for housing, raising, and feeding dragons/eggs made over GENERATIONS of Targ ancestors. The castle of Dragonstone (not the island), I think, is literally built into/from a volcano. The Dragonkeep of KL can't match that, is smaller. So Aemond and the rest of the greens cannot make similar promises or invitations to KLers.

Either way, yeah, the letting absolutely anyone regardless of how loyal you think they will be to you rise a dragon bc you want to make sure that the notion of Targ blood-necessary for dragons is just propaganda also doesn't make sense bc:

Daenerys Stormborn literally woke up dragons using her own self/blood. Only she could have done what she did...it's a pretty large and thematic story element to ASoIaF, her doing that. Blood & familial connection to other dragonriders may not be the end all be all (Quentyn Martell) but it is a PREREQUISITE and absolutely matters, otherwise.

throughout detailed recorded history the Targs--since at least Jaehaerys I--we have seen how allegiance or making sure that the exclusivity of dragonriding is maintained is another important element...Jaehaerys himself says that it is necessary to keep dragonriding exclusive is not just for Targ power but bec it is really bad to have multiple competing rival dragonriding groups and esp in the same space...Old Valyria is used as reference. The whole anxiety about the Two Betrayers and later arrests of the dragonseeds partially come from this fear.

So, yeah, the writers are sacrificing or just plain ignorant of the lore bc they have some weird jealousy towards this dragonriding family or want to feel as if they have some higher understanding of politics and history:

Ultimately, Condal’s own passion for Martin’s writing outweighed any doubt he had about his own. “I’m trying to make the type of show I would enjoy as a fan, which I am. And while I realize my ideal fan show will be different from someone else’s, I still think that it’s a good true north heading on my compass. Actually, I think that’s why HBO hired me in the first place.”

“I was working in a corporate environment and collaborating with other creatives,” Condal says. “Copywriters work closely with art directors responsible for visuals and layout, and there’s a similarity there to screenwriters working with directors responsible for turning your very cerebral ideas into concrete images. I also learned to compromise, adapting your writing to clients who aren’t always going to love your brilliant, avant-garde choices. That’s the talent-studio relationship, right there. Working on a deadline, on a budget, going into a room to give your presentation, and having someone on the other end of the table buy or not buy them — this stuff is relevant in any industry, Hollywood or not. Coming from a creative but also very corporate environment, I was able to navigate challenges that some of my colleagues with filmmaking and art history degrees maybe weren’t prepped for.”

[ovaruling]

You made a post earlier about how you are feeding stray cats. Since it seems like you're very concerned about the environment I wonder why you are doing this. Aren't stray/outdoor cats horrible for the environment? Mostly because they kill animals that are actually important for nature like birds and rodents. Not trying to be rude just wondering why you think feeding them is a good idea, because it's basically helping a population that has no place in nature and does nothing but harm.

look, i’m not without my weaknesses—i can’t look at a starving stray cat and not feed it. maybe others can, but i can’t. i never claimed to be a paragon.

however, i must clarify something and also point out that i think im doing my part more than your average stray-feeder—i spend 1-2 hours each day trying to trap the cats. every day, from 4-5pm and sometimes later. i drop what im doing to spend time on it.

i have a folding chair to sit on and stake them out, a new implement of a bathroom mirror from a construction site that i set up next to the feeding station (to see the cats without startling them), and a large dog crate in which i put the food.

i recently caught 2 of the said stray cats last week and had them fixed and they will no longer be contributing to the environmental decline, nor will they ever produce litters. i’m working on a third.

i feed on my own property and i have caught and fixed and thus removed from the environment approximately 20 or more cats since i was like, i can’t remember—10, 11, 12. somewhere around there—i was in some degree of childhood when i started. i still use the same large dog crates i had back then to catch them. it takes weeks, sometimes months. sometimes a year or more in the case of my toughest one, an aggressive feral male who was causing issues in the neighborhood and who is now my housecat and best friend and wreaks no more havoc. i didn’t give up on him and it ended up being for the better bc no one else was going to give enough of a shit to spend the time it was going to take to catch him. (i’ve said this before but, i had to go on 3 rounds of antibiotics bc he kept biting me horribly every time i tried to catch him)

all this to say: my success in catching stray cats is owed largely to my patience and my willingness to spend hours gaining their trust by feeding them and having them associate my presence with food and fresh water.

so i know it’s not without criticism to feed them, but i do put in hours and hours each week feeding these strays specifically to try to catch them—and i often succeed. (edit: i don’t always. there are a few cats i don’t know if i’ll ever be able to catch, but i won’t stop trying.)

this is what ive been doing my whole life and i will continue to try to make an impact on my local environment in this unique way. i don’t expect others to understand my methods and the specific way that i do things (it’s different for each cat depending on how i assess their personality and needs and habits etc etc), but the fact that i’ve removed 20 or more strays from my neighborhood over the last decade or so is an impact that matters, i think.

especially since i pay out of my own pocket to take them to the vet, to fix them, vaccinate them, and treat them for any and all ailments, and i also have housed them myself or rehomed them. it’s a huge drain on my resources but it’s one i am happy to do for the rest of my life. not least bc no one else in my area is bothering to do anything about them.

so—take that for what you will. that’s my contribution and it’s not perfect but i think i do a good job at reducing the number of stray cats in my local ecosystem and i have to conclude that because of that i MUST have reduced a lot of the environmental destruction that they would’ve otherwise done. much better than anyone else who lives around here, that’s for sure.

tl;dr—i am basically doing the job my local animal care & control is supposed to be doing about stray cats, for free, by myself, at my own expense and on my own time—and i 100% cannot do that job without feeding them

edit: i didn’t mean for this to sound as defensive and doth protesting as it did—i realize i’ve never quite explained exactly What it is i do with regard to stray and feral cats, and of course i can’t expect others to read my mind or know my life and motivations just from scattered posts i make lol. i hope i answered your question somewhat, and im happy to answer any more that you have.

[frecklystars]

i still feel absolutely fucking nothing for my f/os and im so depressed and i wanna die and my birthday is friday and i hate my birthday and i just. rahh. i wanna self ship again. thats it!! i just wanna self ship again thats literally all i want to do!! but instead ive been in and out of the hospital every couple of weeks bc i'm having so many panic attacks that make me feel like im going to die

i am so fucked up from all the bullshit i was put through these last 2 years that i cannot fucking function, i am so paranoid all the time that anyone who interacts with me is out to get me because they [redacted reasons i cannot publicly state]. it doesnt matter if ive known someone for 1 day or 10 years, i dont trust anyone online anymore. i dont trust anyone who's nice to me because so many times it was people with malicious intentions. i dont fucking trust any TF blogs, ive been blocking any TF blog who interacts with me On Sight from all the shit that ppl from that fandom put me through.

there's 600 new inbox messages now and i havent opened any of them. people are sending me dms every single day and i havent opened any of them. i hate that my distrust towards irl people has bled into self shipping and now i am just Too Depressed to self ship. it is my anniversary w/ a character who's supposed to be such a comfort to me today and i feel Nothing. driver used to be Everything to me. driver used to make me feel so comfortable and safe. i feel so numb when i look at my f/os, there is just nothing there. it is my birthday soon and i should be so proud of myself for fighting through all the bullshit my abuser has thrown at me but i feel Nothing. self shipping used to help me at least cope with the depression. i just want to have my comfort characters again. thats it. i wouldnt care how many people are trying to kill me or stalk me or attack me if i just had my f/os to help me cope thru all of it

i genuinely think i'd feel better if i tried to be online and make edits and draw more and interact with the sweet people in my inbox. i used to feel so so so much better when people would send me nice asks, F/O reassurance, fics, fanart, etc etc but at the same time i will see a nice ask and immediately believe "oh. this is a trap. this person is going to pretend to be nice to me, try to get closer, but it's a trap" based off of MULTIPLE traumatic events my abuser put me through the last 2 years. this is such an unhealthy mindset to have, to not trust anyone kind to me, and i wish i knew how to turn it off. ive never been paranoid like this, ever, until a series of events happened this entire last 2 years and i just. i cannot fucking trust anyone on this stupid website, my god, someone sends me "hi keri! how is your day?" and my brain is like "oh hey look out, that person is pretending to be nice to you but they're actually trying to harm you!!" i will look at a group of online friends i've had for OVER a DECADE and that paranoid voice in the back of my head who worries from experience "oh cool this person is after me now. this person is out to betray me. this person wants to hurt me. it doesnt matter if we've been best friends since childhood, this person absolutely is out to get me now"

i hate everything i was put through these last 2 years and especially these last few months, one day im gonna spill my guts and tell everyone what has been happening to me bc its so goddamn unfair what ive been put through day after day, and i am sick of letting all of it fester in me without being able to tell anyone whats going on. i dont even know if its still ongoing rn bc every time i think "oh, maybe it's over" it just fires back up again. the stalking, the harassing, dude dont even get me started on the fucking stalking, do you know how fucking Not Normal these people are who have been trying to physically harm me irl and online? do you know how fucking psychotic someone has to be to spend YEARS of their life trying to make me miserable when i dont even know these ppl, im just fucking sitting here? the stupidest goddamn shit possible. i have never met these ppl in my life but they're following the orders of someone else and just. being fucking insane. if you knew what someone was putting me through, what a large group of toxic disgusting people have been putting me through these last 2 years, you wouldn't even fathom how dangerous it's been and how shitty it's been. ive had to call the police on a few of these people. you have no fucking clue what i've been going through and how exhausting it is to feel so unsafe every single second that you're alive. this shit eats at me constantly. i don't get any peace of mind. i think one day this really will kill me but at least i won't have to deal with it anymore if i'm dead. and!! i hate that i have that mindset! i hate that every time i drive to work, i hope beyond hope that a car is going to obliterate me. that isnt normal!! i should not be hoping to die!! but genuinely i dont think im ever going to be safe ever again and im so tired of dealing with this fear every single second every single day for years. years!!!! every second!!! every single second im awake i am fucking stressed out of my goddamn mind!!!!

months ago, i queued so much driver stuff for today, and i almost want to delete all of it bc its so. useless. dude i feel Nothing for my f/os. i feel unsafe with my f/os because i feel so unsafe with 99% of the people i interact with online because of all the horrible things ive been put through all this time. it's all pointless. i dont know if im ever really going to come back to blogging regularly. i just wake up, i go to work, i have panic attacks and i throw up, and then i go to sleep. sometimes i come here to vent and then refill my queue, but what is the point of refilling my queue anymore tbh. i keep trying to go through the motions to see if i can reclaim self shipping one day and then i can just bounce back, but god its been several months and ijust cant do it. i cant wait for this to kill me, ic ant wait for this to finally make me snap bc im so so sick of going through this every day. im tired

whatever ill delete this later and it wont even matter lol what else is new. keri makes another vent post about feeling depressed and unsafe. fork found in kitchen or whatever

[the-lady-amphitrite]

— A FAIRYTALE BEGINNING | chapter 10

a fate already affixed

pairing: Loki / f!half-Asgardian!Reader word count: 5,043 summary: the time for your Weaver's Reading has arrived, and Skuld tells you what she can about your future in this chapter: references to Laufey's death & Odin's past removal of one of his eyes, reader feels so 15 bc of her attitude in this it hurts, blood magic & non-descript references to blood, very blatant canonical racist attitude about Frost Giants, lots of Skuld being cryptic author notes: hello everyone, i return once more after dragging myself out of bg3 hell long enough to finish polishing and uploading this! this chapter concludes what i like to think of as "act one" for AFB (with all of the setup about soulmates, glimpses at interrealm politics, and a look at how people get their godnames in this AU), and the next chapter kicks off "act two"! i'm really looking forward to posting the six chapters that make it up; it's honestly my favourite thread of this whole AU.

( previous chapter | read on ao3 | series masterlist )

You yawn at the stars as you lean against the front side of the karvi as it sails along Yggdrasil’s branches. The bright, distant stars are nothing more than blurred lines as they fly past the ship. They remind you that (despite not being able to tell yourself) this ship moves faster than even the racing skiffs on Asgard.

The ship — you remember someone had referred to her as the Grey Wolf — arrived on the shore of Asgard this morning, spearing through a dense fog in such silence that it left you in awe. The sun had yet to crest above the horizon when the karvi docked, there only to pick up you and your mother to head to Gymirsgard.

Sleep still clung to you like the mist of a light, drizzling rain when your mother dragged you from bed to get up and dressed for this trip. Your birthday party had run late into the previous evening, even though the celebrations had started from the moment you walked into a private breakfast with your family. Even Volstagg, his parents, and his sister Birsa (who just returned from her Valkyrjur trials), were all invited to the family breakfast. It was the first of many surprises for your fifteenth birthday.

Fifteen.

A smile works its way onto your tired face as you remember once more. You’ve looked forward to today for as long as you can remember. You can’t count how many times you’ve dreamt of your visit to the Weavers of Fate over the years. Of facing Skuld before Mímisbrunnr.

Skuld reveals one moment — just one — from a Drekasál’s vast future when they visit her after they’ve turned fifteen. A moment that you’ve been told again and again no dragon ever reveals to anyone else. Not even their soulmate.

A thrill of anticipation sings its way through you, winding through your limbs and rattling your breath. To keep something so close, so secretive, must mean that it’s a moment of unparalleled importance to a dragon. You’re meant to be able to tell your soulmate everything. You’re meant to trust them with the best and worst of who you can be.

Your imagination runs wild with a dozen ideas of what could be so important, each one spilling across your thoughts like a overflowing bottle of watered-down ink on heavy parchment.

You look behind you at the three dozen other drekabǫrn on the karvi. More than half a dozen conflagrations are on this ship with you and your mother. Each of them a different size, and from a different realm. Dragons from across the Realms of Yggdrasil, all headed to speak with the Weaver of Futures.

It’s painfully obvious how much you stand apart from the others. They came with their conflagration; you only have your mother at your side. For the first time since you met him, you can keenly feel the two year age gap between you and Gauti. Too young still to receive his own glimpse of the future, Gauti waits back on Asgard with the rest of your family.

In some ways, you suppose it’s a bit silly to only really feel that age gap now. In all the years you’ve known him, the only lessons you’ve ever shared with him are the Drekasál ones. He’s a child of the Court of Asgard like you are, but he’s also in the class below yours, so you’ve never shared those lessons with each other. Still, watching how close the other drekabǫrn are with their conflagrations reminds you of Gauti. And not just of Gauti, but of Loki, Thor, Baldr, and Volstagg. Part of you yearns to return home already. To the familiarity and warmth of your friends.

Soon. Soon you’ll head home. You just have to get through this visit to Gymirsgard, and then you can return home.

◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦

Your first glimpse of Gymirsgard comes as you approach the realm, the excited gasps and chattering from the other drekabǫrn drawing your attention from the distant stars.

The blue star of the Jǫtunheimar system blazes brightly in the distance — though for you, it just appears white. You only know that it’s blue because of your lessons about the various star systems of Yggdrasil.

In the open space before Jǫkullknǫttr — the star — sits Gymirsgard in all its wondrous glory.

Unlike Asgard’s unique standing as a small, flat realm, Gymirsgard is a round planet, its only edges that of its atmosphere. Truthfully, for a realm, Gymirsgard is on the smaller side. Yet it not only houses more Drekasál than you can imagine, it’s also the same realm your mother and uncle were born to. For decades — centuries even — Gymirsgard was the only realm they knew. It was the realm they called home before home became Asgard.

You eyes quickly shift away from Gymirsgard to look at the vast, open space that occupies most of your view, scanning for the one other planet of this system with sharp eyes. The realm forbidden to all — and for good reason. After what happened to Princess Laufey, to High Lady Dagmær, to your uncle, and to so many other Drekasál and Asgardians there, no one should step foot on that accursed realm.

Jǫtunheimr. A realm full of icy darkness and ravenous monsters. A realm that will rip the life from any who dare venture to it.

You don’t see the ice planet though, wherever it is. Good.

Your attention shifts back to Gymirsgard as you approach the realm. Second by second, the realm swallows up the view in front of you, until the karvi is descending through the atmosphere, and the stars are swallowed by the sky and the clouds.

Your mother leans against the side of the karvi beside you as the starship breaks through the heavy clouds hanging over this part of the realm. She peers out over the vast, forested land below with a fond smile. Shifting her gaze, she points towards a seaside city in the distance, a wide smile you don’t see too often on her face.

“That’s Krossavík,” she tells you.

The name strikes a familiar chord in you, but at first you can’t place the name. When you do, it’s like a strike of lightning zips through you as you remember where you’ve heard it before.

“The city you grew up in?”

“The very one.” Her hand falls, and her smile fades a little. “It’s quite strange. Sveinn and I are from the same city, and yet we spent so long trying to find each other after our Soul Awakenings.”

“How long?” you ask, leaning your chin against your crossed forearms as you stare at the city. In the distance, you can see a few dragons in flight, returning from the sea to Krossavík. From here, you can’t hear the beat of their wings, or make out anything that makes them stand apart from other dragons. They’re just dragon-shaped blobs of grey, soaring over the grey sea.

“A century or so. Your uncle is only a little more than a decade younger than me, but I was gone from Gymirsgard by the time his Soul Awakening happened. We only met because I came home to see my mother.” The smile on your mother’s face fades further, becoming softer, sadder.

“Will we see here while we’re here?” you ask, excitement bubbling in your chest. You’ve never met your grandmother, and your mother rarely speaks of her. Photos of her are even rarer.

“No, no, she won’t be at the landing ground, my star,” your mother says. She reaches out, placing a gentle, comforting hand on your shoulder. She knows you’ve always been curious about your grandmother, what with how you prod about learning more about the dragon you’ve never met whenever your mother or uncle brings her up.

You pout a little at her words. It’s followed by a soft chuckle from your mother, and then a kiss placed atop your head.

“You’ll meet her someday, I promise,” she vows.

“But when?” you ask, impatience threaded in your words even as you keep them hushed so as not to draw the attention of the other dragons. You draw away from her, standing tall and looking Kára in the eyes. “This is the first time we’ve left Asgard. And we’re here, Mamma. Why can’t we just go see her?”

Kára looks away, but you continue to stare at her. She closes her eyes, shaking her head. She says, “It’s a lot to explain, especially now. I would love for you to meet her, it’s just… not the right time. Not with everything else.”

Everything else. That mysterious phrase is the bane of your existence. All you’re allowed to know is that phrase has something to do with her Weaver’s Reading. Something she can’t tell you. Something she is never allowed to tell anyone.

You let out a frustrated breath, leaning against the side of the karvi again, your back to her. You don’t look at Kára. Instead, you watch the land that passes below and the other drekabǫrn as the conflagrations mingle with each other. None of them come near you, though you can see the way their eyes dart to stare at you for a few seconds now and again.

Neither you nor Kára speak for the rest of the ride. You don’t even look at her, ignoring her presence the best you can.

When the karvi lands, it’s in a valley to the far north of Gymirsgard. A narrow stream flows out from the mouth of a cave at the end of the valley, the bubbling sounds of it lost beneath the flurry of activity of the conflagrations jumping over the side of the ship. You sigh, then heave yourself over the side of the ship, landing in the soft, crunchy layer of snow that barely covers the top of your boots.

You watch as the different conflagrations separate from one another entirely. The vængforinginn of each conflagration checks that their drekabǫrn are accounted for, and the adult dragon with each one merely hovers nearby.

There’s another crunch of snow beside you, one that causes your eyes to dart over before they shift towards the drekabǫrn once more; Kára hopped over the side, joining you in observing the drekabǫrn. She places a hand between your shoulder blades after a few second, guiding you forward, and everyone begins the short trek over to the cave.

The drekabǫrn trade glances with each other — and with you a few times — as all of you make your way towards the cave. Kára’s pace is swift enough that, soon enough, the two of you are leading.

Everyone is (mostly) silent during the walk. The crunch of snow is the loudest sound in the valley as you walk alongside the river that spills from the cave. Even the birds have gone quiet, the presence of so many dragons setting the forest on edge, it seems.

The conflagrations stop several metres from the cave’s mouth, but Kára keeps walking the two of you forward. You can feel the eyes of everyone drilling into your back, sending waves of unease up and down your spine. Something in your chest claws at your heart and lungs, begging you to pay attention to the danger that lurks at your back. It takes everything in you not to look back at them.

Kára stops just before the mouth of the cave, and you turn to face her, finally looking at her again. Her eyes are focused on the cave beside you. There’s a brief twitch in her jaw, a sign of her unease with being here. It makes you wonder if she’s remembering her Weaver’s Reading once again.

Her voice is hushed as she tells you, “Once you step inside, you cannot come back out until Skuld releases you. No matter what you see, what you hear, you do not leave. Understood?”

Your skin prickles at her words, hairs raising along your limbs and the back of your neck as you realise the extent of her unease.

“I understand.” You step away from her, into the cave itself. The two of you stare at each other for another moment. Then you nod at her before turning away and making your way further into the cave.

◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦

Your first steps into the cave are tentative. There’s soft torchlight coming from a few metres in, and you pass by the first of the torches on soft feet. You look back over your shoulder only once, after you’ve passed them. Your mother still stands there at the mouth of the cave, alone. It’s an unusual, unsettling sight. Uncle Sveinn is always with her. Always.

Except for this one time. He wasn’t allowed to come along for this journey. No one would explain why. All they would say is that he had to remain on Asgard.

You face forward again and continue down the tunnel.

Torch after torch, the tunnel turns into an ascending loop. Your footsteps are the only sound besides your soft breaths. Even the torches are quiet, which is far more unsettling than you would have expected. You make your steps as light as you can, your ears straining for any sounds besides your soft footfalls.

You continue your ascension, winding higher and higher with each loop. You’re not certain, but you think the loops are wider now than when you began — not that you can really tell.

When you finally reach the end, you find the tunnel opens up into a wide cavern room. There’s a slow, watery glow to the room as you step past the threshold. Like you’ve walked into a world beneath the waves, despite never stepping foot beneath water. All through the room, you can see stalactites dripping from the ceiling and stalagmites rising up from the unnaturally smooth floor.

“Ah, she finally arrives,” a voice calls out. Skuld’s voice, it has to be. You turn in a circle as you venture further into the room, searching for the Weaver, whose voice echoes all around you. “We have long awaited this day, little drekabarn. We have watched you with great curiosity. Your future is shrouded more than most.”

“Shrouded? What do you mean, Weaver?”

“Just as I said. It’s unusual for one like you. However, it always signals an interesting future as it unravels. Now, come. There is much for you to see and learn.”

Skuld glides out from behind you without warning, her footsteps soundless. You jump at her sudden appearance, wondering where she appeared from. Your back was to the cavern entrance, and you’re positive you looked at every shadow you passed as you stepped further inside. Still, you follow her as she moves deeper into the cave.

It strikes you how little of the Weaver you can see, the same as it did when Loki and Volstagg were given their god-titles. A black shroud covers her face, forbidding you from seeing beyond it, and a black dress that drags soundlessly across the floor, covering all but Skuld’s hands. Hands that you had assumed would be clean and boney, but are actually heavy, worn, and scarred.

As you cross through the cave, you approach a small seating area. Two large, dark rugs with the faint workings of a pattern woven into them, covered in a myriad of pillows, and a small circle of stones set between them. The arrangement is set at the base of what appears to be a well. The source of the watery glow of the room, if the way the ripples seem to fall onto the ceiling above it is any indication.

Mímisbrunnr. The Well of Wisdom.

Awe dances through you at the sight of an object so revered and sacred. Over the aeons since this Well was discovered, so many have sacrificed pieces of themselves just for a bit of knowledge they sought.

All-Father Odin sacrificed his eye to Mímisbrunnr years ago. No one truly knows what he’d sought an answer to when he did so, but it’s easy to guess what answers he likely sought. He sacrificed it to learn how to end the war with Jǫtunheimr. It was where the All-Father went after, appearing on Jǫtunheimr with one less eye before leading Asgard at Eldgard’s side against the Frost Giants once more.

The All-Father ended the war, but the Well had apparently not told him how to win it without losing the one he fought to bring home. Princess Laufey died on that frostbitten and cursed realm, never to know the warmth of Asgard again.

Skuld takes her seat on one side of the Well, gesturing for you to sit opposite of her. Once you’re settled, she reaches across the space between you, taking one of your hands and drawing it closer to her. Flipping it over, she leans forward and raises your palm to her shrouded face. With the index finger of her free hand, she traces lines over your palm — not following the ones etched into your skin, but different ones.

“You are remarkably calm and quiet, for one who does not know what I am doing,” Skuld says as she continues to trace lines over your palm.

“I’m not worried,” you tell her. Her tracing falters for a moment, like your answer surprises her. “I have faith in whatever you’re doing.”

“You have more faith than most. Most curious. Perhaps it is because you’ve been raised among the vættir, rather than the Drekasál,” Skuld says. You don’t say anything, despite all the questions that crowd your tongue because of her words. You have more questions than the Weaver would ever be willing to answer, that much you know.

Upon releasing your hand, Skuld sits back. You draw your hand back, placing it in your lap with the other. Only then do you allow yourself to as her the one thing that begs to be spoken.

“Why would other Drekasál not have faith in you, Weaver? You reveal Soul Awakenings, you tell us what is to come. Should we not have more faith in you than the vættir?”

“How do you break the faith of a people, and still have them seek your mercy?” Skuld asks, her voice suddenly sad and hollow. You can’t see her eyes, but you can feel her gaze as it sits heavy on you.

For several long moments, you’re quiet as you turn over her words, searching for an answer. For her part, Skuld does not press you to answer her, letting you come to your own conclusion about her question.

Mercy. Mercy implies that Skuld has more power over the Drekasál than you thought. That, if she chose to, she could punish your people. But punish them for what? And why, if their faith was broken, would they still go crawling to the Weaver, seeking Skuld’s generosity? What could she have promised —

A promise. Skuld promised them something. Something about the future. Something that they clung to desperately for so long, a hope perhaps, but —

“You promise them a hope they need, but they lose faith in that hope,” you finally say, your words slow and not entirely sure of themselves.

Skuld does not say anything, but she does nod. Something inside you fractures and weeps at the realisation. Skuld promised hope to your people about something, something they once desperately wanted to believe in. A hope they needed to believe in, and yet they have lost belief in that hope ever blooming true.

You look away from the Weaver, to Mímisbrunnr.

Silence fills the air between you both for long minutes. You think Skuld might be letting you process her answer, but it’s impossible to tell. To you, she’s just a shrouded figure, no expression to give away her thoughts. After too much silence, though, you turn back to Skuld, more words dancing sharp and angry on your tongue. Skuld speaks before you can let any of them spill forth.

“Twenty-four.” She says this like it’s an answer. When you look at her with a confused expression, trying to puzzle out the number, she explains. “Your Soul Awakening will happen in your twenty-fourth year.”

That’s nearly a decade from now. You’ve already waited forever for your Weaver’s Reading, and now you have to wait almost as long for your Soul Awakening? Impatience burns inside you.

“Isn’t that a bit old for a Soul Awakening?” you ask her. You can hear the sharp indignation in your words, and you lift your chin in an imitation of your royal friends.

“No. A soul Awakens only when it is ready. Twenty-four is a perfectly normal time for one to do so, drekabarn. Your mother's soul did not Awaken until she was twenty-seven, and her soulmate's did not Awaken until he was twenty-two.” You watch as Skuld stands, leaning over Mímisbrunnr. “I have seen souls Awaken when they are as old as seventeen, and I have seen souls Awaken as old as nearly forty. Dragonsouls are curious in that way.”

There’s the sound of something — multiple somethings being moved through the waters of the Well. The Weaver draws out several small logs from the Well, and you watch with rapt curiosity as she sits down, arranging the logs in the circle of stones.

A firepit, you realise. But the logs are wet. How does she expect to —

“Normally Mímisbrunnr requires sacrifice to learn,” Skuld says, interrupting your thoughts, “but you are not partaking in its waters, and it bends to the will of Yggdrasill, as we all do.”

“What do I need to do?” you ask her.

The Weaver passes you a knife, saying, “Three drops of blood onto the logs with the wish to know of your future. When I light the logs they will show me three things. Your most likely future paths, what your life might be in the more definitive of those paths, and which moment in your future you must hear today.” At the query on your face, she tilts her head to the side. You think she might be smiling. “Have faith, young dragon. The logs will light.”

Faith. You have plenty of that where the Weavers and Yggdrasill are concerned, even if so many other Drekasál do not.

So you listen, grimacing as you carefully make a shallow slice along the tip of your index finger. You hiss out a breath, the sting sharp as you squeeze it, letting three drops of blood fall onto different logs. Once that is done, Skuld hands you a small strip of wet cloth. You wrap it around your finger, hissing sharply at the stinging burn it causes.

Then, Skuld utters a word you don’t understand. You feel the ancient power that surges through the room. It condenses within the logs, coiling tight, then — it snaps apart, and the logs are ablaze.

You lean back on your uninjured hand, the other raised in front of your eyes at the sudden brightness. You expected thick smoke to blanket the room, but none rises from the logs. When you open your mouth to speak, Skuld raises a hand to ask for your silence. It’s only then that you realise she’s staring into the fire. You sit there, blinking as your eyes adjust to the firelight, until it no longer burns them to look at the Weaver.

“Your future is most interesting,” Skuld says. She leans closer to the fire, tilting her head to the right as she does. “I see many points that I could tell you now that will never change, no matter which paths you wander as you head towards your destiny. Most curious for one whose future is still so murky and ever-shifting.”

The hairs on your neck and arms raise. You’ve never given much thought to having a destiny. A future, a purpose to your life, yes, but not a destiny. It’s a weighted word. One that makes you think that, perhaps, you might become greater than you’ve ever let yourself imagine. That, maybe, you might live up to the legacies your parents have left for you to follow in the footsteps of.

And yet, the idea also unsettles you. To have a destiny means great things await you, yes, but you know the legends. The stories you have read, the histories you have memorised, all fall into similar patterns.

Greatness does not come without sacrifice, without pain.

“Weaver, what do you see?” you ask her, your words effused with curiosity about what she is seeing.

“I see many things, drekabarn. Every path that you might walk is open to me. I see wars that cannot be evaded, and wars that might never happen. I see a love that burns as bright and beautiful as the Kveldlagi of nights, and lasts for a lifetime; just as I also see loves that will burn like fires lit on a rainy day. I see death that will consume everything. I see your hopes, and your joys. Your wishes and dreams. Your sorrows and fears. I see the paths that you can walk, and the heartache that will shadow so many of them.”

The fire between you burns lower, barely more than embers and small puffs of flame compared to the small campfire it was just moments before. Skuld waves her hand over the embers, the fire banking until it is little more than glowing embers. The Weaver waves her hand over the fire again, and the embers begin to shift and glow in new patterns.

“I know which moment I must tell you. Are you prepared to hear?”

You suck in a breath and nod. Your heart thunders loudly in your chest. Anticipation chokes your limbs and shortens your breaths.

“Yes. I am prepared, Weaver.”

“Then listen closely to what I have to tell you, young one.”

Skuld gestures to the embers. You watch as they begin to glow in a way that forms the shape of a person. Her hand is outstretched, reaching for the hand of someone you can’t see, the image cut off. All the embers show of the other person is their hand, the details lost on you.

“This is what you must know,” Skuld begins. “You were whispered to my ancestors by Yggdrasill. Foretold by It to bring change to a great many things across Yggdrasil’s many branches. You will grow into a power that few will rival, blessed by beings far greater and more powerful than the vættir.

“Your path begins with this moment: on the day of your Soul Awakening. Much of your fate shall be sealed in the days after, for on the day of your ceremony, you will find the soul that the Voiceless One has bound you to in this life.”

You straighten up, mouth dropping open at Skuld’s words. You look at her with open awe. Warmth and giddiness floods your veins, and you don’t even attempt to hide the happiness this brings you — not that you could if you’d tried. To have your path align with your soulmate so early on? It is nothing short of a blessing by Yggdrasill for the bond the Voiceless One wove you.

You wait with bated breath for her to tell you more. To reveal any more scraps about the day of your Soul Awakening Ceremony. When she doesn’t say more, you hesitantly ask, “What else can you tell me, Weaver?”

Silence permeates the cavern, broken only by the sounds of breathing, of your heart thudding loudly, and the faint sound of trickling water. Finally, Skuld speaks once more.

“There is nothing else that I can tell you. That which I find worth telling you I cannot, for it might change the path you walk currently in ways that cannot be undone.” You bite your tongue, stopping yourself from pleading with the Weaver to reveal more to you anyway. If Skuld is concerned about changing the path you walk, then you must heed her. She's directing you towards the future you should walk, in the only way that she can in this moment. It surprises you when she speaks again. “Though, I can say this, for it is but a simple reminder. Protect your soulmate. Stand by them through all hardships, and always live for them. The Voiceless One chose this bond for a reason.”

“A simple reminder,” you murmur.

Tucking the words into your heart, you silently vow to never forget them. You’ve heard similar variations to that reminder before. More times than you can remember, your family has told you the Voiceless One chooses each bond for a reason.

It reminds you of when Frigga told you that the soulmate bond is a mixture of soul and blood magic. Of when you worried and wondered about if the bond was truly a curse in disguise, and how Lord Ivarr and Lady Tryggvadóttir’s interactions as a newly bonded pair banished such an idea. That afternoon showed you how well the Voiceless One chooses the bond for each of her children.

After all, how can something so effortless and comforting ever be a curse?

You do your best not to remember your exchange with Loki in the garden. Or the heavy, unspoken distance that lives in so many of the silences between the two of you these days in the presence of your conflagration.

Skuld stands without another word, beckoning you to follow her. You stand quickly, trailing after her as she returns to the mouth of the cavern. She stops before the mouth, and you step to the other side, but stop so you can turn and look at her. You place your left hand over your heart, bowing to the Weaver.

“Winds favour you, Weaver Skuld,” you tell her. Skuld pauses, as if your gesture has surprised her, and then copies you.

“Winds favour you, Lady Kárudóttir. I look forward to our next meeting. It will not be long now, before the vættir know your name.”

A shiver of excitement works its way down your spine. Skuld’s words promise to you that your godnaming will be soon. You smile, bowing to her once more. And then you turn around, and head back down the tunnel so you can return to your mother.

Each step is another one towards the destiny that awaits you.

( next chapter )

@ladydracona @huntress-artemiss @sarahscribbles @mischief2sarawr @pbs-theundeadmaggot @loki-cees-all @bitchy-bi-trash

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[thepeanutbutterwizard]

Venomous Teachings au: The Underworld Duo

Talking more about this au bc I’ve got brainworms, so I’m starting off talking about my blorbos: Garmadon and Nya

So Nya is captured by the Skulkin like in cannon, and she’s taken to the Underworld.

After a few days, she gets a visit from the man behind the Skulkin, Wu masquerading as the Dark Lord Garmadon. He’s wearing a mask and a big cloak and has something that changes his voice, so she doesn’t recognize him as the weird old man who came by the blacksmith shop just before the Skulkin attacked.

He says some ominous stuff, telling Nya that she won’t be harmed, he just needs something from her brother, and then she’ll be released. Nya gets pissed, yelling at him to stay away from Kai, and when Wu ignores her and turns away to leave, she throws her shoe at him, knocking his mask off and recognizing Wu.

This pisses him off immensely, and he then tells her that she will never leave the Underworld now, but he isn’t going to kill her yet bc she might be useful with something. He Samukai to have her locked up deep in the Skulkin’s base, and then he leaves.

While being moved from where she’s being held, Nya is rescued by Garmadon in a Skulkin ‘disguise’, which is just a big cloak and a kinda crappy mask. It’s very effective.

He has one for her to wear, and the two are able to make it to a rather run-down Skulkin vehicle that Garmadon stole years ago and escape.

They make it back to Garmadons ‘home’, which is a cave, where Nya learns what’s really going on; the weird 6′10″ man-cat that just saved her is the real Garmadon, they guy who kidnapped her is his evil little brother Wu, and the fate of the world rests on Wu not getting ahold of the Golden Weapons that Garmadon hid years ago

When Garmadon realizes who Nya’s parents are, he realizes that Wu went after the siblings bc he needed Kai to get the Sword of Flame, and Nya was probably taken to give him a reason to help Wu

Nya immediately wants to get back to Ninjago to shove her other shoe up Wu’s butt, but there’s a small issue.

The only way to move between the Underworld and Ninjago is with one of the Skulkins vehicles, but the one that Garm stole had that part severely broken, and he hasn’t been able to figure out how to fix it. The fact it was broken was why it was so easy for him to steal it in the first place.

With Nya’s help and mechanical talent, they get the vehicle fixed

After one year

During this year, Garmadon is helping Nya master her elemental powers, teaching her Spinjitzu, combat, survival skills, how to cheat at poker, etc. The two wind up growing close during this time, forming a familial relationship. But while all this is happening, Nya is...changing, in an unexpected way

((I gave Garm a new outfit bc 1) it looked weird to me to have him not change when I was drawing these and 2) I gave him and Nya some of each others colors to symbolize them having formed a bond))

I’ll go into more detail about these lore changes in a future post, but while most Elemental lines started with the First Spinjitzu Master gifting elemental powers to certain trusted humans, Wind and Water come from being direct, physical descendants of Wojira.

Much like Garmadon, being in the Underworld for an extended period of time started to bring Nya’s not-human heritage to the surface. If either of them were normal humans, being stuck in the Underworld for a long period of time would have slowly killed them.

Neither of them know any of this, and both think its some form of corruption from the dark energies in the Underworld. For now.

Anyway, the two are eventually able to get back to Ninjago, but due to their changes and Garmadons unearned infamy, they have to cobble together some...interesting disguises

If anyone asks, they just say they’re uncle and niece, and that a rare skin condition runs in the family.

Nya pretends that her horns are a part of her headband.

The hat does nothing, Garmadon just thought it completed the look.

But, the first thing they do is head to where Garmadon hid the Map to the Golden Weapons to try and make sure it doesn’t fall into his hands. They have their first confrontation with Wu’s ninja team there, but that’s for another post.

[tutuandscoot]

This might be a bit of a sensitive topic so if you don’t wanna answer that’s cool. But there are some moments - not *entire* programs - of when vm were under 18 years of age where it felt like some bits of choreo were a little too mature for teenagers to be doing? I’m confident that vm always felt safe and respected by each other but it kinda makes me side eye Marina. What’s your perspective?

Hmmm

I get what you’re saying and it can definitely be a sensitive topic for some.

I can really only speak to my opinion and of course with something like this it depends on culture and upbringing etc..

I don’t think VM were too young to be doing the things they were doing.

I’ll speak specifically to them and why I think that and why in this case it makes it different to say other ID couples in this situation.

- as you said; it’s for certain that they always felt safe and respected each other (always on the ice, obs there were hard times off ice here and there)

-them being put together so young I think in their case has a lot to do with being able to do the things they did at what can be perceived to be too young of an age. T knows nothing else but dancing with him, she doesn’t know how to be handled as a dancer by anyone but him, (and wouldn’t let anyone else handle her as a dancer but him) and after years being together by the time when were teenagers I would suspect that touching eachother in the simplest sense was as natural as breathing, so developing more intimacy and performing more explicit forms of intimacy just came naturally-and obviously (as they’ve said) that Suzanne and Paul Mac and Jean Marc (the ballroom guy) they met when they were young to guide them through it, I think definitely there may have been shyness and giggles at their first forehead touch or cheek kiss (in a program), but they would’ve been farrrrr more mature with that stuff then anyone else would be at their age. So through that along with doing so much travelling, moving away- all the life stuff that made them mature, they just had developed a maturity and intimacy.. maybe before they even knew it or was evident through movement.

- they obviously and a natural chemistry. They didn’t know it for a while- or couldn’t make sense of it for a while but they way they talk about feeling a faint but instant connection holding hands- that even though they were too shy to talk, something about it felt right.. that is sooooo freaking deep for 7+9 year olds to feel. Like I recon some grown adults have never felt that intrinsic connection to another human in that way. I really don’t know any of the science or psychology behind it to delve deeper with any accuracy, but I would think all the physical things they would have to do later on.. like that’s all just.. not superficial… but part of their art.. so when they have a connection so intrinsically deep, they felt it and didn’t ever* feel it die out, people around them who recognised this connection, and rather than exploiting it… like I think if they were doing some of the stuff they did in Assassins tango (06/07) when they were 10-12, I would be a little worried and feel it’s a bit inappropriate, but they instead focused on developing that… soulmateish kinda connection through respect and trust and teamwork… the movement really did just come with what their sport was.

As for later on and with Marina…

-I have read talk of people feeling like she capitalised on their connection and encouraged them to build this romantic relationship on the ice- to really lean into that even though the romance of it all was purely for on ice and not at all off. I don’t have so much of a thought on that and her, but more the sport over the years/through its development encouraging the sense that every ice dance couple must project romantic love. Now, bc it’s VM we are talking about and they do it so naturally/convincingly project that- of course that’s what I love and crave and I don’t feel anyone in the world does it like them- I don’t even feel romantic connection in the ID couples that are couples irl. I’ve come to accept no one will ever have the magic (romantic or otherwise) that VM do, but there should be some sort of connection.

I kinda have a feeling VM would’ve been ‘a romantic ice dance couple’ no matter the coach they went to at the age they did go to her.

It’s hard to know I think whether she, for arguments sake “forced” (encouraged) them to go for the ‘in love’ vibe bc it was a winning way to go. I think VM’s connection whether it reads as romantic or not- as I’ve said many times there are programs (latch) which are not romantic at all and yet their connection is as emotional as any other. The fact that they have this connection and it was so well nurtured and taken care of means they could go in any direction with it.

I think they stand out so much in their junior/ early senior years is because:

A) no other team was doing it like they were

B) other teams where trying and it just didn’t come off like VM

That then inevitably when comparing them to the rest of their field at the time. There are teams from their late junior/early senior days (so teams that were in seniors when VM were juniors but crossed over with VM as they came to seniors) that tried so so hard to project passion and romance and it just came off cringe. It just didn��t feel comfortable- whether there was a connection there (romantic or just in the partnership) and they pushed it way too hard (Belbin/Agosto are team I think of most writing this) or there wasn’t a true connection- at least not one that translated in performance, and so it feels awkward and just emphasises the distance between them on the ice.

It really just felt so natural for T&S. when I think of that ending of their blues CD in 05, I don’t think about them being 15/17, bc on the ice.. they aren’t playing themselves. It’s difficult to put into words and as I say it I think.. you know is it too much for young people even if it is in performance?.. I think the real difference for me is as I’ve tried to say is bc it’s natural- doesn’t feel forced. I’m not thinking about their age and whether they were forced by their coach to act this way.. I want to believe Marina- no matter the grievances we have for her bc of later on, but I would like to think she was smart enough to not.. if she did.. push that angle on them if they weren’t capable of it.. if she did in anyway, VM were able to carry it off completely convincingly.. I guess for whether they felt comfortable with it or not (not with each other just what they were doing in the sense of if they were too young) you’d have to ask them, but I think they would say they weren’t concerned with that kinda stuff, they were just so committed to and as a team passionate about their sport that it came with the territory so it’s what they did. I also think it really tracks for where they went- what they explored choreographically later on.. maybe for some, either tracking their career at the time or now discovering them, if those who arnt really familiar pre Mahler or umbrellas, Carmen comes out of nowhere like this borage of sexual fire, but really - while on a MUCH lesser level, they were capable of performing and emoting sexual intimacy and desire for a long time- and absolutely no they should not have performed their Carmen at 15 + 17, but they weren’t scared of it is the point.

I hope that answered your thoughts/ question..

I don’t find it to be too sensitive, in fact I love discussing this side of their art as long as it is always kept respectful, classy, in an observational respect. If I put myself in their shoes I definitely wouldn’t see a problem performing some of the stuff they did at 16, as a dancer that is, as a young girl/ women maybe not.. dancers - esp at a high level often have to have a more mature side to themselves to project confidence on stage- whether that’s solo, duet or in a group- it’s just kinda part of it so I see no problem with it, but as I said at the top this sort of thing… depends on a lot of factors how you view it xx

[bebx]

hi im so sorry but i need to get this off my chest and i cant talk to my friends about it because its so embarrassing and ive talked about it PLENTY

but anyway long story short i was dating someone, we have a weird history dating wise & have been best friends for 3+ years before that all started. literally three weeks ago we decided to be exclusive, on friday i found out that the day before, he kissed another girl IN PUBLIC. i know that girl, they've hooked up before (when i was also hooking up with him but it wasn't anything really and i didn't actually know for sure if they were hooking up (they were)). so we called it quits.

i still spent the weekend bc i'm weak and all i want is him. he said he never felt a connection like this with anyone, he said he loved me and he said he was sorry a hundred times..... he said it would take a long time before he'd feel 'normal' about me. we were both emotional when i left, and since then i havent really stopped crying lol

AND NOW. i dont know if im just driving myself crazy but i feel like he's (still) (again?) talking to that one girl and it would make sense because he basically cheated on me not even a week ago so why wouldnt he do this now??? but. it feels too cruel. but maybe thats just who he is.

god i hate this so much he drives me completely mad im stalking his every move and every time i see something that even slightly hints at my suspicions i get so ill and it makes me wanna kms. i just wanna feel normal i hate that he did this to me i miss him so bad. i know we literally shouldn't ever get back together again because this is just a fraction of the shit thats happened in the past 10 months, BUT I ONLY WANT HIM. and i feel like we're soulmates. BYEEEEE this is so humiliating. im so tired i just want it to end

hugging you so tight right now, anon!!! 🩷🩷🩷 so sorry you have to go through something like this. I can’t say I know exactly how you feel, because each person experiences this type of pain differently, but I do know it just super sucks when the person who hurts us and the person we want to hate turns out to be the one we love the most. sometimes our hearts can be stubborn just like that (it all would’ve been so easy if we could convince ourselves to stop caring and to being able to fully hate them and moving on, but it’s never that easy, sadly). I can’t tell you what to do or how to react to the pain you feel, but know that your pain is valid and how you feel / how you react / how you cope with that pain, that’s valid too. and you are not weak for being hurt when someone wronged you, especially when it’s someone you trusted. I know this is cliche and is so much easier said than done, but please also be kind to yourself, above anything else. that boy and the girl he cheated on you with, they don’t deserve you. they lost you, not the other way around. think of this as an opportunity for you to open yourself to someone else who truly loves and values you, whether it be romantically or platonically. I know right now you just want him, but if the wrong person can make you love him this bad, imagine how much happier you’ll be when you finally find the right one who can make you love them the same way you loved him, if not more, the only difference is that they won’t break your heart. and you deserve to be happy. that someone is out there, and I truly believe you both will find each other when the time is right. but for now, try loving and being gentle to yourself even if it’s hard (I know it can be hard, but at least give it a try), the best revenge is to prove to them that you don’t need them to be happy and that you can heal from this and thrive without them in your life. doesn’t matter how long it takes, but you will get there one day, and you will look back and be so damn proud of yourself for how far you’ve come. because hey, look at you, you are still here, and for that, I am so damn proud of you!!

it’s okay to cry, it’s okay to be completely broken, because the thing about crying and being broken is that it’s not permanent, even if it feels like it right now.

and by the way, the ones who should feel humiliated are him and that girl, not you. screw it if they deserve each other. YOU deserve so much better than that anyway.

[wanderingchocolateeclair]

"I have plenty of hcs for these two in UA relating to my personal backstory hcs for them too, so if anyone ever wants to know those I’m happy to write them out :)"

Yes please !

>:D

CW: mentions of bullying, accidentally killing someone-

So~

Before I forget, this is a simple headcanon I wanted to include but

When Shinya was first year, Tsunagu was part of that year’s “big three” and was the top student.

Shinya made a promise to Tsunagu that he’d become the top student when he was a third year, and well- he definitely kept his promise! 

Anyway- onto the main ones:

For context, I have lil backstory headcanons for the two of them - both of which are very angsty bc <3

But thats for another time, I'll just include the main thing for these hcs-

Both Tsunagu and Shinya have accidentally killed a person/people, with their quirks, Tsunagu was around 12, Shinya was 10- (separately)

Being quirk accidents, it was brushed off as just them 'needing quirk counselling' so that happened-

Tsunagu got bullied A LOT growing up, for multiple reasons, but when he got to UA it became more of a different type.

People avoided him a lot in his first years, because "hey, isn't that the kid who killed a guy before?" "yeah- don't get too close- he might get angry"

It mellowed out after he became a third year, and he had gained a reputation for being very strong and stern and, well, our typical "jeanist-y" and though he still got bullied/avoided quite a bit, he did have a group of classmates and friends who were there for him.

His whole demeanour was made up from him simply putting walls around himself to ignore everything that others said about him, while also becoming insanely observant.

He made the arts and crafts club, because it was "important to be able to find hobbies, and also hone skills that could still be important to heroics, such as precision and focus."

But deep down, he had also hoped to maybe find someone who was like him. Who either had a quirk that everyone believed to be "unfit for heroics" or an outcast who needed to know that they weren't alone....

And well, of course, along came Shinya.

A first year, who miraculously seemed to fit that exact description.

Shinya was also bullied a lot, however it came more verbally.

Not many knew about his true backstory, or where he was from, but they did know two things. "he has no family" and "thats the kid who killed a bunch of guys, isn't it?"

And you can assume that most people grouped these two statements together, and that led to some even more awful rumours. But he was mostly just ignored and majorly avoided out of fear.

Going into UA, he masked everything he had with a smile and an energetic personality, trying to earn people's trust so maybe- just maybe- he could be seen as more than just the rumours that were told about him.

He stumbles into this empty clubroom, looking around and calling for the chairman to the handicraft club.

"If you're here to make fun of me or the club, please go away- I'm not in the mood today" a voice answered him from the closet.

When he got nearer the closet, he found a very lanky blond boy kinda....stuck....under a pile of stationary that seemed to have fallen over. He looked miserable as hell but insisted that he didn't need help.

Shinya simply responded with a "oh...no- I was actually looking to....join?" and was met with Tsunagu laughing like "haha very funny- tease the tired third year about their empty club."

And Shinya was like "what? no- I'm being serious..." and that was met with silence before Tsunagu jumping up with an insane amount of energy suddenly entering his speech as he very happily accepted this new first year into the club.

It was tense at first, as they both had never really spoken to other people before.....properly.....but after introductions and explaining why the club was always empty, they realised that they were a lot more similar than they thought.

Neither of them pried into the other’s personal life, however over the year of knowing each other they did end up sharing and learning bits and pieces. (this is also bc they re connect later on in life and share the bits that they never did in their UA years, finally knowing the full truth about each other and their stories)

Shenanigans ensue, just like in my other hc list, and they become really close good friends.

Now. Tsunagu struggled with his emotions. He was very easily upset and angered, and this made him believe a lot of things about himself - one of them being that he’d never be able to be a hero because he cant control his emotions.

Shinya was who helped him with this.

He reassured him that it was normal and okay to feel these emotions, and he told him that he believed in him. He told him that no matter what everyone else says, he knows he’ll be able to face his emotions and that they do not make him a bad person or a “villain”

(I’m sure you can imagine how this hc ties into bakugou’s internship with Jeanist)

In turn, Jeanist proved that he trusted Shinya. And that he didn’t believe he was a bad person, or any of the things the others had said.

Despite wearing his “happy mask” Shinya had never felt proper happiness, or felt what it was like to truly be his age and have fun.

And Tsunagu was who helped him with this.

He taught him that it was okay to show when he wasn’t truly happy, allowing Shinya to reveal his truer self around him.

And he taught him how to let himself have fun. Even for a few minutes. And he was the first person to ever hear him laugh, properly.

And they both helped each other learn to control their quirks and understand them properly.

There were some instances where one had to save the other from various stuff- often from bullying at first- but as the year passed, people learnt better than to mess with either of them, because they had each other.

Also they almost died during a school trip that involved the third years taking supervision over the first years.....during a villain attack that ended really badly-

Wound up in hospital a couple of times due to internship stuff/villain encounters, and spent the time making crafts together.

But also, they made each other lil charms of them in their original hero outfits that they have kept to this day.

After Tsunagu graduated, Shinya took care of the handicrafts club and managed to get quite a few members, however he missed the days of it being just the two of them.

I actually headcanon that they lost touch about a year or so after Tsunagu graduated, because Tsunagu moved abroad to study fashion stuff and further heroic experience, and Shinya went to study medical stuff- and though they really wanted to try and contact each other again, they both felt too scared and nervous to try.

Until they meet again one day and reconnect almost immediately- realising that they didn’t have anything to fear.

(Also this may or may not be bc my initial hc for these two was that they met in their adulthood -specifically in my fic “when it rains”- but canon came along so I’m fitting that into this)

(With the potential of added angst bc <3)

But yeah!!!! those are those!!! i think I’ll leave it at that for now so i hope you enjoy them !! :D

Again, if theres any other types of headcanons you’d like me to ramble about, or if you’d like me to elaborate on any of these further or give particular scenarios you’d like to know about, please feel free to send in asks my way!! :)

[newhologram]

Taking my emergency meds even though it will likely make me sick/emotional/unable to sleep/put my colon on strike.

I don't like this kind of decision. But people accuse spoonies of "drug-seeking" just for funzies when I actually hate taking these drugs. I'm terrified of complications. It takes so much discipline to keep myself at small, spread-out doses, to cycle the drugs safely, and even that makes me sick too. I don't want this. I don't want to always choose between life through the filter of pain and the filter of "a little less pain, but you're hella stoned all the time lolz." Being medicated all the time, on something or other, then itself becomes a disability. I can't drive myself to and from work anymore, because that means I won't be able to medicate as much. I'm severely limited now in my ability to run errands or even see friends. People see it as character judgement, laziness or moral degeneracy, as "you did it to yourself"--but the turning down of the volume on the nervous system is not a selfish, gross thing to want, and the people who struggle with addiction don't bc of being "bad people"--I'm not a "good person" just bc I've managed to avoid addiction all these years. It seems very obvious but I guess it's not. Pain is actually super treatable. My situation is super treatable. But I've been blocked access to the medicines, treatments, and surgeries that would change my entire life. How to game the game, Ariel? What has to be cut away to get a leg up out of the sea? Spoonies are tasked with the decision of what we would sacrifice to live life on land even if our feet bleed. And we are endlessly stigmatized for these decisions by people who would crumble into despair at a 1/4 of our daily pain. The ice pick in the heart of this life is fighting so hard against the desire for self-destruction, for nothingness, and the realization that even if we resist that urge, the decision is likely to be made for us. Even in illnesses not considered "terminal", complications kill all the time. I'm walking on the surface of a glass tightrope. I don't want that decision made for me, so I fight, I have fought for what I need. For over 10 years it's "I'll get this, and then be better" but nothing ever gives me my life back. It's only been more disability, which was the grief that made me suicidal when I first "became" this disabled (I was always). My dreams and wishes carrots on a stick, for whom? If a flare up kills me before I get to do what I want in the world, then was hope only a sort of iron lung to incentivize continuation of the program? Who is collecting this data and why? Bitch. We're beefing hard. It's almost impossible to trust life. But if I suddenly go feral, this is why. I won't ask that you forgive or even accept this New Hologram. It's likely going to be a bit jarring and I know a lot of people will have opinions/beliefs/judgements of my image beyond the ability to influence or manage. Interest in being perceived as a good person is slipping from my grasp. I don't know if being "good" can get the change the people need. The change I need, for relief. If the only thing to believe in is belief, then rejection of the current structures must be the foundation of any change. There is literally no actual reason, a tangible reason, that something made-up like money should keep someone, anyone, from getting medical care. I don't want to die over money. But I don't want to live for it, either. Anyway: the American healthcare system has us like batteries in the Matrix. It's actual evil and I don't know what I can do, what can be done, to change it. Despair is acidic and eroding. Powerless at the bottom of the sea, waiting for my miracle body to burst into being. If it's a story, why can't it play out in a way that makes life better for everyone? Is it possible to do it without leaving only a trace of humanity behind, etched geoglyphs in a mountain for the new gods to decipher? I know not all humans are terrible, I know most of us want things to be better. But I want so badly to stop being human the first chance I get. I'm done playing by these rules.

[magicalara]

William T Spears and Mey-Rin: an Analyzation

Or basically @docmartensanddietcoke giving me the green light to analyze characters and so I took it and ran.

Fair warning: This was barely proofread so, just letting y’all know. Read at your own discretion lol

Okay so William, he's a nose to the grind kinda guy. His character is all about work and how well he can do it, and that's what drives him. When he sets his mind to something, it will happen one way or another as long as it's a) ethical, b) possible, and c) not against the rules. He's lived his whole life following the rules to a T. The last thing that Will wants is for someone else to get hurt or in trouble bc of his actions (he cares about himself too, but he's more concerned with others. he knows he can get himself out a pickle if need be). His caring actions are more subdued and it takes a watchful eye to notice the little things he does like: putting his hand over a corner if he thinks someone's gonna walk/bump into it; a hovering hand over the small of someone's back in case they start to wander; standing just slightly in front of others, not bc he wants to be at the front for image reasons, but bc if someone attacks, he'll be able to block them from getting hit; always having a stock of multiple kinds of snacks just in case someone gets a little hungry (especially anyone younger); always has at least one tampon, pad, and hair tye on hand if anyone needs it. Things like that that if you ever came to need it, Will's there. He doesn't make it known, but he's there.

 Mey-rin lives almost a double-life in terms of what she does. While she's a badass as either a maid or an assassin, there's a distinct difference in the way she holds herself when doing each job. As a maid, she's caring and kind. She helps out Finny and Bard and Snake and whoever else at the drop of a hat no questions asked, not just bc it's kinda her job, but also bc she wants to. Finny and Snake have become like younger brothers and so anything they need, she'll be there for them as the older sister. She's also clumsy but she doesn't mind it. Sure, around Sebastian she tries to hide it, but that's for alternative reasons that mainly stem from "I need to impress him". Otherwise, she doesn't mind being her clusmy little self around like Bard, for example, who, even though he's probably much older than her (at least by 10-20 years), she still finds herself able to joke around like he's her best friend. And not having many more female influences in her life, she's able to embrace her femininity with awkward arms that are open nonetheless. She might not be exactly where she wanted as a maid, but she's able to be herself more than she ever was otherwise. 

Which brings us to said otherwise: assassin mey. As an assassin, she knows she only gets one shot (literally). She grew up for 10 years with that being her only job. Kill this person and if you succeed, you can have dinner tonight. Her past hardened her, made her distrusting of others. She might be visually impaired, but she is a very smart individual and so it takes a lot to really gain her trust. The fastest one to gain it was probably Snake and even then, she's still a bit distrusting after figuring out he was associated with the circus troupe. Assassin Mey-rin is precise and doesn't miss. It's the niggling voice in her head that scolds her for letting her guard down and reminds her that this isn't forever and to be careful lest she gets hurt again.

And Mey-rin loves William for the little things he does. Sure, outwardly he's a little sour puss who doesn't know how to have a little fun, but behind closed doors he's really just a funny guy with a big heart. She's able to see how he comes in after a long day and, while she can tell all he wants to do is collapse in bed and pass out, he still takes the time to look for her to tell her he's home and ask about her day. She sees the way he groggily mismatches his socks in the morning until she points it out for him. She sees him trying his best to make sure her workload isn't too harsh around the house by picking up things here and there and making people who come by put back anything they picked up in the right place. Granted, she's also seen the boss William T Spears who scolds his colleagues if they do something stupid and has to go fix their messes. But then she also sees him complain about the overtime while also talking about how he "loves them sometimes and then they do something stupid again and I'm reminded as to why I could never truly quit". She loves him for these softer moments and she adores him for the subtle ways he takes care of those he loves.

All of this to bring us to how these two collide. William and Mey-rin are so different outwardly, but also so similar in little ways that connect them so deep. With the task to protect Will, Mey shows her ability to be ruthless and without mercy easily. It's almost by nature that she slip into that personality where she shows how easily she can physically protect him. And when she's just a maid, it gives Will whiplash as he sees the difference between his protector and his new friend. His protector doesn't stop for anything, but his friend gives him interesting things to think about. Like I said before, William deeply cares about people in ways he prefers not to show and so to see how clumsy Mey-rin is both worries and endears him in a way he never thought.

He's worried about her well-being, of course, but he's also so entranced by the way that she's able to just..laugh it off. He sees both sides of her and utterly falls in love with it. William almost craves that extra but of stability in his life and seeing how Mey-rin is so stable in how she carries herself as an assassin who's willing to put her life on the line for his and as a maid who's oh-so clumsy but also able to laugh off her mistakes and just keep persevering...he almost wishes he could be the same.

They match because they slot into each other almost like a two matching keys. Where his key dips and rises, her's rises and dips in a matching rhythm to where they fit together. They might not open the same door, but they both lead to the same destination. Their differences bring them together as they're able to confide in each other with their problems and their similarities show them how, it doesn't matter how they got there, the point is they're together now and that's what matters most.

The first time that William gets hurt by an enemy, he's away from Mey-rin. There was absolutely no way that she could have prevented this, and hell, he's not even seriously injured, just a few scrapes and bruises adorning his skin, but she has a complete break-down when she thinks he's gone. How could she allow something like this to happen? Her job is to protect and there's William hurt. And while she thinks he's gone, he's really not. He noticed the edges of tears in her eyes before he left the room to "rest" and so he stayed back and little and saw his Mey all broken and had to seriously restrain himself from going to her side. But at this point they weren't as close and so he knew he couldn't. After this, he makes sure to always reassure her that she can't control everything and that's okay. She's figured out why he's done so but, for some reason she just can't explain, she doesn't mind that he saw her vulnerability like that.

I'd like to say they're two sides of the same coin, but they aren't. They're jobs are very different from each other and while they're lives mesh and collide, they aren't even the same form of currency. And it's because of this that so many people would be like nah they'd never work. Really, though, it's because of this that they work. They have their own distinct differences and individuality that allows them to really learn about and fall in love with each other and that's how they work so well together. Mey-rin and William are different and yet similar enough to where it's no surprise when they inevitably fall in love with each other, and that's something neither of them thought could ever happen (find love, that is).

[taegularities]

Hello lovely Rid 💕💕

I know I haven't dropped in for a couple of days but I saw your post about what you've had to deal with recently and I just wanted to send you my love and support. That sounds like a really scary and uncomfortable situation to go through but I hope you know that there is also so much kindness and love in the world and you are deserving of it!! I feel like that's something that we can use a reminder for when we encounter people like that, who seem to lack any of those things. You don't deserve any of the pain or sadness you go through, you deserve love and happiness and it will come to you, I'm sure of it <3

On a lighter note, I saw you saying you might be able to drop cmi 10 on the sixth? That's actually the date of my one year blog anniversary lmaooo what a coincidence. I'm sending you all the energy and motivation and hoping for a smooth writing process, Rid. Life is tough though so please don't worry too much about deadlines since I'm sure everyone is excited to read it whenever it comes out.

You also asked about unhappy endings and even though I think you might know my opinion on angst and sad things already, I just want to say again that I would read anything you wrote, Rid and I would sacrifice my very fragile heart if it means reading another one of your beautiful stories. It's funny because usually when it comes to books I don't mind sad things, in fact the heartbreaking ones are usually my favourites, but with fanfiction I think I just get too attached to the characters and it absolutely tears my heart apart when there's any angst.

Speaking of books, I've been reading more recently and I started a book yesterday where the main character's name is Rin and I'm not joking when I say that my brain read it as Rid the first couple of times. So I think that says a lot about how much you cross my mind I guess.

Sorry that I haven't dropped in much lately, for some reason 9/10 times when I open tumblr these days I feel overwhelmed at the thought of reblogging anything or talking to people 😔 And I've also been in and out of bad moods in general lately so yeah. Hoping that starting classes again, being busier and setting up some kind of routine will help me a bit.

I hope things go well for you too in this busy time Rid, both with classes and with work!! Sending you all of my love always 💞💞💞

hi my love 🤍 thank you so much. it's gotten better but it was scarring for sure.. while i know that there's still so much love and positivity in this world, i'm just so :') closed off, like my brain doesn't want to trust anyone just yet. but good things to come, hopefully hehe

and yeah, i shall definitely try! can't promise anything just yet, but i really want to drop cmi10 in a week or two :D lowkey also want it out, so i can finally get to cmi11!! yeah, i'm the same lmaoo i used to read a lot of angsty novels, but pain hits a lot harder with fics. maybe bc it's our favourite celebrity, too? but like, thank you 🥺 i hope you always go into fics carefully and take a break if you need to. i'll always be grateful you picked up any of my fics at all 🤍

don't worry about tumblr.. i absolutely know what you mean. i guess it's why i've been absent, too. don't know what exactly it is, but this site's been a lot lately :') if you ever need to talk about what's going on, i'm here. hope you feel better soon and that uni starts smoothly for you. love you 💕